24 March, 2008

Ways of communicating






I think it was professor Hecker who was telling us on the first study travel that if you have a pen and paper and can draw you can get around anywhere because a good drawing is universal. In the same way, something that has caught my eye everywhere I have gone is the signs that different places have put up. I'm not going to understand what the text says so the signs are more or less a game of pictionary. In this effort to communicate non verbally, I have come across some very amusing signs whether it has been a stick man being mangled because he did not exit the metro in time, or people running across the street with luggage in hand (which I am still not 100% sure what they mean with that sign). I thought the most humorous sign I would see was in the Netherlands letting you know that your dog is not allowed to use the rest room on their lawn, however, when we were leaving Venice, the funniest and most descriptive sign I have ever seen was a sign showing a stick woman prostitute, warning you that they come to that area. Its universal and easy to understand so it has a purpose but considering I have never seen a sign like that before it was amusing especially since they showed detail down to the purse and shoes a typical prostitute would wear. It makes me wonder who has the job of coming up with these things.

No comments: