poppi

2004
T
Typeface

POPPI
Pictogram designs

MARTIN FRIEDL
Specimen design

RUDY VANDERLANS
Rr
poppi food [one] poppi food [one]

a bcde f
a b c d e f
A B C DEF
A B C D E F

ghijkl
g h i j k l
GH I J K L
G H I J K L

mnopqr
m n o p q r
M N O PQR
M N O P Q R

stuvwx
s t u v w x
STU V W X
S T U V W X

yz y

Zc
z

y
y
YZ Y

Zd
Z

D
D
poppi food [two] poppi food [two]

a b c d e f
a b c d e f
ABCDEF
A B C D E F

g h i j kl
g h i j k l
G H I J KL
G H I J K L

mno p q r
m n o p q r
MNOP Q R
M N O P Q R

s t u vwx
s t u v w x
ST U V W X
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

Ze
z

v
v
Y

Zf
Z

X X
poppi household [one] poppi household [one]

abcdef
a b c d e f
A B C D EF
A B C D E F

gh i j k l
g h i j k l
G H I J KL
G H I J K L

mn o p qr
m n o p q r
M N OPQR
M N O P Q R

stu v w x
s t u v w x
S T U VWX
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

Zg
z

y
y
Y

Zh
Z

D
D
poppi household [two] poppi household [two]

abc d e f
a b c d e f
ABCDEF
A B C D E F

g h i j kl
g h i j k l
GHI JK L
G H I J K L

m n o pqr
m n o p q r
MNOP QR
M N O P Q R

s tuvw x
s t u v w x
ST U V WX
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

Zi
z

r
r
Y

Zj
Z

I
I
poppi medical [one] poppi medical [one]

a b cd e f
a b c d e f
ABCDEF
A B C D E F

ghijkl
g h i j k l
G H IJK L
G H I J K L

m n o p qr
m n o p q r
M NOP Q R
M N O P Q R

st u v wx
s t u v w x
STUVW X
S T U V W X

yz y

zk
z

a
a
YZ Y

Zl
Z

A
A
poppi medical [two] poppi medical [two]

ab c d e f
a b c d e f
A B C DEF
A B C D E F

ghijkl
g h i j k l
G H IJK L
G H I J K L

mnopq r
m n o p q r
M N OPQR
M N O P Q R

s t u v wx STUVWX

z
s t u v w x S T U V W X

yz y

Za
z

z
YZ Y

bd
Z

W
W
poppi office [one] poppi office [one]

ab c de f
a b c d e f
AB C D E F
A B C D E F

gh i jk l
g h i j k l
G H IJKL
G H I J K L

mn o p q r
m n o p q r
M N OPQR
M N O P Q R

s t u vwx
s t u v w x
S T U V WX
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

be
z

g
g
Y

bf
Z

Z
Z
poppi office [two] poppi office [two]

a b c d ef
a b c d e f
ABC D E F
A B C D E F

g h i jkl
g h i j k l
G H I J KL
G H I J K L

mnopqr
m n o p q r
MN O P Q R
M N O P Q R

s t u vwx
s t u v w x
S T UV WX
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y z

n Y Z

R
bg n
bh R
poppi sexncrime [one] poppi sexncrime [one]

a b c def
a b c d e f
AB C D EF
A B C D E F

g h i jkl
g h i j k l
GH I J K L
G H I J K L

mnopqr
m n o p q r
M N O P QR
M N O P Q R

s tu v w x
s t u v w x
STU V W X
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

bi
z

q
q
Y

bj
Z

K
K
poppi sexncrime [two] poppi sexncrime [two]

abcdef
a b c d e f
ABC D E F
A B C D E F

g hijkl
g h i j k l
GHI J K L
G H I J K L

mnop q r
m n o p q r
MN O P QR
M N O P Q R

st u v w x
s t u v w x
S TUV W X
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

cz
z

b
b
Y

cb
Z

J
J
poppi sports [one] poppi sports [one]

ab c d ef
a b c d e f
A B CD E
A B C D E
F
F

g h i jk l
g h i j k l
GHIJ K
G H I J K
L
L

mn o pqr
m n o p q r
MNO P Q
M N O P Q
R
R

stuv w x
s t u v w x
S T U V W
S T U V W
X
X

yz y

cc
z

v v
Y ZY

cd
Z

C
C
poppi sports [two] poppi sports [two]

