Monday, January 20, 2020

Iberian graphic design - can you tell the boys from the girls?

Graphic representations of men, women, disabled and baby changing facilities

Often when traveling in other countries, it can be confusing when one is ready to use the facilities - the WC, the rest rooms, the toilettes, the break room.  Most often, it's because I have to make the effort to remember what to call the bathroom in that country's language.

However, in Portugal and Spain, even when you know the location, trying to tell the men's room from the women's room was a challenge - primarily because of their fondness for using very stylized graphic symbols to label the rooms.  This tendency made it imperative to look very closely before selecting what's behind the door in front of you! See the images below for a better sense of what i mean:










And this pair:





These symbols don't seem so bad when grouped together:



                                  But take a look when it's the only sign on the door:




Here's a crazy pair - how do you tell the boy birds from the girl birds?:


I should've cued in on the pink and blue, I guess

I like the new facilities that are Unisex -- you don't have to figure it out, you just get to close the door on your own little cabinet and use a common sink area!

All are welcome here!


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