 A sleek black rabbit on the run, a scary skull with gaping eyes and crossbones and a bold red octagon with eight sharp edges that read stop at its center and white type. What do these graphic images have in common? They're all part of a constantly evolving system of symbols that we use to communicate every day. Welcome to the exhibition Give Me a Sign, the Language of Symbols. Here, you will explore how symbols inspire activism and community, keep us safe, and represent who we are and what we believe in. You will even have the chance to design your own symbol for a place you love or cause you care about. As you explore, we hope you will see symbols in new ways. Symbols are made up of images, shapes, colors, and lines to share visual information. Symbols can also combine to expand their meanings. The recognizable shape of a raised fist became the base layer for many popular pen back buttons from the 1960s and 1970s. Here, the fist is combined with the feminist symbol and the radiation symbol, and here, the fist is combined with an olive branch and a dove, two symbols for peace. This exhibition pulls inspiration from Henry Dreyfus' simple source book, an authoritative guide to international graphic symbols. Published in 1972, this book contains symbols for 26 disciplines from astronomy and mathematics to music and photography. Although it was developed over 50 years ago, this resource is still used by designers today. A deep dive into Cooper Hewitt's collection reveals how the making of the symbol source book is an engaging example of collaborative design. The book's author and designer, Henry Dreyfus, worked closely with his staff and the public to collect thousands of symbols. These included designs for traffic signs, farm equipment, the Olympics, and more. The team consulted with many different users and designers to create a common visual system that could be shared around the world. The book includes a table of contents in 18 different languages. The symbol source book team sent out a questionnaire called Our Search for Symbols to crowdsource ideas and help solve difficult simple challenges, like designing a symbol for push and pull. Readers from all ages and backgrounds responded to the call. An 11-year-old child submitted a design for push, showing a person pushing a green wheelbarrow and a design for pull, showing a person pulling a red and purple sleigh. As you move through the exhibition, you will learn how people just like you recognize opportunities to design and redesign new symbols. Emoji have expanded to reflect and represent the diversity of our world. Reufe Elimeti was 15 years old when she proposed the emoji of a bright-eyed woman from the shoulder up, wearing a hijab. Everyone has the power to shape symbols and give them meaning. The symbol source book wasn't meant to be the final say on symbols. In fact, Henry Dreyfus hoped that the project would inspire others to explore how important these tools are in our daily lives. So, roll up your sleeves and get ready to get creative. We're crowdsourcing for the next symbol source book. Share your symbol ideas with us by posting them on social media and tagging at Cooper Hewitt with hashtag symbol source book 2024. Credits? Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Give me a sign, the language of symbols.