Carren Yeliandi / 0376990
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media - Intercultural Design - Taylor's University
Task Compilation
Table of Content
Instructions
Lectures
Visuals are powerful persuasive mediums that tell and provide information about the world. It is apparent that humans can process information faster through visuals and imagery rather than text and words. This is proven from the fact that 40% of people respond more to visuals than text. Also, 90% of information transmitted to the brain in the form of visuals and visuals are processed 60.000 times faster than text.
In a nutshell, visuals are everything that can be seen by the human eye. This definition is wide, all-inclusive to nature. However, nature is not culture, except when there is meaning and representation attached by humans.
Tasks
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| Fig. 2.1, Text-based traffic signs (24/03/25) |
A. BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Traffic congestion isn’t just about bad driving, it’s also about how we interpret road signs. Sometimes they are not as effective as they should have been.
Historically, traffic signs have existed for centuries. In Ancient Rome, milestone markers were placed along roads to guide travelers. These were the earliest road signs. But the real transformation came with automobiles. As cars became more common, standardized traffic signs became a necessity. In 1949, the Geneva Convention helped create international road sign standards, prioritizing symbols over text for universal understanding.
Studies show that 90% of information processed by the brain is visual, and visuals are recognized 60,000 times faster than text. Traffic signs are a vital part of road safety, but how is it instinctively understood regardless of language is due to the study of semiotics. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and how they create meaning. It plays a crucial role in design, advertising, and, most importantly, traffic sign communication.
Traffic signs are designed for instant recognition. Instead of relying on text, they use color, shape, and symbols to convey information efficiently.
However, text-based traffic signs can create challenges. For example, the Indonesian sign “Belok Kiri Jalan Terus” (Turn Left, Continue Straight) relies entirely on language, which can be problematic for:
1. Fast-moving drivers who have little time to read.
2. Foreign visitors unfamiliar with the language.
3. Cognitive overload, making processing slower.
Symbol-based designs are a more effective way to communicate towards drivers, such as:
1. Arrows replace text for immediate understanding.
2. Color coding removes ambiguity.
3. Minimal text improves visibility and processing speed.
Semiotics in traffic design isn’t just about efficiency, it’s about road safety. By refining traffic signs, we create a safer, more accessible driving experience for everyone. Which is why a visualization of the “Belok kiri jalan terus” sign would be an improvement on our everyday life, as it is an everyday design.
For example, the STOP sign is an octagon—its unique shape demands attention. Combined with the color red, which signals urgency, it ensures an immediate reaction before the driver even reads the word 'STOP.'
Different shapes and colors have distinct meanings:
- Yellow = Warning
- Blue = Information
- Red = Mandatory Action
This system ensures that even in low visibility, drivers can recognize a sign’s meaning at a glance.
But despite these advancements, some traffic signs remain unclear or inconsistent, contributing to congestion and unsafe driving behaviors. The commonly used text signs such as “belok kiri jalan terus” continue to be confusing for many.
The improvement of road signs could involve more intuitive designs, better visibility, and even digital adaptability.
After going through the background research of this project, we proceed on to the next step, which is data collection from outside sources, which includes interviews and surveys. For the interview, we decided to ask several questions to a set of students regarding the topic of traffic. Moreover, we also interviewed an expert to give insight on this as well. The expert we interviewed is a driving instructor that is extremely knowledgeable on traffic signs which would help greatly for us to proceed with the project.
B. ONLINE SURVEY
Questions:
Which country are you fromAre you a driver?
Do you have a drivers license?
Do you have these signs in your country?
Can you effortlessly tell what these signs are saying if you read it from afar
Do you think humans process images faster than text?
If pictograms signs were applied in exchange of text signs, will it be more recognizable and easier for you as a driver to recognize?
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| Fig. 2.2, Survey question and answer 1 (24/03/25) |
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| Fig. 2.3, Survey question and answer 2 (24/03/25) |
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| Fig. 2.4, Survey question and answer 3 (24/03/25) |
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| Fig. 2.5, Survey question and answer 4 (24/03/25) |
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| Fig. 2.6, Survey question and answer 5 (24/03/25) |
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| Fig. 2.7, Survey question and answer 6 (24/03/25) |
C. INTERVIEW
Questions:
Who am I here with? and where do you come from?
Do you have road problems in your country?
Are you guys familiar with there signs?
Do you think these sign cause problems in the roads?
Would you prefer these signs better?
Interview Key Points:
We interview people with a drivers license, who understand the road situation
The major issues found on roads are traffic jams and bumpy concrete which causes a lot of accidents
All people that we interviewed view the traffic sign that we show as a problem
A person highlighted how language barrier becomes a problem with that sign, another highlights how unnoticeable it is.
All interviewee agrees that making that sign into a pictogram will be a better alternative
-> MAIN OBJECTIVE
Analyze how the everyday driving culture can cause traffic, and what other aspects contributes towards it.
improve traffic and better driving culture by creating a more accessible traffic sign that s easier to follow.
-> FINAL PROJECT
In this project, we are going to finalize our idea, compiling it into a set of information and data.
For the final project, we are all tasked to create a TikTok account that holds all of the research and output of our task. The tiktok account that we are posting them in will be a compilation of videos based on our work that we have worked on for the task within the semester. As our main topic is about the everyday design, we as a group have decided to pick the main focus of traffic signs in Indonesia as a point of interest. We emphasized how traffic is so prevalent not only in Indonesia, but throughout various densely populated countries like Malaysia as well, that it has became a culture of its own. Bad driving habits has contributed to the horrible traffic across the countries that it has turned into an everyday culture.
As a group, we decided to tackle one of the sign that has contributed to the horrible congestion and bad driving culture, which is the “belok kiri jalan terus” (Turn left continue straight) sign.
We created a TikTok account under the name 'RoadCritic' as we wanted to develop a redesign of the existing text-based sign specifically 'Belok kiri jalan terus' and 'Belok kiri ikuti lampu lalu lintas'. Under that name, we created 5 videos which included 2 introduction videos, 2 interview videos and 1 conclusion video.
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