Designing a communication code for children

Abstract

Considering the importance of recreational activities in a child’s life, the existence of spaces created exclusively for that purpose becomes indispensable. It is also important to be aware that we live in a society where diversity prevails; therefore, this diversity should be considered when designing and building these spaces. A multiplicity of interactions may be observed in a recreational space, one of these interactions is the relationship that the child establishes with space. Nonetheless, it is verified that the elements of communication, which exist in these spaces, are generic and not addressed specifically to children. Considering this lack of communicative elements, as well as children diversity, the definition of a communication code for children would enable a more suitable and safer use of these spaces. This research focused its approach on the conception of a code, based on three visual elements of design: colour, shape and texture; and was designed to be understood, intuitively, by all children between the ages of three and five, in other words, pre-school children, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. A sample of 384 pre-school children, attending Portuguese Schools, was inquired, supported by a questionnaire. Fifteen colours, fourteen geometric shapes (regular and irregular) and sixteen textures (supported by textile fabrics, which represented eight attributes of bipolar touch) were used. Each child was asked to associate the previously referred elements to the following three concepts: permitted, prohibited, and danger. Based on the achieved results, the research proposes the introduction of the foundations of a new inclusive communication code, through the associations made, by the child, with these concepts and the visual and tactile elements. Considering also factors which influence the choice of the referred visual elements of design, like the influence of cultures in colours, it is important to refer that this study is only statistically significant for children from mainland Portugal.