In e na ional Jou nal o Resea ch in Voca ional Educa ion and T aining (IJRVET)
Vol.6, Issue 1, Ap il 2019, 68-96
DOI: 10.13152/IJRVET.6.1.4
ISSN: 2197-8646
h p://www.ij e .ne
Explo ing isual languages ac oss
oca ional p o essions
Alessia Ele a Coppi*1, Albe o Ca aneo1, Jean-Luc Gu ne 2
1Swiss Fede al Ins i u e o Voca ional Educa ion and T aining, 6900 Lugano, Swi ze land
2Uni e si y o F ibou g, Depa men o Educa ional Sciences, 1700 F ibou g, Swi ze land
Recei ed: 13.07.2018; Accep ed: 07.11.2018; Published: 30.04.2019
Abs ac
Con ex : Disco e ing isual languages ac oss p o essions is a complex ask since i en ails
disco e ing a communica ion sys em composed o in o ma ion in image o ex ual o m
called ep esen a ions and also including a ious kinds o anno a ions such as no es. Such
a ask has been p e iously sca cely conside ed wi hin esea ch, and basically only in es-
iga ing in whi e colla p o essions (e.g., doc o s). This lea es us wonde ing abou all he
possible shapes o hese oca ional isual languages and he po en ial o using hese images
o os e lea ning. Fo his eason, he cu en esea ch aims o in es iga e commonali ies
and di e ences o isual languages ac oss oca ional p o essions wi h he goal o using he
ou comes o design educa ional ac i i ies o oca ional educa ion and aining (VET).
App oach: 55 semi-s uc u ed in e iews ha e been conduc ed wi hin ele en p o essions
om he a eas o C a smanship, Indus y, Heal h and Se ices such a plumbe and ashion
designe s. The in e iews we e audio- eco ded and analyzed wi h NVi o h ough a coding
scheme which se ed as he main e e ence o he analysis.
Findings Resul s showed ha , in e ms o isual ep esen a ions, p o essionals use di e en
ypes o d awings such as echnical d awings (e.g., woodwo ke s), e alua ion o ms (e.g.,
den al assis an s) and illus a ions (e.g., ga dene s). Fo ske ches, pa icipan s indica e he
p ac ice o c ea ing ske ches depic ing objec s o p oduce (e.g. goldsmi hs). Fo pho os, hey
po ayed hings o emembe o pay a en ion o (e.g., chemical echnologis s). Pa icipan s
*Co esponding au ho : alessia.coppi@iu p.swiss
69
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
ac oss p o essions use anno a ions such as no es o speci y de ails o hei job. On he o he
side, hey also epo p o ession-speci ic anno a ions such as ma hema ical symbols like he
su ace oughness (e.g., polymechanics) and diag amma ic elemen s like di e en ype o
lines o indica e he s a us o he bones and muscles (e.g., massage he apis s) o whe e o
cu ex iles (e.g., ashion designe s). In e ms o communali ies, pa icipan s wi hin echni-
cal p o essions indica ed a sha ed use o bo h ep esen a ions and anno a ions. Con e sely,
o he p o essions had e y speci ic isual languages ha dly sha eable ac oss p o essions.
Conclusion: These esul s helped in disco e ing he isual languages o di e en p o essions
and his knowledge will be used o implemen educa ional ac i i ies based on speci ic skills
needed in di e en p o essions such as obse a ion skills wi h he use o VET-speci ic edu-
ca ional echnologies.
