Category Self Image & Branding

Can you imagine the confusion on our roads if there were no traffics signs or signals? Traffic signs and lights are important in that they give directions to people, warn us of dangers, control speed, and enforce traffic rules. Traffic lights are usually placed at the intersection of roads. They indicate when it is safe to drive, ride or walk. Everywhere in the world, a red traffic light means ‘stop’ and green light means ‘go’.Road signs were the first traffic control devices to direct travelers on their journeys. Today, road signs have many different purposes. Some have arrows showing the direction in which to go. Others have a slash inside a circle – a warning that certain vehicles and certain actions are not allowed Road signs also remind us of the speed limit, and give details about the road surface. They tell us when schools, hospitals and petrol bunks are nearby, and indicate dangerous turns on the road. It is important that we all learn the meaning of these road signs and traffic signals, so that accidents can be avoided, and we can have safe and comfortable journrys.

Have you seen pictures of totem poles? They are large wooden poles that are beautifully carved with many symbols. The totem pole of the Red Indians, or American Indians, provided a means of communicating their stories, myths and legends. They were generally carved from giant trees, and were made up of an arrangement of symbols.The symbols on the totem pole told a story or recalled an event. These messages and stories tell us a lot about the Red Indians, their culture and their way of life. Some poles were erected to celebrate cultural beliefs; others were just an artistic presentation. Certain poles also contained graves within them. But whatever their purpose, totem poles with their huge size, subdued colours, and intricate carvings covered with magnificent symbols are both awesome and mysterious at the same time.

In America, the first newspaper appeared in Boston in 1690, entitled ‘public Occurrence’. But it was immediately suppressed, and all copies were destroyed. The first successful newspaper was the ‘Boston News Letter’, begun by postmaster John Campbell in 1704. But it had only a very limited circulation. By   the eve of the Revolutionary War, some two dozen papers were issued at all the colonies. Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania would remain the centres of American printing for many years.  By the war’s end in 1783, there were forty-three newspapers in print. The press played a vital role in the affairs of the new nation. Many more newspapers were started, representing all shades of political opinion.  The top five daily newspapers in the USA today are the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. The total daily and Sunday papers amount to more than 2,300. This figure represents the highest number of newspapers, with the highest total circulation for any country in the world.

Every morning, without fail, the newspaper arrives at your home. But 400 years ago, there were no newspapers at all. During the Middle Ages in Europe, handwritten newsletters were circulated privately among merchants, passing along information about everything from wars and economic conditions to social customs and human interest The first printed forerunners of the newspaper appeared in Germany in the late 1400’s in the form of news pamphlets or broadsides. They often had highly sensational content. It was between 1605 and 1610 that publications with topical information began appearing on a fairly regular basis. These publications appeared first in Europe, and were the first true newspapers.  In the English – speaking world, the earliest predecessors of the newspaper were ‘corantos’, small news pamphlets produced only when some event worthy of notice occurred. The first successively published title was ‘The Weekly News’ of 1622.

When you started learning the alphabet, do you remember your teacher telling you how each letter should be pronounced? Alphabets are different from pictograms in that an alphabet consists of different letters, with each letter representing a sound in a language.  Words are made of different letters put together.An alphabet is the quickest and most efficient way to write. Just imagine… with only 26 letters you can write all the words in the English language! Of course, different languages have their own alphabets. The Greek alphabet is different from the Hebrew alphabet, just as the Hindi alphabet is different from the Malayalam one! The Roman alphabet, which is widely used to this day, was derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets. The letters of an alphabet are written in different ways in different languages too. Some are round, while some have square, or even triangular shapes. With some alphabets, the words and sentences are written from left to right, while, with others, they are written from right to left!

It is not known who invented the first pencil. The pencil was first documented in 1565 by Conrad Gesner, and it consisted of a piece of graphite inserted into a wood shaft. European craftsmen (woodworkers) were the first known pencil manufactures, and it wasn’t until the late 1700’s that manufacturing techniques similar to those practiced today were developed