What should I do with my feet?
These graphics can be seen on trains in the UK. The one on the left was seen on First Capital Connect, the other on London Underground.
What do you think they mean?
Let’s find out…
The one on the right means ‘don’t put your feet on the seats’. The one on the left means… erm… the same. It appears to be saying ‘please do put your feet on the seats’ but actually the message they want to convey is the opposite, as we’ll see.
For the purposes of this post I removed the accompanying texts. Let’s put them back in:
So far so good. And the other one?
Not so good.
The graphic on this sign is at best completely superfluous as it adds no value to the message being conveyed. In fact, it would be better if it wasn’t there at all. Take away the text (a non-English speaker, for instance, would rely on the graphic alone) and it gives completely the wrong message.
It irritates me no end that people are still creating information graphics that fail utterly; that there are still people who think the graphic is there for the sake of it, and have not realised that its entire purpose is to help communicate their message: if it doesn’t do that, it shouldn’t be there.
A note on the images
You may notice that the photos are a bit distorted and have been patched up a little. This is because they were taken at severe angles on moving trains with a mobile phone, and so were Photoshop-ed a little to make them easier to read. The only substantial alteration was the removal of text for the first example.
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Thank God for the text on that orange/red sign. If it hadn’t been for that I’d have put one foot on the seats and the seat police would’ve sent a SWAT (Seats, Weapons And Tactics) team on my sorry ass!
R!
isemann
Don’t jest: the seat police are out there, I’m sure. My point though is not just that the sign in question is misleading, but that information graphics should be used only if they add clarity to the message.
Michael
The first sign is easy to understand even without the text. Signs should be clear as what it convey. People should understand the sign alone even without the text. Especially those that are placed in a crowded places or places where there are a lot of tourists that has different language.
Lauren Clark Photography