Words in design

Have you ever realised that the words used to describe a designer’s work are often the same used for a translator’s work?

Let’s start with a couple of examples:

Mediation
Negotiation
Interpretation
Metaphors
Translation of a concept into a visual product
Languages
Verbal/visual references
Codes
Rewriting
Imitation

In design, there is no source language, but something (a concept, an idea, a need) to be interpreted and ultimately translated into a perceivable creation.

Its shape/colour/surface/etc. translate its function into the language of perceivable expression.

And, as is also the case with text translation, cultural differences play a key role.
Just like translation is not simply a matter of words but of culturally connotated concepts, design is not simply a matter of symbols.

A colour can mean different things in different cultures.
An arrow can be interpreted in different ways depending on whether a person reads from left to right or from right to left.
The meaning of a pictogram can be completely missed.

Not to mention that any text — in the broadest sense possible — around a designer object, from its title and description to user instructions, up to its label and packaging (where applicable), carries meanings that must be translated — again, in the widest sense possible of the term.

Chiara Foppa Pedretti © 2025