Arrows, which are probably one of the simplest graphic symbols there are, date back to 25,000 to 50,000 years ago. In ancient times, arrows were placed on the tips of sticks for hunting. Now, in an age of advertising and technology, the arrow is most commonly used a symbol representing direction. However, some people choose to use the arrow in works of art, or to symbolize something completely different than its original meaning. As I was looking around for arrows, I realized that the arrow is a more common symbol than I thought.
The first place I searched for arrows were on regular household items. I found the first set of arrows on a thermostat. The purpose of these two arrows is to lower or raise the temperature in the house. I think that it is important to have the buttons on a thermostat labeled so you know what you are doing when press one of the buttons. Other places where I found arrows were on a toaster oven, computer keyboard, computer speaker, T.V. remote, a popcorn bag, and box of plastic wrap. I think all of these arrows have a good purpose and that it is important that they are there. The arrow on the toaster oven points to the word “off” so that you turn the dial the right way. Like the toaster oven, the arrow on the computer speaker indicates which way to turn the dial in order to turn the sound up. Keyboards can have many different arrows, but I chose to take a picture of the up, down, left, and right keys. The purpose of these keys is self explanatory. Similar arrows were found on the T.V. remote, to go a certain direction when viewing a menu on the T.V. screen. The bag of popcorn has arrows pointing the correct end to open up. If you were to open up the wrong side of the popcorn bag, hot oil could come out and burn you. The last arrow was on a box of plastic wrap, pointing to the sticky spot that holds onto the plastic wrap. Although I think this arrow was not absolutely necessary, it brings attention to a part of the box, their trademarked “Glad Grab” which makes it stand out from other brands of plastic wrap.
Although some arrows are important and helpful, some of them are rather useless, in my opinion. For example, I found arrows on a bandage wrapper. I think that opening a bandage is pretty easy to do and you should not need instructions on how to do it. There was also a triangular arrow and the word “pull” on the lid of a bowl of instant ramen. Also, I think the arrow and the word “pull” was also a bit unnecessary because most people know how to take a lid off of a cup of noodles.
I found many more arrows in my house, but I decided to go out and find some elsewhere. The first arrow I found was on a sign on a traffic light post, telling which way to cross after pushing the button. It is important to have an arrow there so that you know which button to press if you want to cross the street. Another traffic-related sign that had an arrow on it was the “no turn sign” which has a red “no” sign over an arrow. Arrows are very important symbols on roads because they tell where drivers should go and where not to go.
There are many arrows out in public places that tell you where to go. While I was at ASU, I found arrows on signs pointing the bookstore, and area with lockers right outside the bookstore, the BAC building, the Student Admissions desk, and the entrance to the dance studios. All of these arrows had the same person of directing a person, particularly one that is unfamiliar with the campus, to their destination. There was also a sign with an arrow pointing to the stairway, a sign that can be found in other buildings as well. Another common area to find an arrow in a public place is on an elevator button. The purpose of this arrow is to tell you which direction the elevator will go once you press it. Two other miscellaneous places I found arrows were on a recycle bin and a sign on a soda machine. The arrow on the sign was there to show you to check your bottle to see if you won a prize, and the arrows on the recycle bin were part of the recycle logo, which do not have much of a purpose other than just to be part of the logo.
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