RE: link to us: Is there a recommendation to provide a graphic for external linking? if so where?

> how about your views on AAA conformance and the need to include a 'link to us' graphic?
 
Jonathan,
 
forgive me for possibly sounding dense, but ... could you please explain where you see a connection between AAA and 'link to us' graphics ?
 
> For me 'history' might be a pyramid, alternatively http://www.symbolworld.org/images/learning/history.jpg is a ~17th century ship.
 
As with words, image meaning is certainly context-dependant, and in many cases assume prior knowledge by the target audience in order to be inequivocably understood. Company logos such as the McDonalds golden arches are certainly easier to recognise, but that's only because they are logos, copyrighted/trademarked/whatever...so it's less likely that designers will use them for anything other than something to do with the company (or risk a law suit, perhaps). For everyday things, it would - in my opinion anyway - be nearly impossible to come up with a universal set of pictograms/icons for everything. If I recall correctly, many attempts at such a universal visual dictionary have been made in the past ... and I still don't see any sign of these being implemented beyond a small handful.
 
Patrick
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Patrick H. Lauke
Webmaster / University of Salford
http://www.salford.ac.uk <http://www.salford.ac.uk> 

Received on Sunday, 18 January 2004 21:59:00 UTC