Keywo ds: Visual languages, isual ep esen a ions, anno a ions, oca ional p o essions, o-
ca ional educa ion and aining, VET
1 In oduc ion
Fo many decades he explo a ion o language has been a opic o esea ch in many discipli-
nes, such as philosophy and communica ion (e.g. Chomsky, 1962), psychology and educa ion
(e.g. Vygo sky, Who , & Wi gens ein, 1990) p o essions and o ganiza ion (e.g., Loewen-
s ein, 2014) o semio ics and an h opology (e.g., Goodwin, 2004). These a eas o knowledge
ocused on he concep o language, he impac o language in cogni i e de elopmen o he
use o ex ual and spoken language in di e en wo kplaces. Di e en ly, his esea ch will o-
cus mo e on he opic o language om a isual poin o iew; isual language is a communi-
ca ion sys em ha uses isual elemen s (Che y, 1957) such as isual ep esen a ions (Chang,
1986) o g aphical signs like do s, lines, and a ows and hei spa ial ela ionships (Cal ani,
2011). Aiming o esea ch he isual language o mul iple p o essions can be seen as a cum-
be some ask and one way o na ow he goal o his s udy is o ocus on isual ep esen a-
ions and anno a ions. These wo concep s comp ise mos o he isual language o di e en
p o essions and ha e also been he objec o many yea s o esea ch in he a ea o lea ning
and psychology (e.g., Gibson, 1950; Ande son, 1978; Smi h, 1998; Ainswo h, 1999; A ca i,
2003). This is due o hei po en ial o os e ing s uden s’ and wo ke s’ lea ning and p oduc-
i i y by dec easing cogni i e o e load and enhancing gene al unde s anding. Al hough he
esea ch on ep esen a ions and anno a ions is ex ensi e, he p incipal in es iga ions' ocus
is mainly on: 1) p oducing axonomies, iden i ying he cogni i e and psychological bene-
i s and main uses and 2) whi e-colla p o essions a he han oca ional p o essions. Wha
abou blue-colla oca ional p o essions? Wha ypes o isual ep esen a ions, anno a ions
and colo s do hey use? A e he e ea u es o elemen s o isual language used ac oss p o es-
70 Explo ing isual languages
sions; is he e any e idence o a sha ed isual language wi hin and be ween hese p o essions?
Answe ing hese ques ions could be bene icial o educa ion and especially o oca ional
educa ion: especially in dual sys ems, unde s anding be e he use o isualiza ions wi hin
he p o essional domains could help on one side o b idge he gap be ween he wo k-based
and he school-based ack, and on he o he side o design lea ning ac i i ies based on isual
ep esen a ions and ully exploi ing he po en ial o anno a ions.
2 Theo e ical backg ound
2.1 Visual Rep esen a ions
Visual ep esen a ions a e an es ablished concep in he li e a u e inso a as hey ha e been
s udied in many humanis ic sciences, al hough i is some imes di icul o ind a comp ehen-
si e de ini ion o his e m. Pe ini (2005) de ined hem as ex e nal objec s ha unc ion as
symbols, such as w i en ex o nume ical o mulas. O he de ini ions ha o igina ed in he
a ea o echnology-media ed lea ning e e o isual ep esen a ion as ‘ isual display’, and
speci y ha isual ep esen a ions a e ep esen a ions o in o ma ion ha can ha e he o m
o ex and s a ic o dynamic images (Sch aw, McC udden, & Robinson, 2013).
In gene al, he e is no widely accep ed de ini ion o isual ep esen a ion; some o he p o-
minen concep ualiza ions ha e ocused on dis inguishing di e en ypes o ep esen a ions,
such as in e nal and ex e nal ep esen a ions (see, Gilbe , 2010), desc ip i e and depic i e
ep esen a ions (Schno z and Banne , 2003) dynamic and s a ic ep esen a ions (Hö le ,
Schmeck, & Op e mann, 2013) and mul iple ep esen a ions (Ainswo h, 2006).
Alongside hese s udies, o he s ha e ocused on ep esen a ions such as d awings and
ske ches. In design and enginee ing he emphasis has been on p oducing axonomies o
uni y he language and inc easing unde s anding wi hin he p o ession. Fo ins ance, Pei,
Campbell and E ans (2011) c ea ed an ex ensi e axonomy ha included di e en ypes o
isual ep esen a ions such as ske ches, d awings, models and p o o ypes, wi h many di e-
en subse s (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1: Taxonomy o Visual Design Rep esen a ion ( om Pei e al., 2011, p. 7)
71
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
On he o he hand, o he s dis inguished be ween ypes o ep esen a ion in design and engi-
nee ing using he ca ego ies o : 1) concep design, 2) de elopmen design ske ch, 3) embo-
died design and 4) de ailed design (Kim, Jung, & Sel , 2013).
