We live in the age of the brand. And accompanying it is a frenzy of visual signage: pictograms, which transcend language and convey meaning to any number of tongues and languages. And in Japan, where modern pictographs like emoji first took hold, a competition to reign supreme over fellow pictogramians, and to create better, more usable pictograms, is bringing artists and designers together.
Pictathon – a combination of the words pictogram and hackathon – was started last year by web designer Jun Sakurada and IT enthusiast/musician Kazz Watabe. The event, currently in its 3rd iteration, runs for about 4 hours. Competitors are given a topic and then 45 minutes to design and refine their pictograms. A judging process pits winners against each other and after 3 rounds a winner, along with a handful of great pictograms, have emerged. Here’s how the latest Pictathon last month went down.
Winners from round 1. The assignment was “Japanese, Italian and French food”.
Winners from round 2. The assignment was “Burnables, Non-Burnables and Recyclables”.
Entries from the final round. The assignment was “Copy, Paste and Cut.”
Takashi Kitamura’s winning pictogram.
Source Credit:
Pictathon
