Abstraction

This is our second assignment of the semester: Creating a pictogram.

Some definitions;
Pictogram: an image created by people for the purpose of quick and clear communication without language or words, in order to draw attention to something.

My understanding form the sentence above is that a pictogram has to be representative of something one is able to easily recognize upon looking at it. It has to be simple to be able for people to understand.

For this assignment, students are required to create a pictogram suitable for the NUS community and it has to be placed in school. Thus it means that the target audience are the students and staff and possibly for visitors of NUS.

My idea came from my experience as a freshmen. During my first 2 months of school, I encountered some troubles locating the bus stops in NUS. This is especially so when I have lessons in AS4 and AS5. These 2 places are situated quite a distance from available bus stops and I got lost sometimes. So I decided to come up with a 'bus stop' abstraction to help visitors and future freshmen navigate their way more easily.

I was not able to capture a picture of the NUS bus, so here is one from around my place. And the abstraction begins!








This is the pictogram i chose to present in class. My Ideal location would be along the walkways of AS4 and AS5 where they are located quite a distance away from the bus stops.


The comments given by classmates were:
1. It looks like a van more than a bus.
2. Looks a little like a taxi stand?

I agree that it does look a little like a van instead of a bus, so I did some editing in photoshop to elongate the bus and put it closer to the stand. However, i disagree that it looks like a taxi stand because my abstraction is based on a photo I took of the bus-stop.

So this is my final pictogram!