abcdef
a b c d e f
A B C D EF
A B C D E F

g h i j kl
g h i j k l
GHIJKL
G H I J K L

mn o p q r
m n o p q r
M NO P QR
M N O P Q R

s tuv w x
s t u v w x
ST U V WX
S T U V W X

yz y

ce
z

p
p
YZ Y

cd
Z

Z
Z
poppi tools [one] poppi tools [one]

abc a b c
d
d
e f
e f
ABCDE F
A B C D E F

g h i
g h i
j
j
k l
k l
GH I J K L
G H I J K L

mn om n o
p
p
qr
q r
M N O PQ R
M N O P Q R

st us t u
v
v
wx
w x
ST U VWX
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

cg
z

m
m
Y

ch
Z

O
O
poppi tools [two] poppi tools [two]

ab c de f
a b c d e f
A BCDEFA B C D E F

g h i j kl
g h i j k l
GHIJKL G H I J K L

m n o pqr
m n o p q r
MNO P Q R
M N O P Q R

stuv w x
s t u v w x
S T UVWX
S T U V W X

yz YZ
y

ci
z

n
n
Y

poppi clocks
Z

Page numbers made with poppi clocks pictograms.

cj
O
O
Poppi was designed by Martin Friedl. Licensed & distributed by Emigre.
About Poppi
The first Poppi pictograms emerged from my
final year project at the Stuttgart Academy
of Arts. The self-imposed task was to design
a comprehensive visual identity for a commu-
nity center, including logo, posters, leaflets,
and brochures, as well as a signage system for
the buildings interior. Specifically designed
symbols formed an important part of the
project because of my general enthusiasm for
pictograms and to accommodate non-German-
speaking visitors.
Before I started this project I had visited
Egypt. It was an impressive trip in several
respects. Early Egyptian culture created one
of the most interesting and sophisticated
symbolic languages, and it was an unforget-
table experience to see those ideograms,
thousands of years old, in their original
setting.
On the other hand, European visitors to
present-day Egypt are not only confronted
with a foreign language, but also with letters
that dont talk to them. Even though signs
written in English using the Roman alphabet
are available in the centers of large cities and
important museums, you are on your own when
traveling the back roads or when visiting a
local Arab market. When dealing with a lan-
guage that uses Roman letters, you can
correctly copy the street name of your desti-
nation (even if you dont understand what
it says) and hand it to the taxi driver. When
we tried to do the same in Egypt, our sketched
Arabic letters must have contained some in-
sult, because the result was a heap of abuse
(not understood, but presumably deserved) as
the driver left us standing in the dust.
Today, everyone can cross linguistic borders,
either with affordable flight tickets or
through present-day communication technol-
ogy. This gave me the idea of developing a
comprehensive image-based language encom-
passing all areas of everyday life, allowing for
communication beyond language barriers.
(Okay, its an ambitious project, but even the
old Egyptians had to start with a few picto-
grams.)
How they were made
In the beginning, whenever I saw an object
that I thought would make an interesting pic-
u
togram, I produced a little pencil sketch on
paper, scanned it, and re-constructed it in
Freehand. I then exported the file into Fonto-
grapher and worked to perfect the details.
But after hundreds of icons and countless
hours of work, the process changed, and most
importantly, I finally learned how to manage
the duality of my home and workplace.
Friends and loved ones tend to believe that
as long as no cursor is blinking on the comput-
er screen in my living room, my mind is with
them and not with my work. I am happy to
leave them to their belief. Little do they know
that I now perceive my surroundings as a sys-
tem of symbols. The whole process of sketch-
ing, scanning, and reconstruction is no longer
needed. An icon can be produced in the living
room with my computer turned off. I may have
a relaxing weekend with my loved ones and,
on Monday, the only task left is to digitize the
final version I designed in my mind. Creating
these icons has become second nature to me.
The decision of which icons to include was
initially a pragmatic one. To start with, there
were the existing icons from my unfinished
final year project. Then, it seemed sensible
to match common informational pictogram sets
with necessities, such as letter, phone, or
fax. However, I wanted to go beyond the obvi-
ous, to other areas of everyday life. I wanted
to explore the potential of an image-based
language and ask: Might it be possible to
buy a Metro ticket in Cairo without requiring
assistance, or write instructions for the use
of a cellular phone without a single word?
Poppi is my first step towards providing the
answer.
Martin Friedl
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