A comparison between Maya hieroglyphs and computer icons

Abstract

Thomas Erickson pointed out that interface design normally follows the traditional approach of art and design, which requires reworking to refine an idea through visual playfulness until a solution has been achieved. Erickson wrote that ‘design by symmetry works by juxtaposing concepts that are similar at a very deep level — the concepts are symmetric in terms of some deep structure or underlying process. Once the underlying symmetry is established, the designer attempts to extend the symmetry farther, using what is known about one domain to suggest new ideas about the other’. This article uses examples of Maya hieroglyphs, computer icons and parts of other contemporary symbol systems, either forced or as a natural development of visual language, to compare individual or reused elements of these systems; then to consider the potential of visual language systems that have been refined and used over a long period of time, against computer icons, which are a recent development. Certain comparisons have no relationships; they do however, expose the nature of computer icons.