DESIGN AND CULTURE VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 REPRINTS AVAILABLE PHOTOCOPYING © BERG 2011 PP 5–24 DIRECTLY FROM THE PERMITTED BY PRINTED IN THE UK PUBLISHERS LICENSE ONLY

“An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism and Pictographic Design, 1930–70

Keith Bresnahan

Keith Bresnahan is ABSTRACT The decades surrounding the Assistant Professor Second World War saw an intense wave of Design History and Theory at the of interest in pictographic communication, OCAD University in with social scientists and graphic Toronto, Canada. designers promoting the potential of Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 [email protected] universal pictographic “language” to bring about international understanding and co-operation. This article explores the historical relationship between pictographic

design and internationalist politics in this DOI: 10.2752/175470810X12863771378671 era through the work of Rudolf Modley, a pioneering designer of information graphics whose career spanned from the socialist experiments of 1920s Vienna to humanist advocacy projects in late-1960s America.

Tracing the complex relationship between Design and Culture

visual communication, commerce and 5 Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016

6 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan profile, immutable in their serial repetition, these little figures appear figures little these repetition, serial their in immutable profile, have hadinmind(Figure 1). may theorist media pioneering the images of kinds the consider we when particularly today, surprising seem cosmic, may – – man subject technological modern the for basis cultural unrivalled the as McLuhan’s faith in “the pictograms of scientific formula and logistics” entire globe”: in contriving a metaphor new unified language for“visual the multiverse of of cultures of the use the in lay wrote, he solution, The 311). ment with its multiplicity of cultures and disciplines” (McLuhan 1995: environ- our of languages the reading of ways new judgment, and perception of languages “new required disciplines and social-scientific scientific of range wide a across knowledge of dispersal eral gen- the and the facilitated these cultures global of character,” awareness growing “instantaneous of media communications new of emergence postwar the that suggested McLuhan Marshall Literacy, pamphlet 1953 his of paragraphs closing the In design, RudolfModley, OttoNeurath,Margaret Mead information KEYWORDS: pictographicdesign,internationalism, of aglobaltrafficinmass-consumableimages. visual language was ironically realized in the triumph political thrustjustasthedream ofaninternational gained abroad globalcurrency andlosttheir project afterthe1970s,when pictographsatonce further reflects onthedecline ofthepictographic politics inmid-twentieth-centurydesign,thisarticle Standing neatly in their rows, resolutely face forward or in strict in or forward face resolutely rows, their in neatly Standing (McLuhan 1995:313) man. cosmic for base cultural the as rivals no would have and to Disney, seem or Chaplin as easily as barriers of national transcend pictograms ideograms These the logistics. in and formula adopted scientific been already has vision of an unused Esperanto at everybody’s command. The language will world, language of visual form is, therefore, the one which lies to hand as of The national. least are cultures which media the those prefer necessarily all on drawing while man, within their own cultural monad, the language of technological up men locked always have vernaculars written the Whereas us shudder. make to ought communication” of “universals for quest The Gilles Deleuze Culture Without Without Culture Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 developed graphic strategies for the representation of social facts facts social of representation the for strategies graphic who developed communicators visual the McLuhan, Like peace. global and communication international achieve to means images a such as posited which were in 1960s, late the the from through extended decades that interwar language pictographic “international” or we have largely lost the thread of a persistent narrative of “universal” appears opaque or strange to us today, however,evocation I suggest that it is because his If them. charged McLuhan which with tion transforma- cultural of labors prodigious the for candidates unlikely Dyno Lowenstein,PictographsandGraphs:HowtoMakeUseThem , 1952. Pictograph Corporationchart:“OurJobsChange.”From RudolfModleyand New York: Harper. CourtesyofHarperCollins. “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism Figure 1

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8 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan and instantaneous informationforcomplex and labored analysis. direct substituting audiences, modern of spans attention limited the to directedreceptionitself that of corresponding instantaneity a and languages verbal existing than universal and immediate more being as “language” visual of understanding an communication: tographic pic- in developments twentieth-century inform that ideas persistent expressestwo statement This 65). 1996: al. et Cartwright in quoted (Neurath, glance” a at facts economical and sociological latest the . . sentation Economy and Society ( of Museum the of director as role latter’s the in Neurath to assistant an as served Modley 1920s, late the In The BirthofModernPictorialStatistics:ISOTYPE tor, Otto Neurath (1882–1945). information design twentieth-century has been largely overshadowed by that of of his Viennese men- development the in role central Modley Rudolf of whose theorist communications career and designer graphic a the (1906–76), of examination an through argument My unfolds period. this during exigency visual particular of its problem language the gave on that focusing internationalism 1960s, of the discourse of the end the and 1930s the between tion to roads but remedies unimagined culturalenrichment”(McLuhan1995:311). “desperate as not visuals simplified saw these, atthelevelsbothofproduction andreception. objects and the inevitable cultural specificity of the values that inform strategies, between the desire for objective and transcultural signs or designs reveal a persistent tension present in all universalizing design significant differences between Modley’sDespite context and our own, his writings and communication. cross-cultural and design strategies global of problems in interest contemporary our for in sights historical significant offers also It design. pictographic century 1970s, provides an ideal register of the shifting fortunes of twentieth- and 1960s the in advocacy design and America, corporate postwar and Deal New socialism, European interwar of contexts shifting the – tonewmeansofcommunication. plans and sections, elevations, architectural or graphs, bar and line texts, explanatory in – information this representing of modes tional tradi- from turned Museum the assumed, be not could knowledge conceptual sophisticated or literacy advanced whom of audience, public hygiene, nutrition and sport. In order to address its proletarian emigration, mortality, to unemployment and housing from Vienna,” “Red so-called of projects reform and renewal substantial the ing concern facts social the in public working-class inchoate tionally informa- but organized politically a educate to aimed that institution Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum und Gesellschafts- . . [ensuring] that even passers-by . In this article, I explore a brief history of pictographic communica- In Neurath’s own words, he sought “a system of optical repre optical of system “a sought he words, own Neurath’s In

