Exit Sign

This is the standard exit sign used at the resort I stayed at in Cuba over reading week. I giggled a little when I first saw it because of how contradictory it is to our own. Our exit sign uses red lettering to insinuate caution and in the event of a fire we are taught from grade school to remain calm and walk in single file out of the building. This exit sign however, sends a visual message of "run like hell". Using the colour green, a colour with the obvious connotation 'GO' and the image of the figure running out the door doesn't exactly set a calm mood in the event of an emergency. I also giggled a little at the little shadow off the figure's foot. The image is abstracted to minimal detail, but then there's a shadow added in, perhaps so you don't think he's jumping out a window. Further, the "run like hell" idea is enforced by numerous postings of a shortened version of the sign, with just the person figure and no text. They could have gone the other way and used just text on these signs with an arrow, but clearly they really want people to follow the example of the running graphic figure.