Pictorial push pull signs for doors

A pictorial "push" sign on a door.
A pictorial "pull" sign on a door.
A "push" sign on a door using vertical text with the human pictogram in green.
A "pull" sign on a door using vertical text with the human pictogram in red. Red indicates caution as "pull" is the direction in which accidents happen. (Kleine Beitel study 1994). The changes to Green and Red were made following the study from Oxford Brookes University, Psychology Dept on the human pictograms (Prof. Angus Gelatly and Meera Dulabh 2012).
The initial ideas in the design of the push pull door pictograms were to use an image of a hand for a PUSH. Research confirmed that a symbol of a hand is used for "Stop", "Halt" or "No Public Access" and these hand image symbols are widely used in the construction industry.

Pictorial push pull signs for doors are intended to avoid confusion. In English the words PUSH and PULL are both four letters long and contain the same first two letters. They may occasionally be confused by people in a hurry. For people with dyslexia the chances of error may be even higher.

In international cities there will be foreign visitors who do not necessarily speak the local language. Regardless of language, a picture is sometimes more noticeable and more quickly understood than words.

Door types with push and pull signs

These signs are most commonly used on glass hinged front doors in small food, coffee and retail outlets. Solid wooden hinged doors and internal hinged doors may also have push and pull signs.

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See also