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. that would be universal, immediate, and memorable memorable and immediate, universal, be would that . 1 Modley’s career, which incorporates . . can acquaint themselves with ) in Vienna. This was an an was This Vienna. in ) - - - Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 jectivities of individuals (profession, class, race, gender, and so so and gender, race, class, (profession, individuals of jectivities parts” (Neurath1973:326). machine supplies that workshop a from parts all like combined, be objects, industrial to akin writing that “all [ISOTYPE] them statements lie on one made single plane and can that terms of between equivalence value fundamental a on saw depending as himself figures Neurath ISOTYPE reproduction. mass) (or serial for designed “machine- in origins forms simplified its its in logic industrial replicatingan modernism, age” reflected ISOTYPE respect, this in 137); 1999: (Lupton sign” repeatable schematic, a into detail perienced identical figures (Figure 2). of repetition serial the through differences) quantitative data (particularly social-scientific represent to aimed that them combining for of a grammar of standardized, abstracted pictorial symbols the and rules or ISOTYPE, was Typographicof consisted System ISOTYPE International Education. historiography, design graphic in mented ISOTYPE’s condensation of social data and the complex sub complex the and data social of condensation ISOTYPE’s Ellen Lupton has described these figures as concentrating “ex concentrating as figures these described has Lupton Ellen The outcome of Neurath’s project, which has been well docu well been has which project, Neurath’s of outcome The Isotype chart:“HomeandFactoryWeaving inEngland.”From OttoNeurath, Modern ManintheMaking.1930.NewYork: Knopf. “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism Courtesy ofRandomHouse. Figure 2 - - -

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10 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan in anewageofcross-cultural understandingandglobalpeace. overcoming trenchant problems of international conflict and ushering pictographic communication could be charged with the potential for which in moment historical a at design of concerns the articulate to thus and ideology humanist and internationalist with engagements and the late 1960s in order to adumbrate a partial history of design’s focuses on the shifting nature of this “quest” between the late 1920s networked societies(Deleuze1995:175). modes of social control he saw as dominating late twentieth-century pervasive and decentralized the with communication’” of ‘universals information andcorporatecommunications(Figure 3). news education, for pictographs ISOTYPE-like of production distribution and commercial Statistics the promoting Pictorial company a established Incorporated, and York New to relocated had those lines established by Neurath’s team in Vienna, by 1934 along Modley exhibits pictographic planned he where Chicago, in Industry and Science of Museum established newly the at curator chief as position introduced new his in 1930 in States Having United the to methods ISOTYPE Modley. as permutations, various its through goal, this to committed consistently so remain would none Perhaps Pictographs andtheAmericanContext objective value. of framework overarching an to culture of complexities the and life subjective of plenitude the reduced it as character,insofar in tarian goal of wholly instrumentalized communication was essentially totali- states. of characteristic as totalitarian twentieth-century and economies capitalist modern both identified Adorno Theodor that rationality of modes those with and industry of logic the with compatibility further its evincing as seen be may figures repeatable schematic, into on) mestic and foreign policy in this period, both in the bureaucratic bureaucratic the in both period, this in policy foreign and mestic do- American in sciences social the of role emerging the to suited public” (Shanken2006:310). the engage to which in language universal purportedly and modern, resolutely popular, abstract, “an called has Shanken Andrew what with planners and architects educators, sociologists, economists, provided pictographs public, mass a geography, to human planning and architecture economics, of discourses technical new the translating of means privileged a reports.As corporate and lications pub- government periodicals, and books routinely mass-market in employed were they where design, information of field burgeoning the of forefront the into diagrams pictographic impor moving an in role played tant 1940) in Corporation Pictograph the (renamed While acknowledging the power of such critiques, this article article this critiques, such of power the acknowledging While For Adorno, the reduction of particulars to universals toward a toward universals to particulars of reduction the Adorno, For The visual language of pictorial statistics proved particularly well particularly proved statistics pictorial of language visual The Modley’scompany 1950s, late the and mid-1930s the Between 2 More recently, Gilles Deleuze identified “the quest for 3 - Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 pictographs eversince”(Modley1952:8). gain to of users order steady been in have agencies form Government support. popular graphic in story their told agencies federal administration, Roosevelt first the expand under of activities course government the ing “in 1952, in recounted Modley As 2003). (Martin administration military and corporate postwar and wartime of complex” “organizational the and projects Deal New of context coverage in the pages of the of receiving pages the in coverage graphics Modley’s and ISOTYPE with period, this from writings popular in registered is communication visual American in declared “War on Syphilis” employed Modley’s pictographs in a in pictographs nation-wide public healtheducationcampaign (Figure 4). Modley’s employed Syphilis” on “War declared forces” (Kaempffert 1936: 618). used ever to give life to designs statistics, geography, extraordinary natural resources and most social the “formulated having 1936 as a article in him described and Vienna in known had Neurath who Kaempffert, Waldemar Industry) and Science of Times York the by out carried was America in pictographs of promotion (Modley 1935, 1937a, 1937b, 1938, 1942, 1952). Much of the early uses further their market and communication in pictographs the of use for grounding theoretical a provide to both served period this the and as such morepublications to specialized addition in The rapidity with which pictographic images attained a foothold a attained images pictographic which with rapidity The Starting in 1936, US Surgeon General Thomas Parran’s newly newly Parran’s Thomas General Surgeon US 1936, in Starting Pictorial Statistics,Inc.chart:“Telefact: TheFiveGreat NavalPowers.” Science News-Letter Science science editor (and inaugural director of the Museum Museum the of director inaugural (and editor science Reprinted inThePublicOpinionQuarterly,October1938. “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism and the and YorkTimes New , while Modley’s own writings from from writings own Modley’s while , Courtesy ofOxford UniversityPress. 4 Graphic Survey Survey Graphic Survey New YorkerNew Figure 3 New New -

