The Human Factors Crest

Posted on 11/05/10 by David Sharek 1 Comment

I was playing around with designing some sort of symbol to represent the field of Human Factors and came up with the crest above. I quite like it, but I know it needs some work. We’ll call this version 0.0.1. There was a method to my madness during the design stages and you can read about the meanings behind the individual icons, indexes, and symbols below:

The Meaning Behind the Human Factors Crest

The shield is quartered to allow for the following four heraldic symbols:

1. the hand represents the human condition
2. the book represents research and knowledge
3. the torch represents lighting the way
4. the cogs represent technology

In this way the shield tells a cyclical story. Beginning with the human condition, the human factors professional conducts basic or applied research to gain understanding which sheds light on how technology can better improve the human condition.

Additionally, two griffins flank the dexter and sinister of the crest indicating vigilance. The blue griffin for truth, and the red griffin for magnanimity. The vine at the base of the crest symbolizes the need for strong and lasting cooperation among all human factors researchers.

The Human Factors Crest is released by David Sharek to the public domain under a Creative Commons License. Feel free to use it for your noncommercial projects!