Journal 4

Curious how the arrow can be found just about anywhere in our world yet most don't see the importance of the arrow above all other symbols in our world. As Phil Patton described in his article "Setting Sights on the Arrow", the arrow must predate civilization back to when humans were still living in caves and hunting with sticks and rocks. He suggested that possibly a long ago ancestor had drawn an arrow to a cave or where fellow humans could find good prey to hunt. The arrows that I found are more simple than that of what Patton was talking about. Some shared the same point of direction but most were just arrows and things that made the shape of an arrow that I found at my work at the youth summer camp.

From the top, moving left to right, I start with the picture of the clock. The toy clock is a learning tool for the kids at camp to help them learn how to tell time. The use of the arrows I believe are to help the children to distinguish what the hands are pointing at better than what the straight lines that can be found on most analogue clocks.

The second image is that of an educational diagram of the importance of fire alarms and how to make sure they work. The picture shows a person's hand pushing in a button on the alarm and with the wording "monthly test" and the arrow pointing from the words to the button being pushed, someone looking at this diagram can understand that to perform the monthly test is by pushing that button.

Photo number three is that of the standard computer pointer. The arrow is simple and does the necessary job of pointing to objects on the screen that the user is trying to select. A question formed in my head after beginning this study, why the arrow? Why did the makers of user interface programs choose the arrow to help the user select items? Thinking about it, they could have simply used a dot or some other shape but, understandably, the arrow "points" and you point at the object you want to select.

The next photograph is from the game Pictureka!. The point of this arrow is just for space filler and, of course, for when you draw the card telling you to find 10 arrows in the alloted time.

Number five is that of a "Transformer" that a lot of boys at the camp make using the toys called Zoobs. The part shown in the picture is the long tail one boy had made where the end looked like an arrow to myself and to some of the kids who were helping me. Even in just creation, the child chose to make the tail into an arrow. Whether it was consciously or subconsciously, I find it interesting.

Picture number six is another photo of a diagram where it is showing the view to cycle of a butterflies life. I've noticed that many "cycle" diagrams are made this way, one of which easily comes to mind is the cycle of water and how it goes from cloud, to rain, to ground water, to evaporation, and back to clouds.

Image number seven is from the well known game Monopoly where this is showing the direction the player goes after they have done a complete rotation around the board.

Another directional arrow, this arrow I found on a globe where it's telling the viewer which direction the Earth rotates. The globe was full of arrows such as showing the different directions of water flow in the oceans and even simple showing what small county the name belonged to that couldn't fit within it's boundaries.

Next, number nine is the recycle sign on a Dasani water bottle. I believe that the way they changed the symbol by using a leaf as the point of the arrow was successful in connecting it to the "green movement" that has been going on with many companies in the U.S. It connects the idea of recycling to the environment and may hit home with the consumer more so than just simply using the standard recycling arrows.

The job of the arrows in image number ten is to draw attention to the reader. The poster was made by the Luke Air Force Base Library advertising a free homework help program.

Picture number eleven is of one of my adorable little girls in the program trying to help me with my homework. Thinking on her feet, she thought that if she lifted the arms of this stuffed monster over its head it would create an arrow.

The classic carpet city that you find at any play room for kids. This, like arrows found on any city streets, is directional.

Next, I took a picture of a picture. The picture was of an obstacle course the kids were setting up and I see the arrow with the point made by the space between the kid's legs and the line of toys is the line of the arrow.

In the dance studio, I found this poster of a ballerina stretching. The arrow point is made at the waist and follows down the woman's back and her legs make the line of the arrow.

Found on every fire alarm is the arrow that directs people which way to pull the lever to set off the alarm.

The arrows on image sixteen are on a poster for the Keystone club. The arrows are pointing from the words "Keystone" and branches out to the different points the poster is saying the club promotes, such as "academic success".

Picture seventeen is of instructions on how to move the cart that the sticker is on. It shows a person pushing the cart and the directional arrow proves the person is pushing not pulling.

Number eighteen is of a symbol on a Luke AFB poster. I don't quite remember what the poster was about but I believe the symbol was created to represent the base in some way.

Nineteen was found on our fire evacuation map. The arrows point the path that the people in the room that that particular map is posted are supposed to leave the building to get to the designated meeting place for everyone in the building. The arrows in red are the primary routes and the arrows in black (show in the photo) are the secondary routes.

Finally image twenty was found on a large pad of paper where kids were playing pictionary. The use of the arrow here was most likely to draw attention to a certain object that the drawer wanted the guessers to focus on, the arrow is directing the viewer's eye.