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12 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan “has come to occupy a leading position among graphs designed designed graphs among position leading a occupy to come “has National Tuberculosis Associationin 1938–42(Bolton1998:303). the for charts ISOTYPE and 1937–9, in Health of YorkDepartment New of City the tuberculosis for fighting for charts Corp. Pictograph including – programs education health public in statistics pictorial of commissions other spurred likely Parran’smessage,” promoting in tools important as educators health public other by “seen were By 1942, a review of Modley’s work noted that the pictograph pictograph the that noted work Modley’s of review a 1942, By which images, such that suggested has Bolton A. Conevery Pictorial Statistics,Inc.chart:“HowSyphilisSpreads.” Survey Graphic,July1936. Reprinted inSurvey Figure 4 5

Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 for popular consumption . in the universalizing discourses of pictorial language. Informed on the culture. white of discourses “conceptual” the to Navajo “experiential” the of tion whose relation to verbal language paralleled the putative relation communica- of form a thus also were they denoted), and depicted referentsthey objective more“things” directtheir (the relationship to or closer a having writing, alphabetic than impact their in universal alongside writtentextinbothEnglishandNavajo(Figure 5). graphics of language “factual” more the employing of necessity supporting the in project, the in participation Modley’s of context the in significance added on took that idea an was This ideas. abstract than rather fact of matters of basis the on operating being, of mode “experiential” an in them placed that peoples native of readings cal Navajo, Modleyasserted, The 154). 1940: (Davis erosion” soil of perils and nutrition, germs, tentive, but bewildered, Navajos simple facts about modern farming, at- to explain to put hard been have conservationists and teachers, Museum of Society and Economy: “heretofore, field service doctors, Neurath’sstronglyresonatedwith that terms the for mandate earlier a project, this of profile the from a journalist In language. Navajo written a of ment education program of the Office of Indian Affairs toward the develop- public new a on ethnologists with collaborated Modley 1930s, late into virtuallyeveryAmericanhome”(Schmid1954:231). papers, magazines, and books, has literally brought this type of chart unit charts on a commercial basis for governmental agencies, news- graph Corporation, “through the preparation of hundreds of pictorial Modley’sPicto­ that state admiringly could presentation graphic of ( 1937: 488). And by speaking” the mid-1950s, the author of a statistically book on methods stride his in States United whole the “taking as Modley of description Graphic’searlier Survey in echoed claim a 566), 1942: (Scates involved” are quantities a few of reports popular relatively wherever field graphic the of nance The Navajo project also highlights some broader issues operative wereimages moresuch and suggested, immediate Modley as If, Modley’s responses in this interview reiterate classic anthropologi- Davis 1940:157). we recent. within decades coined ourselves terms of full is conservation and nutrition, health, of talk language is such a barrier . because is that and man’s thoughts, white the think doesn’t Gave up his deerskin coat for modern materials . that he can see or touch or taste. He drinks coffee, uses sugar. gets little of the white man’s culture mentally. He accepts much the In well. as nation the of corners remote more some to And outlined Modley’s views in Modley’sviews outlined News-Letter Science . . [and] has swept into indisputable domi- . “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism . After all, don’t forget our modern . . (Modley,. in quoted . Graphic Survey . But [he] still

