User:Cecilia Macaulay

LoCos Visual Langage
LoCoS is a visible language made up of pictograms and ideograms, developed by the graphic/sign designer Yukio Ota in Japan in 1964.

It was designed as a Universal, non-verbal, and generally non-spoken language, that could be learned in a day, and connect people who do not have a spoken language in common.

The name LoCoS is derived from both the greek term Logos, and 'Lovers Communication System', as its aim was to make sharing thoughts and intentions as effortless and direct as happens when in love. After being widely reported on in the Japanese press and internatinally, many community LoCoS groups sprung up, to communicate to each other using this system. There were at least 30 LoCoS groups practicing the language by 1975.

In 1982 Yukio Ota was approached by the Japanese telephone company to sell the rights to the Language, but he declined the offer, claiming that LoCoS was not complete, and needed to be refined by both other designers, and more importantly, natural evolution through use in the community.

From 2005, the U.S. based user interface designer company AMandA have been collaborated with Yukio Ota on adapting LoCoS to electronic mobile devices for instant messaging.

Locos was influenced by Bliss Symbol.

Basics of LoCoS
Individual signs may be combined to form expressions and sentences in somewhat linear arrangements.

Current Limitations of LoCoS
As LoCoS was designed nearly half a century ago, the repertoire of the current LoCoS signs needs to be extended, revised, and updated.

Some of the signs are culturally or religiously biased. For example, the crucifix as a sign for “religion” might not be understood correctly, thought appropriate, or even be welcome in Moslem countries such as Indonesia.

The current LoCoS sign for “restaurant” might often be mistaken for a “bar” because of the wine glass sign inside of the building sign.

Signs need to be tested for comprehensability in the various cultures of the target users.

About the Designer, Professor Ota
Yukio Ota is a graphic/communication designer and former professor in the Design Department at Tama Art University in Japan. Born in 1939, he graduated from Tama Art University and subsequently studied at the Venice National Art Institute. He first proposed the LoCoS language while studying in Italy in 1964. Professor Ota has designed many public signs and symbols, the most famous being the green man running emergency exit sign, which has become the National standard in Japan, UK (BS 5499), Australia, New Zealand, New York City (LL26), Norway and  China, and can be seen in general use in South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Thailand and other countries. Professor Ota has received several design awards, and authored more than a dozen books and numerous articles on pictogram design and symbolic language. He is President of the Japan Society for Science of Signs, Chief Director of the Sign Center of Japan, and serves as a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committee on graphic symbols.