[Sigia-l] is there a word

[Eric Reiss]

Christina Wodtke asked:
"Is there a word for a set of icons that represent aspects of a
thing: like a hotel that has icons that represent pool, pets welcome,
parking or a movie theater that has icons for handicapped accessible,
hearing impaired, parking, etc."

No, I don't think there is such a word, although several good
suggestions have been made here. Charles S. Peirce categorized dozens
of types of signs around the turn of the last century, but I haven't
been able to find his list. He may have coined a phrase you can use.

For the most part, today's designers tend to group icons in three
families: objects, functions, and processes. The last two groups get
kind of muddled in practice and a couple of different sets exist. For
example, I've seen "function" exchanged with "data structure" and
"processes" replaced by "concepts."

As far as naming icons is concerned, somewhere around 1990, after the
advent of Macromedia Director, I started hearing about "micons,"
which were moving icons. Perhaps this is a Macromedia invention. I've
been told that the opposite is staticon, but I've never seen the word
used myself.

Cheers,
Eric

e-reiss.com
copenhagen, denmark