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14 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan graphic symbol language. universal a of adoption promoteglobal to and was development the goal whose Inc., GYLPHS, named organization an established they together Mead, Margaret anthropologist noted the with mid-1960s the forcesin Joining 1974). 1966, (Modley life his of decade last the in attention increasing These dedicated Modley making. which to decision problems were economic and political on influence ing perts in different fields and to the broader public – belied their grow - ex between both incommunicability, growing and – specialization and separation growing whose sciences, social and natural the of or international cultures, but also between the emergent “languages” local different between communication improving at only not aimed increasingly were systems pictographic decades, postwar the Over Communication AmongAllPeople,Everywhere advocates’ universalambitionsforthislanguageofsigns. projectpictographic its the despite in whole, suggest, a I as implicit, remainsmarginally literate audiences. Something of this paternalism or non-literate of edification the for “things” of one immediate an to designers and scientists social by translated and understood ideas abstract and statistics of plane a from moving communication, way one- paternalistic, a hand other the on imply frequently discourses good­ public (global) a of service in working design – cation one hand by a spirit of and internationalism cross-cultural communi- Artist unknown.PosterforOfficeofIndianAffairs, 1940.Reprintedin The ScienceNews-Letter,March 1940. – these – Figure 5 -

Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 on the other, as fundamentally a problem of communication. continued national-ideological conflicts inVietnam and the Cold War contact (in the jet and telecommunications age) on the cross-cultural one hand and and international increased between disjunction the perceiving peace, global and citizenship engaged to obstacles ing implications. or read signs at their destination, their argument clearly had broader communicate to inability their in travelers by faced jet-age unease the the and in travel international of the ease on the focused between article disjunction this in example central authors’ the While . world developed technologically . requirement “first a as primitive,” however culture, any of members the by and language, any of speakers the by understood be can Modley that signs and clear,unambiguous of set Mead “a goal: their outlined Everywhere,” People, All Among munication in this period – a period that nonetheless saw the emergence of of emergence the saw nonetheless that period a – period this in strategies design of development actual the on had call any,this if impact, and what unclear is It effective, 57–8). 1968: date, Modley and to (Mead simple” up system symbol international the keep to experts national and international of body permanent a and try; nationwide a coun one any into introduced are glyphs as campaign development; educational glyph for support public and private broad testing; and Mead development, research, “co-ordinated and for called Modley frameworks, governmental and infrastructural broad by supported be to initiatives such for need of the Recognizing amelioration. their adoption toward the step significant posit a as and signs pictographic communication of difficulties as age and Mead’s article(Mead1969:787–9). NaturalHistory Modley to reader the directs note a point, this At communication.” cross-ideological cross-disciplinary,and of cross-national, methods of development and exploration further the for need urgent “an ues, the to adequate dissemination of scientific knowledge. “Thereobstacle is,” it contin- key a as difficult” exceedingly adjacent made among is disciplines interaction essential the that specialties narrow such into science of fragmentation “the identifies report knowl the edge, technical and scientific of dissemination the in regulation” American AssociationfortheAdvancementofScience. the Committee on Science in the Promotion of Human Welfare at the in Science and Technology,” authored by Mead in her role as head of in greater relief in a 1969 report entitled “Secrecy and Dissemination citizenry.informed an of goal appearedthe ideas endangering Such problem serious a as here addressed discourses, social-scientific and technological, scientific, various of incommensurability the was ditional and growing importance in Mead’s writings of the late 1960s Modley and Mead posed graphics as one means of ameliorat of means one as graphics posed Mead and Modley In a 1968 article in the journal journal the in article 1968 a In Taken together, these texts set out the key problems of the the of problems key the out set texts these together, Taken and communication of mechanisms different “the Emphasizing “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism . .” (Mead and Modley 1968: 57). 1968: Modley and (Mead .” Natural History Natural , titled “Com titled , . . for our for . 6 Of ad- - ­ - -

