VisionPoints designs symbol for breastfeeding in international competition
Universal icon: Crystal-clear, warm, memorable
“The image of a baby bottle announcing the location of a ‘parents lounge’ in an airport got us thinking: Is there an international symbol for breastfeeding? Similar to the familiar icons we've all seen indicating a handicapped parking spot or the women's restroom, this image would be a recognizable symbol indicating that a place is breastfeeding friendly,” wrote Mothering magazine's Peggy O'Mara.
Mothering magazine holds international competition
VisionPoints read about the competition Mothering was holding. It offered no prize except being the winning designer, and releasing your rights to the public domain. We were intrigued, and hoped to be able to raise the profile of this issue by getting involved. It really surprised us that there is no international symbol for breastfeeding facilities! This was a chance for VisionPoints to dig deeply into research on universal design.
Making universal graphic design human
The symbols we all have in our mind, are, with the exception of the women’s restroom icon, of sexless beings (and with good reason, simplifying not to add unnecessary information). We needed to reduce the information to its most crucial elements, create an icon which would remain recognizable at small and large sizes, and most importantly for an international symbol, make the image so clear that it would not require literacy to understand. The real challenge was to be both discreet and rapidly understood, and to keep from being too graphic.
At its absolute minimum, all that needs to be communicated is the closeness of the large figure and the small figure, and one subtle addition to the usual international being tells the entire rest of the story: the simple, silhouetted breast. No international symbol, even the women’s restroom symbol wearing her A-line dress, has ever shown any physical gender distinction, and the clarity comes from the very fact that this would be the only symbol to do so. Although simple and linear, we created a hint of maternal grace, as the large figure appears to tilt her head toward the small one.
Overwhelming response
Peggy writes that Mothering “...received an overwhelming response, over 500 entries from both the design and breastfeeding communities.” VisionPoints’ design was chosen from all of these for a public vote on twelve semi-finalists, conducted on the magazine's website. They utilized “public voting, votes of the major breastfeeding organizations, as well as design and reproduction standards,” to determine their finalists. VisionPoints’ work was selected as one of the three finalists, from over 500 original designs. After more voting, our design was the runner-up—a fact we are tremendously proud of!
Good design for a great cause
“This was an opportunity to do good work, and to do it well. We were thrilled just to make it through the internal selection process to the top twelve out of hundreds. Coming in second overall was icing on the cake. To have the validation of public voting confirmed that our symbol resonated with a large segment of the population, which is what great design must do,” says Kelly Erickson, Creative Director for VisionPoints. “Designers do not often get a chance to do such a large-scale beta test of their work. It was a great experience for us professionally, and it was wonderful to be able to be part of this international dialogue.”
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