O he s udies ha e iden i ied he ypes o ep esen a ions used in di e en p o essions
such as by a chi ec s, geog aphe s, medical p o essionals, a cheologis s, manu ac u e s and
dance s. In he case o a chi ec s, S yh e and Gluch (2009) indica ed ha hey mainly use
ske ches, gene a e CAD images, e ie e pho og aphs om he in e ne and use ull-scale
models. Geog aphe s (Ya es and Humph ies, 1998) gene a e di e en ypes o schema such
as a ci y map o o he s ha a e mo e sui able o showing ela ionships, such as a ube map.
Radiog aphe s (Ha swood, P oc e , & Rounce ield, 2002) wo king wi h mammog ams use
cap u e shee s o epo in o ma ion such as he loca ion o cys s, p esence o pain, issues in
eading he scans and diagnos ic op ions (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2: Mammog aphy sc eening epo ( om Ha swood e al., 2012, p.93)
In he a ea o design, some au ho s (Ecke , Blackwell, & S acey, 2004) in e iewed p o es-
sionals and iden i ied di e en ca ego ies o use s o d awings; some use hem ex ensi ely
(e.g. designe s o a chi ec s), o he s occasionally o a speci ic ask (e.g. enginee s o web
designe s), while o he s a oid using hem (e.g. ood designe s). In o he esea ch on ske ches
(S acey, Ecke , & McFadzea, 1999) he ocus was mo e on he communica i e aspec s o
ske ches ha can esul in ambigui y and miscommunica ion due o hei incomple e na u e.
72 Explo ing isual languages
Fu he mo e, he same g oups o esea che s (Ecke , Blackwell, & S acey, 2012) in es iga ed
he impac o compu e -gene a ed ske ches on dance s’ c ea i i y; hey asked dance s o in-
e ac wi h Cho eog aphic Language Agen (CLA) so wa e (Fig. 3), which p oduces andom
ske ches om mo ing geome ic shapes, and hen use he ou pu s o c ea e new combina-
ions o mo emen s.
Fig. 3: Ske ch p oduced by CLA so wa e ( om Ecke e al., 2012, p.7)
Finally, a amous example o esea ch in his a ea is om Goodwin (see, 2004) ha explo ed
he concep o p o essional ision in di e en p o essions by analyzing g aphic ep esen a-
ions, highligh s o coding schemes. Goodwin poin ed ou ha p o essions such as a cheo-
logis s use speci ic maps and cha s (e.g. Munsel Colou cha ) o unde s and he laye ing
o he g ound a exca a ion si es and ha images allow hem o ca ego ise he wo ld in o
cohe en objec ha guide hei pe cep ion in a p o essional way.
2.2 Anno a ions and colou s
As isual ep esen a ions, anno a ions a e ha d o de ine and o g asp due o he di e en
pe spec i es om which he opic has been – om psychology, o educa ion, o compu e
science. Fo ins ance, S e anu and Go gan (2008) conside ed anno a ion as a p ocess ha
indi iduals use o analyze and in e ac wi h di e en objec s such as documen s o images.
They included in anno a ion a se ies o ac ions such as making ci cles a ound wo ds, unde -
lining po ions o ex , using colou s o ex analysis, making co ec ions on a s uden pape
o using check-ma ks. On he o he hand, Zywica and Gomez (2008) conside ed anno a ion
as a eading s a egy o lea ning, since i allows be e ex s uc u ing and ma king. Examp-
les a e highligh ing o d awing signs a ound impo an pa o he ex such as a de ini ion,
key con en and wo ds.
73
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
In spi e o he con as ing de ini ions and he lack o gene al classi ica ions o anno a ions,
esea ch has add essed anno a ion bo h in he a ea o lea ning and in he p o essions. Fo
ins ance, Heise and T e sky (2006) iden i ied wha hey called diag amma ic elemen s ha
gene ally help o enhance unde s anding o a ep esen a ion, such as lines, blobs, boxes, c os-
ses, a ows and ci cles. Elemen s such as a ows and lines a e use ul o emphasise he s uc-
u al o ganiza ion and unc ioning o a machine o he wo king o a body (Azkue, 2013).
