Does this icon say “language” to you?
It doesn’t to me.
But the OMC design studio feels so strongly about it that it has launched a web site to promote this icon as a global standard.
I applaud the effort and I fully agree that there is a need for such an icon, but I don’t believe that this one should be it. I find that this looks like a floppy disk (and, yes, I’m aware that there is an entire generation of computer users out there who don’t even know what a floppy disk looks like).
If I were to vote for an international icon, I would vote for a generic globe icon. Companies such as Panasonic, Dow Corning, and Microsoft have used a globe icon to denote either language or country/region (or both).
Other companies use tiny maps, such as John Deere and Caterpillar.
I prefer the globe, but either will do the trick.
What do you think?
PS: I just discovered that I wrote about the need for a standard icon way back in 2004. I preferred the globe icon even back then.
To learn more, check out my new book The Art of the Global Gateway.
