Typical office signage includes many phrases that we have come to accept as the standard in a work environment. Some phrases, especially those related to security, are often translated into graphical representations to ensure that they are understood by everyone, regardless of possible language barriers that may exist.
Examples may include “Fire exit”, “High voltage”, “No smoking”, “Toxic material”, “Flammable” and “Radioactive”. We are conditioned to understand what these icons represent when we see them.
However, other office signage phrases are not assigned a standard iconic image representation. If the work environment welcomes multicultural visitors, important office signage may need to be translated into commonly used languages to ensure messages are heard.
Keep in mind that if you are replacing a small sign with one that will accommodate multiple translations of that phrase, the new sign will likely take up a lot more space. You may need to relocate the existing sign to make room for the newer and larger one.
One of those phrases that is ubiquitous in most work environments is “Do Not Disturb.” The “Do Not Disturb” sign can be seen in many situations, but generally does not have a common graphical representation. Some locations that require a Do Not Disturb sign may include conference or meeting rooms, research labs, dark rooms, movie studios, recording studios, interview rooms, and executive offices.
If you need a multicultural office sign for the common phrase, “Do not disturb,” here are 12 translations to get you started.
English: do not disturb
English: do not disturb
Spanish: No molestar
German: Nicht stören
Dutch: Niet storen
Italian: I will not disturb
Polish: Nie przeszkadzaÄ ‡
Portuguese: Não Pertube
Hungarian: Ne zavarjanak
Latin: Operor non perago
Swahili: Usinisumbue
Vietnamese: Không disturb
Of course, the languages you choose for your office signs will largely depend on the employees and visitors who frequent your site. If you are unsure of the most prominent languages used on your site, have all visitors and employees complete a very short form upon arrival at the workplace for a set period of time. One week is usually enough for such a survey. Once you have a sufficient number of forms to analyze, you can determine the languages that your office signage will need to translate into.