Thanks Bruce! that's exactly what I was looking for.
>"The source art for all the icons was extremely specific, and to be used in its exact form and for its prescribed purpose. Circle used discretely was for off; bar used discretely was for on; bar inside the circle >was reserved for controls that provided power on/off on a single control, like a push on/push off switch. As far as I know, anything else is a stylized modification that was "inspired" by the ISO standard but >does not conform to it." Sounds to me like they decided to simply go with binary. 0/1 (or as put here, Circle / Bar) Neat idea, but I still don't like it. I won't even start about the issues I have with the 1/0 power toggle on the back of most computers. So, it's a standard. Suppose it's a bit of an uphill climb at this point changing a standard, but it begs to question: What would have been better? On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 3:09 PM, Bruce Esrig <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Bill DeRouchey asked this question just a few weeks ago and got some > pretty > authoritative answers. It traces back, most recently, to a harmonized > standard that has been given different numbers by ISO and the IEEE. > > You can see the comments from industrial designers at > > http://www.historyofthebutton.com/2007/01/30/printer-icons-design-by-habit/ > > According to the standards, the two components are a vertical stroke and a > circle. When the vertical stroke goes through the top of the circle, the > meaning is "standby". > > Best wishes, > > Bruce Esrig > > On 2/27/08, William Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > From electrical engineering. Its a closed circuit. > > > > will evans > > user experience architect > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > 617.281.1281 > > > > > > On Feb 27, 2008, at 5:37 PM, "Shaun Bergmann" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > A discussion came up at the office today that got me wondering. > > > Do any of you know the history of the 'Power' Icon? You know the > > > one: The > > > circle with the vertical bar pointing up and overlapping the top > > > edge of the > > > circle. > > > > > > This icon was being incorporated into an interface and the argument > > > was made > > > that "not everybody is going to know what that icon means" > > > > > > That's totally possible. If anything stands out as a good example of > > > the > > > statement that there are no intuitive interfaces -- all interfaces are > > > learned -- it's this icon. The only reason people are going to know > > > that > > > it's the power button is because they know it's the power button. > > > > > > I looked at it's design from a fresh perspective today and really > > > have to > > > question WHY it's become so prevalent? Visually, it doesn't say > > > "power" to > > > me. Where'd this thing come from? > > > ________________________________________________________________ > > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > > > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > > > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > > > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > > ________________________________________________________________ > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
