
Biohazard: Iconic Symbol Designed to Be “Memorable but Meaningless” - misnamed
http://99percentinvisible.org/article/biohazard-symbol-designed-to-be-memorable-but-meaningless/
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chillacy
That's neat, the symbol had no agreeable associations back then, but now it's
become this nefarious looking thing, at least for me, due to things like 28
days later: [http://imgur.com/Ym1PqPE](http://imgur.com/Ym1PqPE)

I can't tell if the symbol itself should be nefarious or not, due to all the
cultural baggage. From psychology research, we know that shapes are commonly
associated with sounds within a culture [1], but it's a very flower icon in an
abstract sense.

[1] [https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/talking-
apes/201505/do-...](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/talking-
apes/201505/do-sounds-have-shapes)

~~~
jdietrich
I can't tell if it's just cultural association, but the biohazard symbol looks
viscerally evil to me. It suggests the barbs of a stinging insect or the mouth
parts of a parasitic worm. I feel an instinctive aversion to it, akin to
disgust or horror.

The ionising radiation symbol doesn't have anything like the same gut impact;
aside from the yellow and black colour scheme, it looks quite neutral and
unthreatening.

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CamperBob2
_The ionising radiation symbol doesn 't have anything like the same gut
impact; aside from the yellow and black colour scheme, it looks quite neutral
and unthreatening._

They seem to have fixed that nicely:

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Lo...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Logo_iso_radiation.svg/2000px-
Logo_iso_radiation.svg.png)

~~~
peteretep
That's the symbol for "The extractor fan in this room is haunted"

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ddt_Osprey
I thought it meant "turn up the speakers and head over to the mosh pit or
die."

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Animats
Yes, as the article points out, please do not use biohazard, radiation, or
high voltage warning symbols on decorative objects.

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duskwuff
And if you personally own products which have decorative biohazard or
radiation symbols on them, make sure you _NEVER, EVER_ bring them into a
context where they might be taken literally. (Ideally, don't bring them out
into public spaces at all.) In the wrong situation, leaving (say) your
"biohazard" lunchbox sitting on a desk could lead to a panicked security
lockdown.

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jobu
I work at a medical device company, and a coworker of mine uses this lunchbox
-
[http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e72e/](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e72e/)

The first time I saw it in the company fridge I completely freaked.

~~~
xkcd-sucks
It could totally be BSL2+ if they bled on it accidentally

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polm23
Find this and other symbols in Hornung's Handbook of Designs and Devices,
first published in _1932_.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_P._Hornung](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_P._Hornung)

[http://www.amazon.co.jp/Handbook-Designs-Devices-
Pictorial-A...](http://www.amazon.co.jp/Handbook-Designs-Devices-Pictorial-
Archive/dp/0486201252)

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vacri
There's a new style of hunting arrowhead that is reminiscent of this symbol
(and called "Toxic Broadheads". Apparently it's very effective against large
game, because it tears out a few ribbons of flesh, and it's much harder for
the wound to seal back up.

[http://www.bowhunting.net/wp-
content/uploads/2013/08/front-3...](http://www.bowhunting.net/wp-
content/uploads/2013/08/front-3.jpg)

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hugh4
It's not completely meaningless. Apart from the association with the radiation
symbol due to the symmetry, it looks strikingly unfriendly, with sharp
tentacles reaching out to grab you like a biohazard well might.

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WallWextra
How did the swastika one even leave the designer's sketch pad?

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sevensor
It's an ancient symbol representing the sun. It predates brown-shirted thugs
by thousands of years. I've seen old printings of Kipling's works from the
1920s that have it stamped on the bindings, which is a bit jarring. But as
I've said, it's a great deal older than that.

~~~
ascagnel_
Prior to the 1930s, it was actually fairly common. It even wound up as the
logo for an Vancouver-area women's hockey team[0].

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernie_Swastikas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernie_Swastikas)