Ano he example in enginee ing showed (see, Ecke e al., 2012) ha designe s p oduced
d awings using CAD so wa e’s and ha hey c ea e a wide a ie y o signs and ex ual anno-
a ions ha we e used o duplica e, jux apose and o e lay images. In he medical ield (see,
Ha swood e al., 2002) adiog aphe s wo king wi h mammog ams use di e en no es o
epo abno mali ies, such as abb e ia ions like ‘BT’ o b eas issue o ‘?’ o signal unce -
ain y. O he examples include ‘Dense BT’ o dense pa ches o ma e ial, ‘X NRC’ o no eal
changes in ha a ea and ‘Benign’ o benign pa ches. Gene ally, hese no es a e anno a ed on
he sc eening epo , as illus a ed in he image below (Fig. 4):
Fig. 4: Sec ion o a mammog aphy sc eening epo ( om Ha swood e al., 2012, p.93)
In his s udy we concep ualise isual ep esen a ion as a isual objec o an image ha indi-
iduals can c ea e and manipula e such as a mind map, pho og aph o a ske ch. Simila ly, we
concei e o anno a ions as he p oduc s o a p ocess ha includes a se ies o ac ions in which
a isual ep esen a ion is manipula ed by adding one o mo e laye s o in o ma ion, which
ake he o m(s) o ex , lines, highligh s and symbols.
74 Explo ing isual languages
3 Resea ch me hodology
To answe ou esea ch ques ions an explo a o y s udy was conduc ed in he I alian-speaking
pa o Swi ze land (Tessin Can on). Da a we e collec ed du ing 55 semi-s uc u ed in e -
iews pe o med wi h i e p o essionals om each o ele en p o essional a eas, b oadly g ou-
ped as: c a smanship (woodwo ke s, plumbe s, goldsmi hs, ashion designe s, winemake s,
ga dene s), indus y (chemical echnologis s, polymechanics echnicians, mul imedia ech-
nicians) and heal h & se ices (massage he apis s, den al assis an s). The in e iews las ed
o an a e age o 35 minu es ( anging om 13-90 minu es long) o e all. Du ing he sessions,
pa icipan s we e encou aged o show examples o ep esen a ions and anno a ions ypically
used du ing hei e e yday wo k p ac ice; such examples we e collec ed o u he e e ence.
All o he in e iews we e audio- eco ded, ansc ibed and analyzed using NVi o so wa e.
A coding scheme was c ea ed speci ically o his esea ch, based on Pei e al., (see, 2011),
Heise and T e sky (see, 2006), Sch aw e al., (see, 2010). The coding scheme was also di-
ec ly induced om he in e iews, o accommoda e he ac ha many p o essions included
in ou s udy go beyond he a ea o enginee ing and design. Acco ding o ou esea ch aims,
he coding scheme dis inguishes he ollowing laye s o coding: ype o isual ep esen a ion,
ype o anno a ion, use o colou s and p esence o sha ed language.
Visual Rep esen a ions includes ou codes:
– D awings a e o mal a angemen s o lines ha de e mine a pa icula o m. D a-
wings can pic u e di e en subjec s; hey a e mo e s uc u ed han ske ches;
– Ske ches a e p elimina y design ep esen a ions o some hing wi hou de ails as he
basis o a mo e inished p oduc
– Pho og aphs a e images o an objec , pe son o scene eco ded by a came a on pho o-
sensi i e ma e ial (Hanks, 1979);
– O he includes any o he ype o image such as colou s scales o ch oma og aphic
images.
Anno a ions a e conside ed o be he esul o a se ies o ac ions in which a isual ep esen-
a ion is manipula ed by adding w i en ex , lines, highligh s, a ows, d awings, numbe s,
and so o h (see, S e anu and Go gan, 2008; Zywica and Gomez, 2008). The ca ego ies o
anno a ions ha we e obse ed a e he ollowing:
75
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
– No es a e o ganised eco ds o ex ual in o ma ion p esen in a pa icipan ’s docu-
men a ion (see, Sch aw e al., 2013). This ca ego y includes le e s and combina ion
o le e s (A; AA), numbe s (1, 2, 3) and combina ion o numbe s and le e s such as
measu emen s (600mm);
– Diag amma ic elemen s a e de ices such as lines, blobs, boxes, c osses, a ows and
ci cles (see, Heise and T e sky, 2006). In his esea ch his ca ego y also included
plus (+) and minus (-) signs and alphanume ic cha ac e s such as as e isks (*), hash-
ags (#) o a signs (@);
– Symbols (e.g. diame e , haza d symbol, pain) a e con en ional signs used in w i ing
ela ing o a pa icula ield o ep esen ope a ions, quan i ies, elemen s, ela ions
o quali ies (Me iam-Webs e 's collegia e dic iona y, 1979). They ul ill he c i e ia
o s anda diza ion due o being p o essionally de ined in s anda dised manuals and
no ms (e.g. In e na ional S anda ds O ganiza ion, ISO).
