Normative Signs: The Poetry of "Ought"

I have a soft spot for normative signs that go beyond the “do this” or “don’t do that.” This one is from a Starbucks in Toronto, and takes a friendly (damn near tender) approach to telling customers that pets are not welcome.

This is quite a different kind of normative sign. It’s a pictogram showing how to use a piece of exercise equipment, namely an ergometer (rowing machine).
I suspect there are 3 implicit messages, here.

• Here’s how to get the most out of this exercise.
• Here’s how not to get hurt.
• Here’s now not to end up wanting to sue us (the gym owners or makers of the machine.)

(Photo courtesy of Sam B.)

Here’s one I’ve never seen before. It’s from a covered parking garage in Ottawa.

What’s going on here? Is this sign self-contradictory? Or merely emphatic? Or is it a requirement that you first STOP, and then yield to, say, traffic coming from another direction? If it IS meant to imply something like the latter, how is anyone supposed to guess that?

(photo contributed by Julien Bissonnette)

This one is aimed at truckers; very few people other than truckers know what engine brakes are, anyway. Engine braking is a way of abruptly slowing a truck’s engine as a way of slowing the vehicle (sort of like shifting down). It’s loud as hell, which is why it’s forbidden in lots of residential areas.

I guess the injunction here is “don’t do something noisy, unless you really need to.”

(photo contributed by Jonas Dow)

“Paging Dr Obvious! Paging Dr Obvious!” (thanks to NW for this one)

I love a computer-printed sign warning people about something — slippery stairs down to the bathroom at a restaurant — that should be fixed instead.

Here’s a fave of mine from a few years ago. (I blogged about it a few years ago on my Business Ethics Blog.) I love the polite “please,” combined with an announcement to all customers that insinuates that some (many? most?) customers are jerks.

I love this one. The button is right there, tempting you to push it. But don’t. Thank you.

This one is a classic. Simple, straightforward. And combining a pictograph — a big “P” combined with the classic circle/slash — with wording specifying where you can’t park. Not especially interesting. It’s in the alley (or “lane”) behind my house. It’s also adjacent to my laneway (or driveway), which I suspect confuses a few visitors.

I’ve created this blog because I’ve always been fascinated by normative signs. I love the range of ways in which institutions, businesses, policy makers, and others try to get people to do things. Sometimes it’s a command: “No Smoking!” Sometimes it’s a request: “Please clean up after your dog.” Sometimes it’s a reminder of our manners: “As a courtesy to other customers, please…” etc.

So that’s what I’ll document here. I’ll post pictures — mostly ones I’ve taken myself — of various normative signs I spot during my travels, with occasional comments about what makes them interesting.

Just to be clear, I’m not a linguist or a semiotician. I’m a philosopher by training, and I teach ethics at a university. So this blog is only vaguely related to my field of expertise. It’s mostly fun.

Feel free to send me examples. I won’t promise to use them on the blog, but if I do I’ll give you credit. Please send only photos that you’ve taken yourself, so that we avoid copyright issues. Please also let me know where the picture was taken, if that’s relevant. Send pics to: chris@businessethicsblog.com