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16 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan languages of the earth” (Neurath 1936: 17). Being more universal universal more Being 17). 1936: (Neurath earth” the of languages . language “helping a former the calling language, ISOTYPE’sverbal to relation In image. the for assembled context provide to text accompanying of minimum barest the by supplemented theoretically, be could which recognizableand immediately least at were, that elements graphic of combination the through fact of “statements” visual producing in language, ten include Esperanto, Interlingua, and BASIC English. BASIC and Interlingua, Esperanto, products whose include centuries, twentieth and nineteenth the of ment systems connects at this point with the constructed pictographic language move- international toward movement The communication. international must simplified of goal languages the toward reformed these be themselves that suggested systems) pictographic advocates of other (among Mead and Modley them, supplemented future” (MeadandModley1968:58). the for hopes and past the of memories about religion, and politics about events, “about communication requiredfor still was language verbal road,” the of rules money,and of directions, ness schedules, busi- “the to relatedproblems solve could “glyphs” while that wrote the between capabilities and limits of both pictographs and verbal language, they Distinguishing communication. visual and verbal of renovation global a than less nothing propose to symbols these of selection the beyond go to aimed Mead and Modley article, History Picture Language Picture recommended itself both to Neurath (whose 1936 work by Charles K. Ogden to do the work of some 20,000 English words, designed rules combinatory words five 850 and of lexicon simplified somewhat obscure reasons, theysuggestedArmenian). languages in favor of adopting a single existing national language (for artificial these rejected they although signs, communication pictographic alongside verbal simplified for need the affirmed Mead and Modley 27). 1939: (Brinton necessary” are words any where used is English BASIC if of international completely made be may language – eye the international the – “graphics that 1939 in wrote who graphics statistical of theorist American leading a Brinton, C. Willard case, my interest here lies less in demonstrating the in the language demonstrating pictographic in less lies here interest my any case, In interest. public the in communication visual and graphic standards with concerned bodies international and national various parable to the French Academy” (Modley 2006: 75). would be most useful might well call for the creation of a body com- which symbols of set small a selecting of task “the that suggested design. century a as communication graphic universal of If pictographs did not replace verbal languages, but rather rather but languages, verbal replace not did pictographs If Neurath and his associates had sought largely to bypass writ bypass to largely sought had associates his and Neurath Some years earlier, in the pages of pages the earlier,in years Some . . into which statements may be put from all the normal the all from put be may statements which into . was written entirely in BASIC English) and to to and English) BASIC in entirely written was International Picture Language Picture International practice , than in exploring the fortunes fortunes the exploring in than , magazine, Modley had Modley magazine, Print dream of mid-twentieth- of 7 In their 8 , he clarified clarified he , This last, a last, This International efficacy Natural of of - Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 of Pictorial Symbols (Modley 1976) – suggested that its value lay not assumptions. and concerns Western specifically of moreover reflection their and specificity, cultural unacknowledged and implicit that their critiques out by pointed challenged was signs of visual and universality symbols purported these the Increasingly, and age. its assumptions of the all blind-spots by marred and marked universalism ist - modern a of expression an would as period, this decades in critique postwar under come the in others and Modley by promoted communication pictographic of model the time, same the At 1979). and 1974 between Associates Shanosky and Cook by (designed System” Transportation’sSign of “Symbol Department US the and Munich in Olympics 1972 the Aicher’sfor Otl pictographs including signage, transportation and wayfinding global much of model the as 1970s the after success remarkable find would Esperanto” used in ideologyanddeeplyrooted structures ofpower. of slippage the and communication of modes all of imbrication the asserted or meaning difference emphasized either that language of theories adumbrating were Europe from coming developments intellectual contemporary while subject, universal a of postulate its and democracy liberal American of inclusivity alleged the to lie the of Feminist, corners. civil rights, and number gay liberation movements had put a from critique under come to beginning was projects the 1970s pictographic designers’ both underlay and that humanism universalizing 1960s late the by Modley, of that and Neurath of internationalism the between differences ideological the Whatever Anti-universalism: ChallengeandCritique politics. liberal-humanist brandofinternationalist initial use and freed them up to become relatively neutral agents of a effectivelyfromseveredtheir – them whatsoever content any trating illus – publications mass-media for diagrams producing in means an to reform economic and underinformed working class public, Modley’ssocial appropriation of these in developments vital certain communicate to need the by exigency, of sense a by driven been had experiments pictographic Neurath’s Where question. open an 1952: 17). (Modley ideas” of series a present to used successfully be may and it, supplement but language, written the replace not “do tographs pic- that writing Neurath, echo later would he 73), 1937a: (Modley “the ideal chart would have no lettering. It would be self-explanatory” supply context and concept. While Modley had once suggested that to language verbal on dependent inherently remaining languages”, “normal these to auxiliary or supplementary remained nonetheless than any specific verbal language could be, pictographic “language” In this vein, a 1979 reviewer of Modley’s last work – the “un- an as design pictographic of project the respects, some In remainedpictographs presentedin be to ideas the natureof The “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism Handbook -