Colou is a laye o ca ego iza ion ha is applied o bo h ep esen a ions and anno a ions.
This laye was inse ed in he coding scheme since colou s is a dimension closely linked o
images and anno a ion (e.g. Ma shall, 1998).
P esence o Sha ed Language is ano he laye o ca ego iza ion ha can be applied o bo h
ep esen a ions and anno a ions. I was coded whene e pa icipan s men ioned ha a spe-
ci ic ep esen a ion o anno a ion was sha ed wi hin hei p o ession o oge he wi h p o-
essionals om o he p o essions wi h which hey no mally coope a e (e.g. medical doc o s
and nu ses, elec icians and plumbe s, e c.).A subse equal o 20% o he co pus was inde-
penden ly coded by wo esea che s. The in e a e eliabili y analyses o he ou laye s o
codes showed subs an ial ag eemen ha anged om Kappa=0.75 o Kappa=0.94 (Landis
and Koch, 1977).
4 Resul s
In his sec ion, we will ocus on p esen ing he esul s o he con en analyses o he in e -
iews. Alongside he desc ip ion o he esul s, we ha e p o ided he illus a i e quo a ion
and some o he isual examples p o ided by he pa icipan s.
76 Explo ing isual languages
4.1 Wha a e he ypes o isual ep esen a ions used ac oss p o essions?
Table 1 displays how equen ly di e en isual ep esen a ions we e men ioned by he in-
e iewees, g ouped by p o ession. D awings we e he mos o en men ioned ep esen a ions
ac oss all p o essions. Ske ches we e epo ed less o en han d awings bu we e men ioned
by all he p o essions. Pho os we e men ioned by all winemake s, ga dene s, goldsmi hs and
den al assis an s.
Table 1: F equency o e e ences o di e en isual ep esen a ions, by p o ession
(The numbe s e e o he numbe o imes a speci ic ep esen a ion was men ioned, he
numbe s in pa en heses s anding o he numbe o pe sons ha men ioned hem wi hin
each p o ession)
A e looking b oadly a he equencies able, i is impo an o explo e he speci ic isual
ep esen a ions used by he sample.
In e ms o D awings, p o essionals such as polymechanics echnicians and woodwo ke s
epo ed using mainly echnical d awings [1 – see numbe ed quo es below o examples o
he ype o use being men ioned] and illus a ions [2]. Beside hese ypes, plumbe s epo ed
using schema ic diag ams [3], which we e also he main ypes o d awing used by mul i-
media echnicians. The di e ence is ha in he i s case he ep esen a ions a e pic u ing
hyd aulic sys ems, in he second elec onic equipmen :
[1] “We p oduce d awings using CAD and i s in e nal lib a y o ools. Ou d awings a e called
‘ aide s’ and hey show all he ools, posi ion, in o on he possible connec ions. Wi h his d awing
ou wo ke s a e able o go o he si e o he e en wi h all he in o needed.” [Mul imediaTechnici-
an_P23]
[2] We use echnical illus a ions o he machines so we know how ce ain machines wo k and
how hey can be cleaned.” [PolymechanicsTechnician_P12]
83
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
Den al assis an s seem o be di e en om all he o he p o essionals, because mos o he pa-
pe den i ion cha s ha e been eplaced by so wa e wi h digi al den i ion cha s. This means
ha hey use so wa e o ma k (by selec ing om a menu) he s a us o he ee h [42]:
[42] “You can do any hing wi h he p og ams; add implan s, p os heses, e aine s o o he in o,
like i we need o change he illing.” [Den alAssis an _P26]
Polymechanics echnicians use lines o signal e o s in he d awings [43]:
[43] “I can only anno a e whe e he e is an e o . I ha e o open he ile in he p og am and
change i wi h a ed line, sign i and sen i o he enginee .” [Polymechanics_P18]
The p o essionals in ou sample used a ious ypes o Symbols. Woodwo ke s, o ins ance,
epo ed using echnical symbols such as he adius o diame e , bu also o he symbols spe-
ci ic o hei p o ession such as he p esence o in isible elemen s (e.g. glass) o o he s ha
di e en ia e be ween ypes o woods o ypes o openings in a window [44]:
[44] “T iangles a e con en ional signs ha indica e he loca ion o he op, bo om, igh and le
sec ions o pieces o u ni u e o assemble. Lines indica e he opening di ec ion o he window.”
