Symbol’26
Neurath@90 conference 2026. A Case for International Picture Language: Examining Inclusivity, Diversity and Universality in Visual Languages.
Wednesday 27 May 2026
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Günther Sandner
Symbol‘26
KEYNOTE
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Nigel Holmes
Symbol ‘26
The artist who brought humanity to Isotype
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Sue Perks
Symbol’26
How different were Otto Neurath’s and Henry Dreyfuss’s dreams of an “International Picture language?”
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Karel van der Waarde
Symbol’26
The ibuproject – translating medicine information from text to visual signs
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Enrico Bravi
Symbol’26
International Graphic Code: Julius Klinger and the Promise of Visual Universality
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María del Mar Navarra
Symbol’26
Otto Neurath’s Visual Theory of Well Being: Felicitology and the International Picture Language
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Eliyahu Elad
Symbol’26
The Mosaic of Equality – Neurath's Visual Solution to Vienna's Babel
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Gabi Schaffzin
Symbol’26
Face-based pain scales are tools for evaluating patients’ self-reported physical pain
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Pia Pedersen
Symbol’26
The Human Body in Pictograms
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Haya Sheffer
Symbol’26
From Neurath’s Pictorial Language to Self-Tracking Apps: Visual Positivism as a Contemporary Regime
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Geanina Turcanu
Symbol’26
How is the data in sustainability app interfaces visualised to power behavioral impact? Case Study: Too Good to Go (food saving app)
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José Allard
Symbol’26
Reflecting on Neurath’s legacy through the results of a one-week academic workshop
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Sibylle Schlaich
Symbol’26
Neutral is not neutral
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Mao Kudo
Symbol’26
Two Problems in Representing Genders in Pictograms After Isotype
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Rodrigo Ramirez
Symbol’26
Beyond Universalism: Exploring Interpretations of Icons during and after COVID Crisis
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Mike Zender
Symbol’26
How access and inclusion relate to current icon customization and standardization.
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Holger Ziemann
Symbol’26
The Goal of “Adaptive Semiotics” is to explore the possibilities of adapting systems to the users graphical literacy.
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Yoav Lorch
Symbol’26
Zlango: a unique effort to build the language and the technical Structure
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Mandar Rane
Symbol’26
The ibuproject – translating medicine information from text to visual signs
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GK VanPatter
Symbol’26
Roots of inclusion: Neurath meets Guilford
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Juli Gudehus
Symbol’26
The ibuproject – translating medicine information from text to visual signs
In 1936 Otto Neurath published ‘International Picture Language’, his seminal statement on Isotype, introducing Isotype to an international audience. The book epitomised his belief in a universal picture language that could communicate across borders, educational and social levels and clearly set out the mature iteration of the principles of Isotype which had been developing since he began work at the newly founded Social and Economic Museum in Vienna a decade earlier. Today, Isotype is seen as one of the cornerstones of contemporary information design and echoes of Neurath’s work can be observed in standardised icon systems that are crucially important in the navigation of public and virtual spaces, and in their purest form, in the invention of new visual languages. Symbol ’26: The Case for International Picture Language will seek to explore these echoes of Neurath’s system in contemporary society.
We invited presentations that examine:
Neurath’s legacy in relation to exclusivity, inclusivity, and diversity.
The universalist aspirations present in Isotype and other historic icon systems.
How access and inclusion relate to current icon customisation and standardisation.
The programme will be published soon.