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18 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan “Pictograph CorporationSymbols” from RudolfModley, HandbookofPictorialSymbols. 1976. and Economy, Neurathasserted: Mickey Mouseanimatedcartoon”(Kaempffert 1933:9). a as point its in unmistakable as and appeal its in “international as vernacular tional - interna ideology,an and language culture, of barriers across man” “technological unite to communication of model new a for arguing were others and Modley,Mead Neurath, that decades same the in that suggest to seemed critical, or valorizing whether approaches, media mass Such meaning. cultural of sites significant as society communication, consumer and of forms popular were on they focusing humanism, also universal of narrative modernist the down important aspectofculturalhistory”(Ashwin1979:343–4). increasingly an on book source accessible and useful a constitutes . symbols. value-free pletely ethnic and social assumptions in what were once regarded as com- national, latent of pictographs older the in emergence the is striking motivated signs and and between similar semiotic concepts. arbitrary “Particularly between connotation, and denotation between ship relation paradoxical often and reviewer problematic the the highlighting noted, analysis,” semiotic for material fascinating provides page (Figureafter deconstruction “Page for 6). fodder as and usage semiotic modern recordof historical a as rather but communication in its worth as a tool for designers seeking to employ pictographs for the the of readers the to ISOTYPE of introduction Kaempffert’s 1933 age; global the of problems communication the for languages tographic power and appeal of these forms as supporting the adoption of pic- the cited frequently who design, pictographic of innovators the by point early an from acknowledged been had magazines illustrated and posters photojournalism, books, comic television, film, of forms 1995: 313). (McLuhan form” visual of “language a of power the supporting as identified had McLuhan entertainment mass of modes and forms In 1926, the year following the opening of the Museum of Society breaking were paradigms theoretical new as time same the At A connection between pictographic communication and popular and communication pictographic between connection A New York Times Magazine Times York New New York: DoverPublications.Courtesy ofDoverPublications. had in fact taken root, in those same commodity commodity same those in root, taken fact in

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. Used in this way, the publication publication the way, this in Used . described the pictograph as being being as pictograph the described Figure 6 - Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 advertising, as in Coca-Cola’s 1971 “I’d like to buy the world a world the buy to like “I’d 1971 Coca-Cola’s in as advertising, its in co-operation international of discourse latter’s the exploiting were but peoples, world’s the among communication of aim its in language pictographic supplanted only not had America corporate 1970s, the increasingly international products and brand identities of vance of its reception by a host of mediated messages. By the early already imbued with this context, its meaning overdetermined in ad- for need verbal language the to provide with context. Or away rather, doing the product while image was – informational identification an product – fact conveyed they pictographs, unlike recognition; immediate of power arresting and simple a pictographs, like had, production) of sites their in later and markets their in first at global, a lexicon: capitalist andbrandedparalleltoModleyMead’s “glyphs.” international new a formed village,” “global McLuhan’s throughout disseminated corporatism, American postwar of brands franca lingua visual a objects, their and images these saw,in postmodernism) to birth give to about designers mention to (not theorists media and semioticians of generation new a understanding, cross-cultural for campaigns international or citizenship engaged toward education need in stood of nonetheless that action communicative of source images and techniques of advertising and mass media as a powerful information absorb to desire through visualimpressions” (Modley1952:4). popular the to witness bear vision tele- and movies comics, tabloids, magazines, “picture that writing forms, media mass of rise the to explicitly more this connected he later,decades Some 5). 1937a: (Modley arresting” and informative simple, are which things those to attention their limit hurry their in “Well who women and men modern of pictographs: attention the win charts of executed directness media visual mass the of for thusly attractions argued the and by women and men of attention Vossoughian 2008b: 242). in quoted (Neurath, way!” the us show will tisement adver that, modern “the communication, public exclaiming of problems with faced communication, mass of possibilities the about transformation “Western” consumer goods (which were, however, increasingly increasingly however, were, (which goods consumer “Western” the seen had proponentspictographs other of and Modley While the on placed demands the emphasized Modley part, his For In other texts from the same period, he was even more exuberant quoted inHartmann2008:283-84). and (Neurath, hustle. visual this Exhibitions of offspring indeed are museums representations. as well as signals optical year to year. In addition, the advertising business operates with and photographs, films. Daily newspapers bring more pictures knowledge from his of part general education by way of pictorial large impressions, illustrations, a receives man modern for the globalized age. In this view, the logos and and logos the view, this In age. globalized the for toward socially productive ends, whether public public whether ends, productive socially toward “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism -

