Kwikpoint Iraqi Visual Language Survival Guide Cards

Tuesday, September 28th, 2004

A firm called Kwikpoint is offering “visual language survival guides” for Iraqi Arabic. Normally the term “survival guide” isn’t quite so literal.

A couple sections (part one, part two) provide lots of little pictures you can point to in front of an Iraqi person to say things like “is the improvised explosive device hidden under the dead goat?” and “was the bomb maker planning manual or remote detonation?” As Boing Boing points out:

Visually, they’re unsettling. The images are functional icons, like highway signs or web UI buttons, so they reflect a simplified aesthetic — like early childhood storybooks. The subject matter is violent, but the look is “see spot run” or “happy Lego people at play.”

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