Id say that the only awful thing about about the power symbol is that it is misused by designers who presumably don't like the "look" of it. Its like saying I don't like the letter A because visually it doesn't say "aaaaa" to me.
The symbol is a standard. Power as such does not have any visual component so the world has agreed on a fairly easily recognizable symbol and people have just learned the meaning of it. The symbol consists of a "1" which means "on" state and a "0" that means "off" state. If the "1" is inside a "0" it means toggle on/off. The symbol you describe is the standby symbol. You may of course invent your own, but if you are going to use the power symbol, please use it correctly. Check wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_symbol Morten On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 11:58 PM, Shaun Bergmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Interesting. > Unless I was designing something with the understanding that my ENTIRE > audience was comprised of electrical engineers, I doubt I would think this > is a very good design. > Which brings me back to 'How did this awful thing get to be so widespread > and popular?" > Was there a particular product that used it once, way back in the dark > ages, > that injected it's branding and just beat the world population into > understanding that "this means power"? > > On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 2:43 PM, 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 > -- Morten Hjerde http://sender11.typepad.com ________________________________________________________________ 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