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20 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan recognition: mass-consumptionamongallshoppers,everywhere. together the world’s peoples for greater market share through brand bringing of that – goal dubious more yet a achieved advertising and products peace of language for the pictographs, through nations understanding and and peoples together bring to sought naïvely, failure, butalso thoseoftheircurrent success. earlier their of conditions the with only not contend to have will they urgency and agency given to them in mid-twentieth century projects, the of something regain yet may pictographs If boundaries. cultural rather the hegemonic reach of Western “culture” across national and but appeal, universal inherent an not indicates ubiquity global their negatively.is, only That today,is content it social any communicate of multinational corporations than with Modley’s charts and glyphs – logos the with common in more have arguably which – pictographs been setasidehere infavor ofamore generic“recognition.” Ifthese to which the utopian ambitions of earlier pictographic designers have temporary life. The success of such icons, however, belies the con- extent in a systems pictographic are of efficacy practical Interfaces, the to User testament Graphic computers’ our of icons desktop the or hubs, transportation global and toilets public in signage tion Disney” thanbythe“ideograms”inwhichheplacedsomuch faith. base today,exists McLuhan’s more by defined surelyone cultural is it or “Chaplin global shared a If networks. communications these same by facilitated of entertainments, spread and goods global branded the Western and McLuhan by foreseen instantaneous of communication networks those of scale global a on expansion life. The four decades since his death have seen both the remarkable – tensions that are perhaps even greater today than during Modley’s communication graphic universal at aiming project any in inherent tensions and ambiguities the embodies also it language, tographic audience. municate complex social and economic relationships to a globalized com- to visualization data of problems to more once turn designers as today, us for holds work such significance what ask might We many aspects of which now appear as outmoded relics of their age. particular conceptions of universal man that informed these projects, universalist- the humanist notions and on which they relied. We have images lost our taste for the these of both biases cultural edged was ultimately undermined by critiques that revealed the unacknowl- goal This reception. visual straightforward and fact in basis their of versality of images, presumed to stand above local cultures by virtue uni and objectivity alleged the in communication global for dation foun- new a sought article this in outlined projects pictographic The Conclusion campaign. Coke” The little men and women, suitcases and cigarettes of informa- of cigarettes and suitcases women, and men little The If Modley’s career charts the rise and fall of a certain dream of pic- 9 Where Modley and his colleagues had, however had, colleagues his and Modley Where - Downloaded by [Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi] at 06:22 15 March 2016 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Notes the anonymousreviewers ofthisarticlefortheircomments. I would like to thank Peter M. Modley for his generosity and time, and Acknowledgment Brinton echoed this concern: “with international conditions conditions seems there international worse, getting and unsettled “with world the throughout concern: this echoed Brinton In the opening pages of his his of pages opening the In Association Graphic1938:vol.27:139–41). (Survey Tuberculosis National the for charts Neurath’s of selection a presented issue 1938 a while 1936), (Parran Graphic of issue 1936 a in Modley’scharts, of pictorial number a by accompanied syphilis, against campaign the outlined Parran photographer. WPA well-known a was Walcott, Post Marion sister-in-law, his and mid-1930s, the in posters WPA on worked himself Modley Administration. Securities Farm Works its and the Administration of Progress surveys photographic and programs poster includes the and graphics statistical of uses incidental beyond far extended programs Deal New in education graphic to turn The zation” (Modley1935:XX6). Modley’s belying 1935 description of the firm as “a non-profit15), membership organi- 1938: (Maloney clients institutional and corporate its of list partial a giving business,” a “$30,000-a-year as Inc. Statistics, Pictorial of firm “flourishing” the to referred “TalkA Town”the of of issue 1938 a in segment phenomenon” (Hartmann2008:284). statistical a simply is He features. individual no personality, no has character.He a not “is writes, Hartmann “man,” This man.” “average or moyen,” “l’homme fiction, statistical teenth-century nine great Quetelet’s Adolphe in ancestor an has ISOTYPE of In this respect, Frank Hartmann suggests, the “pictographic man” 2008b; Hartmann2008;Jansen2009. 2008a, Vossoughian 1998; Bolton 1990; Galison 1999; 1986, Twymaninclude would Lupton Kinross2009; 1975; 1981, 1979, Modley,referenceto passing even give which of few sources, of on Neurath and ISOTYPE, by contrast, is voluminous: a short list nication” (Crawley 1994). The relevant English-language literature on date commu- visual Modley’sto Rudolf contribution glyphs: to to charts article “From brief but valuable Crawley’s historical R. Charles is sole Modley’swork The graphics. information twentieth-century of development the in role Modley’s to date to paid of been has attention no subject virtually studies, recent numerous the been has work Neurath’s Whereas period. this serves better to register the design shifts in visual communication during information twentieth-century of margins the on long Modley’s career communication, graphic of development the in While Neurath was in many respects a more significant innovator “An Unused Esperanto”: Internationalism andPictographicDesign,1930–70 “An UnusedEsperanto”:Internationalism Graphic Presentation Graphic The New YorkerNew The , Willard C. C. Willard , Survey Survey -

