problem solved?
PUSH)(PULL
okay, nothing to do with screenwriting here – nothing about the interplay between protagonist and antagonist, or between controlling idea and plot etcetera
nope – just an idea i once had that may be worth sharing – a possible solution to an old, old problem: the lack of universally recognisable symbols for the actions of push and pull
i first came across this issue in Henry Dreyfuss’ wonderful work in the Symbol Sourcebook – in which he outlined the history and difficulties of the problem
some time later i happened across what might be a solution – two symbols that made use of a couple of pre-existing and widely-accepted concepts used in visual communications
the first concept is that the closer an object is to the viewer, the larger it appears, and
the second concept is that a solid line indicates an object’s present state, while a dotted line indicates a possible future state
from there, the push and pull symbols were pretty easy to design – and, like that one-off idea in a screenplay that keeps paying off in unexpected ways, the two basic designs quickly proved to be far more useful than i first thought possible – including incorporating actions like turn, slide and lift
are the designs the solution? – are they even necessary? (we’ve survived so long without them) – does anyone care? – who knows?
if you’re interested you can read more here at: http://www.pushpullsymbols.com
i’ve made the symbols public domain and they are available to download from the site should you wish to experiment with them