[Woodwo ke _P14]
Chemical echnologis s epo ed using biohaza d and ‘ isk and sa e y’ symbols. Haza d sym-
bols we e also used by winemake s and den al assis an s; he la e also used symbols desc i-
bing he s a us o he ee h (e.g. squa e wi h do s). Plumbe s also used s anda dised symbols
(In e na ional O ganiza ion o S anda diza ion [ISO], 2016) o indica e he wa e di ec ion
and di e en mechanical componen s [45]:
[45] “We use speci ic signs. A iangle wi h a ci cle is a pump, a bu e ly-looking sign is a al e
and he a ow wi h a ci cle is a manome e .” [Plumbe s_P37]
Goldsmi hs pe o ming gem ce i ica ion epo ed using s anda dised symbols ( om Ge-
mological Ins i u e o Ame ica) o ma k issues o he s one. Mul imedia echnicians poin ed
ou ha hey use CAD-CAM p og ams ha al eady con ain symbols o all he componen s
o an elec ical diag am such as he socke , ae ials and use measu emen uni s (e.g. decibel).
They use s anda dised symbols iden i ying ae ials, channels and ans o me s bu also codes
like he Ame ican S anda d Code o In o ma ion In e change (ASCII) he Na ional Tele-
ision Sys em Commi ee (NTSC). Polymechanics echnicians use s anda dised symbols in
hei echnical d awings in con o mi y o ISO and DEN no ms ha can be ound in “Ex ai
de no mes pou écoles echniques” (Ve ein Schweize ische Maschinenindus ielle , 1991).
O he symbols a e hose o su ace oughness ha indica e he ype o p ocessing o he
84 Explo ing isual languages
me al. Examples o some o he symbols epo ed o be used by he pa icipan s a e shown
in Table 3:
Table 3: Examples o he main symbols men ioned by speci ic p o essions
85
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
4.3 Wha a e he colou s used ac oss p o essions?
In Table 4, i can be obse ed ha almos all he p o essions had mul iple e baliza ions e-
ga ding he use o colou s in hei ep esen a ions o hei anno a ions.
