Scientific rambling
Test you, these public toilet signs in the picture belowCan you read it?
Generally speaking, the men's restroom is a little blue man, and the women's restroom is a little pink man in a skirt. But today's public toilet is a hallmark,It's all sorted.
It worksGeometric patternsCombinations, such as triangles, water droplets, diagonal lines, etc., are also usefulArtistic patterns, still use our traditional Chinese elements, such as Peking Opera masks, Dunhuang murals, silhouettes and so on.
In a word, yesVery creative. It looks pretty good, butBut it's confusingIn front of me, it is the men's toilet or the women's toilet.
For many young people, wanting to be in these two abstract patterns,It is not easy to accurately distinguish between the men's and women's toiletsNot to mention vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children.
Originally, the eyes were not good, and the ability to distinguish was not high, but the signs on the public toilets were all in foreign language and geometric patternsIt's even more difficult for them to discern.
How difficult are the public toilet signs to distinguish today?
As early as July 2023, People's Daily Online published such an articleCriticizing public toilet signs for engaging in tricks under the banner of innovation is actually a manifestation of putting the cart before the horse.
Such an evaluation can be said to be a very accurate summary of the current situation of many public toilet signs.
In the traditional impression, the logo of the toilet is a blue and a red two different colors of villains, among which the logo of the women's toilet is mostly a pattern wearing a skirt.
In addition, there will be a clear sign of "men's and women's toilets" in Chinese next to itIt's self-explanatory.
However, with the development of time, the two villains who used to have very different colors have gradually become a unified color, either gold or blue. You can't tell the gender division from the color.
Not only that, but there have also been great changes in the villain's dress. Some of the public toilet logos are the same color, but at least they are still retained."Women wear skirtsThis image characteristic.
This kind of can be accurately identified, and there are two kinds of confusing ones, one is useGeometric patterns for toilet logos.
It's like two of the above diagramsOne is an arc villain, and the other is a triangle villainCan you tell exactly which one is the men's restroom and which one is the women's restroom?
There is also such a pattern, except for the bottom triangle, the others are exactly the same, and people with bad eyes will think that the two signs are not different.
So with these two signs above, can you accurately state the answer? I believe that many people have to hesitate.
In addition to this, there is also a kind of public toilet sign,It is distinguished by small animals. For example, in the following one, using an elephant and a giraffe as a symbol for a public toilet, can you tell which is the men's toilet and which is the women's toilet?
The answer is that elephants are men's toilets and giraffes are women's toilets. Q is the strength of the elephant, which symbolizes the strength of men, so the elephant represents the men's toilet.
The giraffe, on the other hand, is tall and thin in size and has a gentle personality, which is just used to symbolize the women's toilet.
Speaking of this, it also makes people very speechless, after all, who is in a hurry to go to the toilet when they go outYou have to stand in the doorway and reason about the symbolism behind the patternIsn't the main thing for everyone to go to the toilet is to solve it quickly?
Alas, it can only be said,Make "convenient" inconvenient,It's really a headache.
In fact, our country has a pattern for men's and women's toilets, as well as men's and women's bathroomshave made clear specifications.
In 2000, China's State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision issued the "Public Information Graphic Symbols for Signs Part I: General Symbols", in which it is clearly stipulated that the patterns in men's and women's toilets and bathrooms should be represented asMen wear trousers and women wear skirts.
But,In many places, this standard is not followed.
So, even if the standards announced by the state are not implemented, at the local level, which cities have made a unified specification for toilet signs?
Currently, likeBeijing, Nanjing, and Guangzhouand other cities, which have unified the standardization of public toilet signs.
AlthoughThe standards of the norms varySome of them are "public toilets" with a uniform blue background and white characters for the guidance board, some are "a male and female character image" for the toilet sign, and some are for the bathroom to be a unified "male men, female women".
But without exception, it is emphasized that it is necessary to be on itIndicated in Chinese
This is also in line with the needs of many netizens, and many people said that all kinds of patterns and logos can be neat, as long as they add a "male and female Chinese characters" next to it.
For the problem that the logo pattern of the bathroom is becoming more and more abstract, many people will express their wonder and feel that the pattern of a small bathroomWhy do you have to do all the bells and whistles?
In fact, for this question, Professor Hu Chunyan of the School of Public Administration of Central South University believesWhether the signs of public restrooms are standardized, clear and beautiful actually reflect the fine management level of a city.
From this, it can also be seen why many places make a big fuss about the bathroom signs. It's just that the starting point is good, but the blind pursuit of individuality is justIt deviates from the original purpose of public toilets to be convenient for the public
In addition to being able to serve as a mirror of the city's fine management,Bathroom signs can also reflect the aesthetic pursuit of modern people.
They are not satisfied with the conventional shape, and strive to make a new twist on the traditional bathroom logo pattern, using the traditional art expression of Peking Opera masks, Dunhuang murals, and silhouettesIt also reflects the cultural self-confidence of our people.
More creative, more confident, and more aesthetic, such a thing is a good thing, but the bad thing is that it doesn't grasp the right sense of proportion and goes too farExcessive pursuit of creativity, novelty and individuality.
Let what should be a simple toilet, by the way, admire the toilet logo, become pondering the toilet logo first, and then go to the toilet.
In addition to the two reasons mentioned above, there is another reasonIt is a blind obedience to foreign cultures.
After a casual search on the Internet, you will find that the signs of public toilets in the West are also variedThis is because there are many transgender people in the WestIn order to take their needs into account, more types of logos had to be designed.
But in our country, transgender people are still only a minority after all, and the traditional men's and women's toilets have been able to meet the needs of ordinary people to go out to the toiletThere's no need to do any more weird styles.
In this regard, Zou Zhendong, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Xiamen University, suggestedA "negative list" of public restroom signs can be introduced at the local level to explain which signs cannot appearWhile setting the bottom line for public restroom signage, it also gives room for creativity.