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You've probably all seen an exit sign before and have a pretty good idea of what one looks like, but how an exit sign looks differs depending on where you live.
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However, there is one design that most designers agree is the best and most effective.
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That's the ISO graphic symbol for emergency exits, designed by Japanese graphic designer Yukio Ota.
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Well, I should say, most of us outside of the US agree that it's the best.
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If you live in the US, or maybe elsewhere, you may be skeptical, but I'm here to try to convince you otherwise.
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In the late 1970s, a Japanese fire safety association held a contest for a new national exit sign design.
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Entries underwent extensive user testing to evaluate their effectiveness in smokey environments.
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The winner, among over 3,000 entries, was Yukio Ota's design.
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Ota's primary design philosophy is to create universal symbols that transcend language barriers.
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That vision, at least for this particular design, was realized in 1985 when ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, adopted the Japanese exit sign as a part of their standards for safety signs.
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ISO was founded in 1947 to unify standards across nations and better facilitate international trade.
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There are ISO standards for just about everything, from the classifications of shipping containers to standards for brewing tea.
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Ota's design is now used all over the world.
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Certain regions sometimes use a variation it, but essentially, the green and white running figure can be found everywhere from China to Czech Republic to France and to Canada.
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So, why is this a good design?
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Well, first, it's doesn't require you to know the language the sign happens to be in.
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Our world is becoming increasingly globalized.
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I live in a city with a pretty large immigrant population who aren't all fluent in English.
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But maybe you think, "If someone is moving to a new country, they should learn basic words like 'exit".”
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Okay, yes, probably.
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But what about tourists, young children, and people with reading-related disabilities?
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Overall, a pictogram-based sign is just more accessible.
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But why is this particular design better than other pictogram based signs?
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Well, because it's a simple design, but it communicates a lot.
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The figure appears to be running out of a doorway, but running steadily and calmly as opposed to sprinting and rushing.
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Because, in an emergency, you want people to move swiftly, but without panicking.
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According to Ota, they finessed the design back and forth 58 times before settling on the final design.
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As designers, we're often accused of squabbling over seemingly tiny details.
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Yeah, I'll admit, some of us are probably a little crazy.
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But it's mostly because these details matter.
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It's our job is to communicate design intent to the end user in the most simple and direct way.
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And, in this particular context of developing an international design for emergency situations, no small detail should be overlooked.
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Lastly, there is the debate about color.
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A key aspect of good design is providing users with consistent expectations.
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Most exit signs in the US and Canada are red.
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However, red is usually used to represent concepts like "Danger", "Stop", and "Do Not Enter".
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So, it's kind of inconsistent to also use red to represent "Go that way; it's safe".
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I live in Canada where traditional exit signs are the red EXIT or SORTIE signs.
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But, in 2010, the National Building Code finally adopted the ISO exit design.
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It is now mandatory in new buildings or buildings undergoing extensive renovation.
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So, why doesn't the US adopt the ISO sign?
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Well, it's hard to say.
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Maybe it's because the US is a lot more monolingual than countries in Europe and Asia.
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And maybe that's why Canada eventually caught on, since we have two official languages.
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I don't really know.
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If you live in the US, leave a comment.
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And maybe you live in a place where the exit sign looks different than any of the one I've shown.
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I'd love to see them; let me know in the comments below.
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Speaking of Canada and fire emergencies, did you know the Canadian government deliberately burned down a village in 1958?
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To learn more about that, why don't we head over to Tom Scott's channel...
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Hi!
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... where he dies.
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I'm fine. I'm fine.
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Slippy down there.