Dear all,

I would like to provide a summary about the feedback received regarding a new icon for the grey category on markets, finance and governance, in order to make it easier to move forward and to finally reach a decision:

Icon Number 1
received the following pros:
-
received the following cons:

• no symbol for government
• dollar sign ("because for progressives in the US it's used to symbolize corporate culture. It implies a most impoverished sense of wealth and goodness")

Icon Number 2
received the following pros:

• disagreeing that "endless growth" is a negative thing. Not only sanitation coverage should increase exponentially, but also growth of the local and national economies as a result of increasing sanitation coverage. The hand shows that work is required by everyone, NGOs, governments private sector etc. to create that growth.
• It doesn't convey endless growth. Toilet system coverage certainly requires growth.
• it puts the focus on the entire market, whereas #1 could be interpreted as monetizing a small component of an intervention without addressing the entire market system
• In trying to capture the essence of market development, we need to eliminate anything that's not essential. While the government is important, it's not central to the idea of market development, which has business at its core.

received the following cons:

• no symbol for government
• limitless growth
• not sure about the hand. The hand implies "giving" which is detrimental to markets.

Icon Number 3
received the following pros:
-
received the following cons:

• no symbol for government
• limitless growth

Icon Number 4
received the following pros:

• unusual but could be OK
• another vote for this icon (with the constraint that it looks "as though we want to nurture establishment/government")

received the following cons:
-
Icon Number 5
received the following pros:

• unusual but could be OK
• simplest way to convey, fostering the 'market.' Two hands showing to be supporting/uplifting a marketplace, i.e. market development.
• a vote for this icon

received the following cons:
-

Icon Number 6
received the following pros:

• a shopping trolley is an unusual but easily understood symbol for market

received the following cons:

• it would not really apply to rural contexts in developing countries where there are no supermarkets

Icon Number 7
received the following pros:
-
received the following cons:

• looks like we are worshipping money
• it is not a gender neutral person

Trying to sum up the (partially qualitative) votes and translating them into quantative results, "half" a person voted for #1, 3 persons for #2, 2 persons for #4, 3 persons for #5, 1 person for #6. So far, it seems #2 and #5 are the favoured ones.

Alternative icon ideas were proposed as follows:

Put the arrow at the bottom and show the desired result of market development. This could be any icon for well being or a newly created one. Since we don't have a good universal toilet icon, much less one for sanitation systems, why not create one? Could several tiny icon elements be artfully combined? User interface still speaks most clearly to desired end result. Perhaps combine the gendered stick figures (although increasingly irrelevant in North America) along with squat and sit toilet symbols?

None of the suggestions meets the requirements completely. The one with the dollar and the hand comes closest, in my opinion, but then, the icon might suggest also, donations for sanitation. So, ideal would be for me, a toilet and a dollar sign, meaning that sanitation facilities should be based on cost recovery / income generation.

You could use the "market" icon from #5, combined with the graph line from #2. Maybe the graph line is superimposed over the top of the market icon.

I hope we find a constructive solution for this topic.

Best,
milli

I am so happy to see this process is taking place, and that so much thought is going into the development of this icon. Kudos to PSI for taking the initiative on this. My background is in graphic design, so I'm glad for the opportunity to contribute to this dialogue.

Here are my thoughts:

I like the graph line in #2 because it puts the focus on the entire market, whereas #1 could be interpreted as monetizing a small component of an intervention without addressing the entire market system. It's the entire market system that needs to grow in order to make lasting change.

Although I like #2 a lot, I'm not sure about the hand. To me, the hand implies "giving" which is detrimental to markets. You could use the "market" icon from #5, combined with the graph line from #2. Maybe the graph line is superimposed over the top of the market icon.

Regarding the stated concern of limitless growth, it may be a legitimate concern, but icons need to oversimplify by definition. Although we try to bake as much meaning into icons as possible, sometimes we need to accept their limitations.

I don't think this icon needs to have a toilet in it because it sits within the context of SuSanA, where all the icons are understood to be about sanitation. Having said that, it would be nice to have an icon that we share as a sector, but this assignment is specific to the needs of this forum.

I wanted to respond to the idea of including the government in this icon. In trying to capture the essence of market development, we need to eliminate anything that's not essential. While the government is important, it's not central to the idea of market development, which has business at its core.

I look forward to seeing where we end up with this. If any additional support is needed from me, please reach out.

Warm regards,

KC Koch
iDE Global WASH Initiative

Dear all,

Yes, I agree with the new name for the working group; market development. Or sanitation market development?

