For this assignment, I was tasked with creating a symbol set to represent the five senses. My system had to visualize each sense as a noun, and I used one of these symbols as a root to create three determinant symbols. I chose to apply the system to a music festival and chose determinants based off of this application.
Final symbol set in black/white and color. Left to right: ear, nose, mouth, eye, and hand.
Root and determinant icons. Left to right: Mouth (root), concession stand, water station, and music genre (pop).
Mockup of wayfinding sign for music festival concession stand.
I began by researching each body part and collecting a variety of reference images with different angles, styles, models, and expressed emotions. I was interested in exploring how the lighting and shadows from these reference images (particularly in the images highlighted in color) could be implemented in my symbols, and I used this concept in many of my sketches. However, I was still interested in exploring a wide variety of styles as well, and this is shown in the sketches below.
Collage of sketches and ideation for symbol styles.
Collage of initial vector explorations using thin line style
Collection of sketches in refined style
After completing my sketches, I felt most inspired by the simple, line-based style I often tested across my page of ideas. However, once I brought these sketches into Illustrator to finalize them, I realized it did not feel as cohesive as I’d hoped, and the thin lineart style did not work as well for certain body parts that needed some dimension to read clearly. Because of this, I decided to test my second choice from my sketches, a style that was more playful and less polished due to its dynamic poses and uneven brushstrokes. I created sketches at multiple different angles as I decided how to portray each sense in this style while keeping the set cohesive and flexible for future expansions.
Collection of color exploration and variations
Collage of container variations
Once I decided on my final black and white symbols, I knew my color application needed to harmonize with the dynamic and vaguely cartoonish style I utilized for each sense. I felt that bright colors and sharp contrast best articulated this, so I experimented with many color combinations during this phase. I also considered accessibility standards and overall readability so that the symbols could be read easily from far away. Finally, I tested various container shapes for the symbols, and ultimately decided on a simple rounded square.