chris: reminds me a lot of aboriginal art...

Mies Hora has been a sign and symbol maven for many years and his company, Ultimate Symbol, has published a number of the most frequently used free-source books and CDs. His recent Official Signs & Icons 2 is a veritable encyclopedia of ubiquitous design. Hora has collected complete sets of household, streetwise, industrial and medical signs–some cautionary, many life-saving. In this interview, he discusses the role of icons in everyday life and the need for sign literacy.

Heller: You have been a signs and symbols obsessive for quite some time. What is the reason for this interest?

Hora: My sensibilities were forged through immersion in my parents’ Charles-and-Ray-Eames-like environment, an alternate universe of visual communication with its own language of form, function, color and symbols. I know of few serious designers who aren't utterly fascinated by the possibilities of communicating meaning without the use of words or letterforms. What we’re really talking about is semiology, or the study and use of signs and symbols, and what they signal.