Our Search for Symbols

Symbols are important communication tools in our daily lives, constantly evolving based on new needs and users. Symbols have the power to instruct, protect, entertain, connect, and even divide us. From 1969 to 1972, the visionary designer Henry Dreyfuss (American, 1904-1972) oversaw the making of the Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols, a manual that compiled and categorized thousands of symbols in use internationally. The Symbol Sourcebook wasn’t meant to be the final say on symbols. In fact, Henry Dreyfuss hoped that the project would inspire others to explore how important these tools are in our daily lives.