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22 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan Ashwin, Clive. 1979. “Review of Rudolf Modley, References Backer, Bill. 1993. 1993. Bill. Backer, Cartwright, Nancy et al. 1996. 1996. al. et Nancy Cartwright, 1939. C. Willard Brinton, Universal of Project the and “ISOTYPE 1998. A. Conevery Bolton, 9. 8. 7. Symbols.” Leonardo,12(4):343–4. Science andPolitics.NewYork: CambridgeUniversityPress. Associates. American of Languages Literature, pp.380–8.NewYork: NYUPress. the and Ethnicity, Transnationalism, (ed.), Sollors Werner In Language.” Graphic Random House. peoples” (Backer1993:7). all between commonality of bit tiny a as refresherbut liquid – a – be to designed originally was it as not Coke see to idea: “basic a in campaign this of origins the recalled 1971, in account Cola Coca- the on directorcreative Backer, McCann-Erickson Bill the totalitarian “Newspeak”ofhisdystopiannovel1984. the for basis the as it used English, Basic of supporter erstwhile Grammar K. Charles Ogden author in his British the by introduced was use, national inter for English of Scientific form simplified a American Commercial), International (British English Basic (IALA). Association Language Auxiliary International the by 1951 and 1937 between developed was characteristics, Romance-language on based Interlingua, 1887. in Zamenhof L.L. by created was languages, international constructed the of successful most the Esperanto, University ofTennessee. IthankBrianDonnellyforthisreference. the of campus the on case test initial an following signage, tion transporta- national in used be to graphics universal of set a of establishment the for Transportation of Department U.S. the to architect Bill the Lacy and the (with Canadian graphic Modley designer Paul by Arthur) 1967 in made proposal ill-fated an in ured prefig was project This Program. Improvement Design Federal in Associates Shanosky & association with the AIGA Signs Cook and Symbols Committee by and the designed System,” Sign Transportation’sof “Symbol Department U.S. the was initiatives govern both such of outcome One institutions. intergovernmental and with mental co-operation in standards and communication AIGA including associations ICOGRADA advanced projects toward the development of visual design 1970s and the during 1960s call, this from resulted directly body such no graphic While common a such for need language” (Brinton1939:15). a before ever than more (1930) and and (1930) Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and h Cr ad edn o Ideas. of Feeding and Care The Debabelization Graphic Presentation Graphic Otto Neurath: Philosophy between between Philosophy Neurath: Otto (1931). George Orwell, an an Orwell, George (1931). Handbook of Pictorial Multilingual America: Multilingual . New York: Brinton Brinton York: New . 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24 Design and Culture Keith Bresnahan Modley, Rudolf. 1937a. 1937a. Rudolf. Modley, Modley,Told“Facts 1935. Rudolf. areStatistics Pictorially: Prepared Modley, Rudolf. 1942. Tomorrow.” and Today “Pictographs 1938. Rudolf. Modley, Modley, Rudolf.1937b.“LanguageinPictures.” PM,4:26–30. Modley, Rudolf. 1966. “Graphic Symbols for World-Wide World-Wide Words,”without Language Modley,“World 1974. Rudolf. for Symbols “Graphic 1966. Rudolf. Modley, Vossoughian, Nader. 2008b. “The Modern Museum in the Age of of Age the in Museum Modern “The 2008b. Nader. Vossoughian, 2008a. Nader. Vossoughian, In Isotype.” of Significance “The 1975. Michael. Twyman, Graphic Survey of Visuality The Kahn: Uncharted “The 2006. Andrew. Shanken, and F.1954. Calvin Schmid, Summarizing, “Reporting, 1942. E. Douglas Scates, Go.” to Plague Great Next “The 1936. Thomas. Parran, (eds), Cohen S. Robert and Neurath Maria In 1973. Otto. Neurath, Neurath, Otto. 1936. Modley, Rudolf.2006.“BacktotheFuture.” Print,60(4):75. 1976. Rudolf. Modley, 15 (SundaySection):XX6. in Graphic Form for Use in Schools.” Public OpinionQuarterly, 2(4):659–64. Harper. pp. 108–25.NewYork: Braziller. (ed.), Kepes Gyorgy In Communication.” Corp. uoen oens ad h Ifrain Society Ashgate, pp.241–55. Information the and Modernism European (ed.), Rayward Boyd W. In Vienna.” in Economy and Society Museum of the and Neurath Otto Reproducibility: Mechanical its Global Polis.Amsterdam: NAiPublishers. pp. 7–17. Communication through Isotype. Reading: University of Reading, Graphic, 26(9):488–9. 88(2): 310–27. 1940s.” and 1930s the in Promotion and Planning York: RonaldPress. Research, 12(5):558–74. Research.” Educational Implementing Graphic, 25(7):405–41. Empiricism andSociology.Dordrecht: Reidel. of ISOTYPE.London:KeganPaul,Trench, Trubner &Co. Sources. Publications. International from Examples Communication, 24(4):59–66. . 1937. “Modley Pictorializes the US.” US.” the Pictorializes “Modley 1937. . International Picture Language: The First Rules 1000 Pictorial Symbols. New York: Pictograph How to Use Pictorial Statistics. Statistics. Pictorial Use to How Handbook of Pictorial Symbols: 3,250 3,250 Symbols: Pictorial of Handbook Handbook of Graphic Presentation Graphic of Handbook Otto Neurath: The Language of the the of Language The Neurath: Otto New York Times, September Review of Educational Educational of Review Sign, Image, Symbol, Symbol, Image, Sign, New York: Dover Dover York: New Bulletin, Art New York: New . London: London: . Journal of Journal Graphic Graphic Survey Survey Survey Survey . New New . The The