As for the icons: I think none of the suggestions meets the requirements completely. The one with the dollar and the hand comes closest, in my opinion, but then, the icon might suggest also, donations for sanitation. So, ideal would be for me, a toilet and a dollar sign, meaning that sanitation facilities should be based on cost recovery / income generation.

Good luck,

Hester Foppen
Aqua for All

Market Development is a good overarching name for a whole bunch of important topics. Finding an icon that works, is another story.

First my personal negative. I hate the use of the dollar sign though I can't fully explain why. Probably because for progressives in the US it's used to symbolize corporate culture. It implies a most impoverished sense of wealth and goodness.

My preference so far is #2. Agree with Genevieve that it doesn't convey endless growth. Toilet system coverage certainly requires growth.

How about this? Put the arrow at the bottom and show the desired result of market development. This could be any icon for well being or a newly created one. Since we don't have a good universal toilet icon, much less one for sanitation systems, why not create one? Could several tiny icon elements be artfully combined? User interface still speaks most clearly to desired end result. Perhaps combine the gendered stick figures (although increasingly irrelevant in North America) along with squat and sit toilet symbols?

Thank you, PSI, for putting your icon designer to work on this. And thanks, Elisabeth, for sending around email to get WG9 input on this.

Best wishes,

Carol

Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human (PHLUSH)
115 SW Ash St, Suite 500
Portland, Oregon 97204 USA
www.PHLUSH.org

Thank you.

For me it would be 4 or 5. 5 is my favourite as 4 looks as though we want to nurture establishment/government. It would be good to get some colour into this.

Hello,

I am just wondering if anyone else has any opinions about the new icon for the "grey" category (called market development)? I feel a bit lonely, discussing it only between Genevieve and myself. Any other opinions about the possible new icon please? See posts above in this thread.
Thanks.
The current icon really isn't very good and I would like to change it sooner rather than later.

Regards,
Elisabeth

Thanks for the feedback, Elisabeth!
Worst-case scenario, I can always take these back to the drawing board with our graphic designer if none quite fits the theme.

Personally, my favorites are No. 2 and No. 5.

No. 2: I disagree that "endless growth" is a negative thing. We want to see not only sanitation coverage to increase exponentially, but also to see local and national economies grow as a result of increasing sanitation coverage. So I see that upwards arrow as optimistic and aspirational. And of course from the hand shows that work is required by everyone, NGOs, governments private sector etc. to create that growth. It won't happen on its own.

No. 5: I feel as though this is the simplest way to convey, fostering the 'market.' Two hands showing to be supporting/uplifting a marketplace, i.e. market development.

Hope others will share their thoughts as well.

Dear Genevieve,

Thanks a lot for taking the initiative here and for getting your designer to work on this. Much appreciated!

Reminder for the others, the current icon for the grey category on market development looks like this:



It is not reflecting very well the market development side and therefore we want to improve it.

I like the ones that Genevieve has proposed (note we decided to keep the number of symbols inside of the icon to a maximum of two so that it doesn't get too complex).

I really like icon number 6 with the shopping trolley, as it's an unusual but easily understood symbol for market. However, it would not really apply to rural contexts in developing countries where there are no supermarkets and hence no shopping trolleys, I guess? But perhaps that doesn't matter?

I don't like the others as much for the following reasons:
Icon 1: no symbol for government?
Icon 2: same as icon 1 and also looks like we want limitless growth...
Icon 3: again the limitless growth, plus no government symbol
Icon 4 and 5: unusual but could be OK
Icon 7: don't like it, looks like we are whorshipping money and also it's clearly a male person (would need to be made gender neutral or together with a female).

Regards,
Elisabeth

Hi everyone,

Following from John Sauer's post with regard to changing the name to "Market Development" (see here ), we have put together a few icons for everyone to look at and see if we can effectively capture this concept. Or at the very least, update the icon a bit. Please see suggestions below and let us know which ones you like!

Presented, in no particular order (with corresponding captions below each image):

1.


In both this one and the next one, the hand is used to capture a human element for market development, and the "fostering" that is required. Because market growth means economic growth, different presentations of financial growth are being presented here.

2.

See description above for Icon 1 - different way of demonstrating "market growth."

3.

Again, market growth.

4.

This image aims to represent the growth that means fostering the "system" for sanitation growth. (Not sure if this looks too government-focused.)

5.

Growing the marketplace.

6.

Market/economy plus government engagement.
As asked by Elisabeth, is a shopping cart perhaps too "western"?

7.

Raising the market! Hurrah!

Please share your thoughts and opinions and we can take these to our PSI graphic designer to incorporate elements and adjust as you see fit. Let me know which ones you prefer. Note: the final icon will be in gray, just like the current one.

Cheers,
Genevieve