Table 4: F equency o e e ences o di e en colou s, by p o ession
Ne e heless, he ca ego y Colou s was no used ex ensi ely, and mos pa icipan s indica ed
ha hei d awings o ske ches a e o en in black and whi e [46;47] e en i he e a e some
excep ions. Fo ins ance, plumbe s colou s pipes in ed (ho wa e /high p essu e), blue/g een
(cold wa e ) o b own acco ding o wha hey con ain (e.g. d ained wa e ) while d ains o
he e ige a ion sys em a e some imes ma ked in pu ple [48]. Mul imedia echnicians also
ha e s anda d colou s (In e na ional Elec o echnical Commission [IEC], 2017) such as ed,
yellow, g een, b own and black o di e en ia e cables [49]:
[46] “Ske ches a e in black and whi e, bu I can use some colo o a speci ic clien o he colo o
he s ones.” [Goldsmi h_P13]
[47] “D awings a e mos ly monoch oma ic. Colo ed lines and colo ed codes can be use ul in com-
plex d awings.” [ChemicalTechnologis _P01]
[48] “In gene al, ho wa e is in ed while he e u n wa e is in blue. Blue is o high p essu e
wa e , g een is o cold wa e and ed o pink is o ho wa e .” [Plumbe _P40]
[49] “Cables’ colou s can be black, b own and ed. In he case o mic oelec onics, colou s a e
now p in ed numbe s.” [Mul imediaTechnician_P44]
Massage he apis s epo ed using colou s o indica e p oblema ic a eas in body e alua ion
o ms [50] while den al assis an s used hem o di e en ia e pa hologies, and o lag impo -
an in o o communica e, symbols and no es abou su ge ies [51]:
[50] “I w i e no es in ed o indica e su ge ies.” [Den alAssis an _P16]
[51] “I use ed and blue o highligh he p oblem. I can use ed o a eas o pain, while a eas o
ension a e in blue. Red is also o igge poin s.” [MassageThe apis _P09]
86 Explo ing isual languages
4.4 Illus a i e examples
In his sec ion a e displayed some o he images collec ed du ing he in e iews. F om hese
examples i is possible o obse e he di e en laye s o obse a ion used in he esea ch and
how hey a e all in eg a ed in he images. Fo ins ance, massage he apis s mainly use e alu-
a ion o ms on which hey pu anno a ions such as no es, a ows and lines and colou s like
ed (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5: E alua ion cha s
Fashion designe s’ use o images is ch onological. Fi s hey p oduce a able wi h measu-
emen s and a ske ch o he possible ga men (Fig. 6). Then, hey p oduce d awings called
echnical ske ches ha show he inal design. And ul ima ely hey use pa e ns ha a e he
de ini i e echnical d awings o he pieces composing he ga men , wi h no es and diag am-
ma ic elemen s indica ing he name o he piece and he cu ing/sewing lines (Fig. 7).
Fig. 6: Di e en o ms o measu emen able
87
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
Fig. 7: Technical ske ch (le ) and Pa e n ( igh )
Goldsmi hs use ske ches o y ou di e en concep s o he inal look o he jewel y; in he
case o a complex piece o jewel y hey p oduce ske ches wi h measu emen s, calcula ions
and symbols (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8: Ske ches o a ing and a b acele
88 Explo ing isual languages
Plumbe s p oduce ske ches (Fig. 9) o he plumbing sys em wi h symbols and no es and hen
a echnical d awing wi h speci ic colou s o he di e en ypes o pipes and s anda dised
symbols (Fig. 10).
Fig. 9: Ske ch o a plumbing sys em
Fig. 10: Technical d awing
Ga dene s p oduce ske ches in he o m o planime ies wi h no es, diag amma ic elemen s
and colou s (Fig. 11). They also use echnical planime ies ha a e colo ed and ha incude
symbols indica ing di e en ype o plan (Fig. 12). Fu hemo e, hey also employ o he p o-
essionals o p oduce pain ings called ende ings (Fig. 13).
89
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
Fig. 11: Planime y ske ch
Fig. 12: Planime y d awing
90 Explo ing isual languages
Fig. 13: Rende ing
Woodwo ke s use di e en ypes o echnical d awings wi h di e en pe spec i es ha inclu-
de no es, diag amma ic elemen s and symbols (Fig. 14).
Fig. 14: Technical woodwo king d awing
91
Coppi, Ca aneo, Gu ne
4.5 Is he e any e idence o a sha ed isual language in he p o essions?
Table 5 shows impo an di e ences in he use o sha ed isual language ac oss he p o essi-
ons. Technical p o ession such as woodwo ke s o plumbe s men ioning i mo e ha non-
echnical ones such as winemake s o goldsmi hs.
