TRI (The Semiotic Standard)
2026
Icon Design, Speculative Design, Information Design, Semiotics, Worldbuilding
The Semiotic Standard is a 24-icon classification system created for the Threshold Research Institute (TRI), a fictional black-project agency developed as part of a larger analog horror worldbuilding project. It translates a speculative taxonomy of psychological and spatial anomalies into a coherent system of institutional signage that feels grounded in real-world design standards.
The project draws on speculative design, using a fictional artifact to explore how visual systems can shape institutional credibility. I adapted Ron Cobb's Semiotic Standard for a psychological rather than mechanical vocabulary. The goal was to prove that a fictional bureaucracy's internal logic could be understood through icon design alone, without relying on text to carry the meaning.
Design Process
This project began with Ron Cobb's Semiotic Standard for Alien (1979), a functional, human-centered visual language built to be immediately recognizable rather than decorative. I adapted that discipline to an identity already in place (name, logo, motto), itself drawing on the visual language of military patches associated with classified and black-budget programs. This meant the icons had to slot into an existing system rather than invent one, so I worked category by category, Primary States first since they carried the most conceptual weight, then Secondary Levels, Tertiary Impact, and Trigger Conditions.
Design Principles
The icon set is built on a fixed modular grid with standardized margins and safe areas, ensuring every icon follows the same underlying structure.
This isn't unique to fiction: real institutional signage systems like ISO 7010 are built around the same idea, communicating hazard and status through symbol alone, keeping text to a minimum.
Three rules governed every icon on top of that grid:
- Modular Construction — every icon is built from the same grid, margins, and safe area, so the set reads as one standard rather than 24 separate illustrations.
- Sequential Hierarchy — escalation within each category (Alpha through Omega, with Pending held for unresolved cases) is designed to read instantly, without relying on labels.
- Consistent Visual Weight — no single icon visually dominates the set; restraint in detail keeps every icon equally legible at a glance.
Final Outcome
The completed Semiotic Standard forms a cohesive visual language that supports the identity of TRI, giving its fictional bureaucracy a believable and internally consistent method of classifying anomalies. It is presented as a standalone poster and applied consistently across TRI's supporting documentation, demonstrating how a coherent icon system can reinforce the credibility of a fictional institution.
Context
Cobb, R. — Semiotic Standard for All Commercial Trans-Stellar Utility Lifter and Heavy Element Transport Spacecraft, in Alien (dir. Ridley Scott, 1979)
Creative Assembly — Alien: Isolation (2014)
Paglen, T. — I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World (2007)
Remedy Entertainment — Control (2019)
Anno, H. (dir.) — Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995–1996)
Turner, V. — The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (1969)
Dunne, A. & Raby, F. — Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction and Social Dreaming (2013)
International Organization for Standardization — ISO 7010: Graphical Symbols — Safety Colours and Safety Signs (2003–2019)
SCP Foundation — Object Class System: Safe / Euclid / Keter (collaborative fiction, 2008–present)
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