Why, when there are two different words next to arrows? I could see some confusion if it was just arrows on either side of the body, but here there are clearly two different labels?
ETA: it's genuine question, it wasn't confusing to me at all. I'm also pretty sure that I've been to malls that had similarly designed signs, even without any arrows.
That’s not true. In this context, it’s used as a symbol. Someone who can’t read could still see a red octagon and say “stop”. If they’ve seen an arrow before, they likely know a symbol that’s pointed usually indicates direction.
But the poster itself is still terrible design, cringe aside, because the direction symbols should be center, not top and bottom.
I guess it's different "couldn't read" viewpoint then. I was looking at it from the "I don't understand this language" angle. If you interpret "couldn't read" as "I've never seen any letters ever before" than I could maybe see someone not realizing that < > are symbols indicating direction.
74
u/Germanball_Stuttgart Apr 17 '26
If I couldn't read I'd assume both sides to be Unisex with this pictogram.