Table 5: F equency o e e ences o p esence o sha ed language, by p o ession
Mo e speci ically, i was obse ed ha membe s o p o essions cha ac e ised by he use o
echnical ma e ial, such as woodwo ke s, plumbe s, polymechanics echnicians and mul i-
media echnicians, sha e simila i ies in hei isual language bo h wi hin [52;53] and be ween
[54;55] hei p o essions. This is mainly due o he need o using s anda dised no ms and e-
gula ions such as ISO no ms (In e nal O ganiza ion o S anda diza ion [ISO], 2003;1989)
ha consequen ially en o ce he use o s anda diza ion in he images:
[52] “We didn’ in en hem! I ’s a con en ion! I you go o ano he plumbe he’ll know ha ho
wa e e u n piping is ma ked in ed and he cold wa e ones in blue.” [Plumbe _ P40]
[53] “We sha e he d awing s yle. A school we used he same no ms and symbols. Companies
migh be a bi di e en om each o he bu he s anda d is s ill he same.” [Woodwo ke _P06]
[54] “The measu emen s anda d ha we use is SWISS, EU o USA since we wo k wi h na ional
and in e na ional companies.” [PolymechanicsTechnician_P12]”
[55] “Technical d awings a e echnical d awings ega dless o being om a woodwo ke , elec i-
cian o a b icklaye .” [Woodwo ke _P14]
Chemical echnologis s a e in a simila si ua ion since hei language is sha ed in e na i-
onally due o hei p oduc s being sold wo ldwide [56]. Thei wo k is egula ed by s an-
da dised documen a ion such as he one used in he p oduc ion o medica ion (Eu opean
Pha macopoeia Commission and Eu opean Di ec o a e o he Quali y o Medicines and
Heal hca e, 2010):
[56] “P ocedu es a e na ional bu he analyses a e codi ied in USA, EU o in e na ionally depen-
ding o whe e we ma ke he p oduc .” [ChemicalTechnologis _P21]
92 Explo ing isual languages
Clinical- ela ed p o essions such as massage he apy and den al assis ing bo h ha e simila
isual languages since hey use e alua ion o ms o he ee h o he body on which hey ma k
heal h issues, add symbols and w i e no es abou he ea men and s a us o he pa ien [57]:
[57] “E alua ion cha s a e used e en by doc o s, physio he apis s and massage he apis s and
os eopa hs. I I ha e o communica e wi h hem I’ll use body cha s.” [MassageThe apis _P04]
Ano he p o ession wi h sha ed language is ha o ga dene s, since hey bo ow symbols
om landscape a chi ec s [58] and, depending on he ype o wo k, sha e esponsibili y in he
c ea ion o he ep esen a ion [59]:
[58] “These symbols a e o icial be ween he a chi ec s. They ha e symbols o e e y hing!” [Ga -
dene _P53]
[59] “We do some measu emen s on he spo and we gi e hem o he a chi ec who will make he
echnical d awing and he we ca y i ou in he ga den.” [Ga dene _P55]
Speci ically his esul indica es ha all o he p o essions p oduce no es ha a e simila in
con en , which ocus mainly on he scope, ma e ials, and schedule o he wo k. The main
ypes o Diag amma ic Elemen s used a e c oss signs, lines and a ows. In e ms o Symbols,
he ones sha ed be ween he p o essions a e echnical ones such as adius o diame e , while
wi hin he p o essions o he symbols a e sha ed, such as he one o su ace oughness used
by he polymechanics echnicians o he ones indica ing di e en ypes o wood used by he
woodwo ke s. Fo he ea u e o Colo , he e is sha ed language be ween he echnical p o-
essions, since hey all p oduce black and whi e d awings, bu also wi hin p o essions, such
as he use o colo coding o he elec ical cables o he echnicians o colo di e en ia ion in
he hyd aulic sys ems o plumbe s.
5 Conclusion and discussion
The aims o his esea ch we e o explo e he isual language o oca ional p o essions by
iden i ying he ypes o isual ep esen a ions and anno a ions used and also o ind e idence
o a sha ed isual language. Unlike p e ious esea ch ha ocused mainly on speci ic ypes o
b anches o p o essions (e.g. Pei e al., 2011), his s udy delibe a ely included a la ge a ie y
o oca ional p o essions. Wi h espec o ou i s ques ion, i is possible o conclude ha he
p o essionals in he sample make use o di e en ypes o isualiza ions in hei p o essions,
such as many di e en ypes o D awings (e.g. echnical d awings, e alua ion o ms o sche-
ma ic diag ams), Ske ches (e.g. echnical ske ches o p esc ip i e ske ches), Pho os and o he
o ms o isual ep esen a ion (e.g. ch oma og aphic images). In e ms o anno a ions, he
mos equen ly used ype is No es, which a e p esen ac oss all p o essions, and ha e a simi-
