#555 @

In one character -- the @ symbol -- we can see the evolution of so much.

This piece of punctuation was included on the earliest manual typewriters and used well before those machines were developed.  "At" primarily meant "at that price".  Think of the early shopkeepers with their 3x5 receipt pad -- writing "3 bushels @ $1", "1 apple @ 5 cents" or similar things.  It was one of the first symbols of commerce.

Today, we all know that @ has a very different meaning.  It has become so pervasive that the Museum of Modern Art's Department of Architecture and Design "acquired" the symbol in 2010.*  You could say "at" and most everyone today would instinctively write the @ sign. It has become the punctuation of the modern economy -- connecting us all to each other.

You, too, can give long-standing things a new meaning.  Is there a symbol in your organization that needs to evolve?

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source:  A Decade in Design 2004-2013, March 2010, Fast Company, October 2013, p.66