ICONSPEAK Travel T-Shirt: 40 Icons to Communicate Without Words

ICONSPEAK is a travel T-shirt printed with nearly 40 simple pictures, from a bus and a bed to a beer and a hospital cross. When the words run out, you point at your chest. The idea came from a Swiss team who learned the hard way, on a broken-down motorbike in rural Vietnam, how far a drawing can get you.

Here is how the shirt started, which symbols it uses and how to make pictures work for you on the road.

How ICONSPEAK started in Vietnam

In 2013 co-founder George Horn was riding through Vietnam by motorbike with a friend when one of the bikes broke down. They were stuck in a small village where nobody spoke English or French, so they drew symbols on scraps of paper and cards to explain what they needed. It worked.

“We came up with the idea in 2013 when we were riding motorbikes through Vietnam and one broke down,” Horn told CNN. The obvious next step was to print the symbols on something a traveller always has: a T-shirt.

The travel icons on the shirt

The set covers the questions travellers ask most often. Among the icons CNN listed are:

• transport: bike, train, bus and airplane
• a place to sleep: hotel or bed
• food and drink, including beer
• help: hospital
• connection: Wi-Fi

The team removed any symbol that might offend somebody somewhere and left out religious images, so the shirt can be worn almost anywhere. Combined, two or three icons make a sentence: a clock and a boat ask when the next ferry leaves; a plate and a chilli ask where to find spicy street food.

Shirts, bags and caps

CNN reported the shirts selling online for 33 US dollars, with tote bags, hats and tank tops in the same icon design. The company’s site is iconspeak.world.

Tips for talking with pictures abroad

Icons start the conversation; a few extra tools finish it:

• Write the specifics. Carry your hotel’s name and address in the local script, and write numbers, dates and times on paper.
• Download a language offline. Google Translate’s offline-language guidance explains how to save languages to your phone before you leave Wi-Fi behind.
• Use a map. Ask people to point to the place, and confirm by pointing back.
• Get proper help for serious matters. For allergies or medical needs, carry a written card in the local language.

Our airport Wi-Fi guide helps when you land without a connection, and Carry-on packing shows how to travel light with the essentials close at hand.

Sources