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ATMIA selects winning sign design
The ATM Industry Association received nearly 100 entries in its ATM pictogram contest. The winning design for what it hopes will become a universally accepted sign for the ATM will be unveiled at next month's trade show in London, "Optimising ATMs in Britain and Europe.'
August 19, 2001
The best design of an ATM pictogram has been selected out of 97 entries from all around the world by world-class judge Professor Yukio Ota, designer of the famous emergency exit pictogram and many public signs, including the internationally used Fire Fighting safety sign.
This means that the ATM industry will soon know how its long-awaited icon, or picture-symbol, will look.
In addition, Professor Ota has chosen two runners-up, with two further highly commended designs. His selections will remain a closely guarded secret until theATM Industry Association (ATMIA)conference in London Sept. 18-19.
Professor Ota said the best design clearly showed the reason for the existence, or purpose, of ATMs. He has made suggestions for refinement of the design to enable it to be used in public.
ATMIA believes the pictogram will increase human traffic to ATM machines by showing the public where their favorite self-service banking machines are located.
To mark the milestone reached by the ATM industry of one million ATMs installed in the world in 2001, ATMIA several months ago started planning this international competition to find the best design for an ATM pictogram.
Recognizing the ATM is an icon of modern times – dispensing fast money in a fast-paced world – ATMIA decided that the time had come to develop a sign for the machine that would be instantly recognizable around the world in airports, shopping malls and on the high street.
The ATM Pictogram competition attracted entries from ATM manufacturers and service providers, and from members and non-members of ATMIA. There was a magnificent array of designs, ranging from Picasso-like pencil drawings to precise geometric shapes, and from abstract ideas to detailed, technical designs – all attempting to represent the ATM and capture the essence of the ATM experience.
Professor Ota is based at Tama Art University in Tokyo. In addition to designing public signs, he has written several books including "Pictogram Design (1987)," "Pictograms (1995)," "Visual Languages (1982)," "The World of Graphic Symbols (1983)" and "Encyclopaedia of Signs (1987)." He is now a president of the Japan Society for Science of Signs and a chief director of the Sign Center in Japan.
Upon receiving the 97 printed out versions by post, Professor Ota commented: "The content and variations of the designs was very enjoyable to see."
There were many subtle designs, showing a high level of creative talent in the industry. Some pictogram designs highlighted the interface of the machine - the card slot, the dispenser, the keypad. A minority of designs focused on the human interaction with the machine - a hand holding a card or taking the money from the slot or an upright human figure next to an ATM.
Some designs employed color symbolism - green for eco-friendly ATMs, for example. Green seemed to be the most popular color used, although many entries were black and white. Several designs employed an arrow to show the direction of the machine. Bank notes featured a lot, and the U.S. dollar was by far the most common currency sign being used, showing that the dollar is the universal symbol of money. Some designs incorporated the letters ATM into the design of the machine itself.
Designs were sent to Mike Lee, ATMIA's international director, who gave a number to each entry, drew up a master list of who had entered each design, and then sent them off to Professor Ota unnamed so as to preserve anonymity.
The winning pictogram design will be unveiled at ATMIA's ATM trade show in September in London"Optimising ATMs in Britain and Europe"during a presentation by Mark Mills, CEO of Cardpoint, an independent UK deployer, entitled "Driving ATM transactions through intelligent promotion."
The winning design is expected to generate considerable publicity in trade publications and national and international media, since the public in most countries will want to see for the first time the icon that may be destined to become an international sign that will be as familiar as the ones for ladies' and gents' toilets, emergency exits, fire escapes and information.
Included In This Story
ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)
The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with over 10,500 members in 65 countries. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.2 million installed ATMs.
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