What do symbols mean? Imagine you’re driving down the highway. You’re eyes likely go right to signs above and to the side of you. They inform you where you can stop off for a bite to eat or enjoy a cultural or natural attraction. They let you know where you can’t make a left-hand turn and where you have to merge. This is all thanks to an efficient use of symbols. Your drives are full of common symbols and meanings that you easily understand. They keep you safe and guide you on your adventures.
So, in general, symbols provide visual synonyms. A symbol represents another idea in an easy-to-recognize, visual way. You may not have thought you were an expert on symbolism, but, to some extent, we all are. Symbols not only guide us on the highway. They guide us through many aspects of our life, from technology to economics, from advertising to astrology.
What is a symbol?
A symbol is a representation of something else. It encapsulates an idea or feeling or a physical object or place. A visual symbol provides a quick way of communicating a concept to viewers without needing to use words.
Why are symbols important in graphic design and communication?
Since a symbol can take the place of words and entire ideas, it provides an efficient way for designers to communicate.
Designers both use existing symbols and create their own. A well designed new symbol can come to represent a company, brand, or idea over time. Look no further than your favorite social media apps for proof of this. The symbols that represent these platforms have become so ubiquitous that they no longer just call to mind the app itself, they give off an idea and feeling.
What do designers use symbols for?
Designers use symbols to make a visual space easier to read. Symbols also add a creative touch to otherwise bland spaces, making them more engaging for the viewer (think: a slide in a long presentation). And, if a designer is working with a text-heavy space, symbols help break it up, making it more digestible for the audience.
What are some common symbols and their meanings?
Open up your texting keyboard. Check out the emojis that you use most to express your ideas and emotions. Why are these symbols commonly used? Because you use these symbols to represent yourself and quickly instruct your audience (i.e., your friends and family) on what you’re thinking and feeling.
Whichever types of symbols you like best, there are some that all of us recognize and often use. Check out a few of the most popular in our symbols and meanings chart below:
Heart symbol
This graphic shows the love, literally. It’s so easy to recreate, even kids can draw it, and we use it to sign off on notes and add some warmth to our message. Plus, this symbol means different things in different colors. A yellow heart, for example, can represent friendship.
Fire
This graphic can represent everything from a dangerous situation to that fire look your friend put together for a weekend on the town.
Sun and moon
These graphics sum up morning and night, light and dark, and even emotions like happiness or peace.
Dove
This symbol widely stands for peace, no matter where you are in the world.
Peace sign
This symbol is so widely recognized, it’s probably more powerful than the word for “peace” itself.
Spirals
Spirals represent mixing things up and can stand in for a jittery feeling or a circular motion.
Rainbow
Whether LQBTQIA+ pride or magic, the rainbow symbol had come to be synonymous with good vibes and acceptance.
Religious symbols
You can express your beliefs and ideologies easily with well-known symbols representing Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and more.
Flags
Flags can denote danger, peace, and nationalities. You can let people know where you are from with a flag symbol or use a red flag to cue in viewers to a bad situation.
Trees
Trees are often used to represent natural settings and concern for the environment.
Clover
Feeling lucky? Express that sentiment with this symbol.
Arrows
These symbols guide us where we need to go, and we also understand them as representations of backwards and forwards movement.
Smiley face
This graphic is universally known to represent happiness and it’s the basis for all of those expressive emojis we add to our texts to let people know how we’re feeling.
Infinity symbol
Express the feeling of forever or high-level math concepts with this symbol. Speaking of math, there are a lot of other related symbols where this one came from, like the plus and minus signs and the greater than and less than symbols. Even numerals and numbers themselves are symbols.
Danger sign
Watch out for this one! This universal symbol exists to keep you safe.
How to use symbols in your Picsart designs
Picsart has a ton of free resources, including photos and graphics (stickers). Within these vast libraries, you should be able to find symbols to insert into all of your projects.
Infographics
If you’re writing a manual or tutorial, guide your readers through it with symbols. You’ll also be able to break up text and keep your project from looking busy by replacing some wordiness with images.
Web designs
Become a better storyteller for your brand by moving your viewers through your website with symbolic graphics. You can layer symbols into images that yu plant to put on your site.
Logos
Make an awesome logo from scratch using our easy drag-and-drop tools. Use existing symbols to cue your viewers into what your company does, or make your own symbol to represent your brand forever.
Social media posts
Make collage-style social media posts that include symbols about how you’re feeling. Don’t be shy. If you’re posting a photo of a good time you had, layer in some smiley faces. If you’re in love, post a heart on that pic of you and your significant other.
