A pylon can stand for an energy network; a river for a watershed; fields and trees for a productive landscape. Each symbol is a recognizable part of the larger system. These are the first selections for the essay, with alternatives retained for future refinement.
Cities & places
City blocks
A neighborhood suggests shared space, infrastructure and daily life.
Pastel coral #E79595
Other candidates: Neighborhood blocks; a street section; a bridge.
“city block” by Savannah Vize · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Compare: Architectural city blocks
Movement & logistics
Rail junction
A junction suggests flows and connections across a transport system.
Pastel aqua #79C6C5
Other candidates: Rail junction; route network; port crane.
“train junction” by Worakamon Saykajarn · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Energy
Transmission tower
A pylon makes the network visible and stands for supply, demand and infrastructure.
Pastel gold #D9BC70
Other candidates: Transmission tower; substation; turbine.
“Transmission Tower” by Masha Eizner · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Water
River
A river stands for connected places along a catchment. A branching river would make its upstream–downstream structure more explicit.
Pastel blue #79B4DE
Other candidates: Watershed; river basin; reservoir.
“river” by Creative Mahira · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Compare: Mountain catchment
Food & land
Cultivated landscape
Crop rows stand for productive land. Agroforestry is an alternative when the emphasis is ecological diversification.
Pastel lime #B3C779
Other candidates: Field mosaic; agroforestry; soil profile.
“farm crops” by Made · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Compare: Agroforestry
Living systems
Habitat
Several organisms suggest relationships within a living system.
Pastel mint #82C39F
Other candidates: Habitat; tree and pollinator; food web.
“biodiversity” by Ali Khamdan · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Compare: Habitat cross-section
Weather & climate
Atmosphere
Atmosphere connects local conditions to planetary processes.
Pastel lavender #BE9BDC
Other candidates: Atmospheric globe; weather front; land–air cross-section.
“atmosphere” by rendicon · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
People & society
People at a table
People at a table make collective choice visible. Households are an alternative for population and economic models.
Pastel rose #D692BE
Other candidates: Households; people around a table; homes and workplaces.
“Meeting” by Creative Stall · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Compare: Homes / households
Fire
Flame
A flame gives fire its own place in the vocabulary: spread, exposure, fuels and the role of fire in landscapes.
Pastel apricot #E8A071
Other candidates: Flame; fire front; prescribed burn.
“Fire” by Gregor Cresnar · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
Sensory landscape
Senses
Sound, light, smell and barriers shape whether people and other animals can move, communicate and thrive in a place. This category connects sensory conditions with walkability and habitat connectivity.
Pastel periwinkle #969BD8
Other candidates: Ear, eye and nose; a permeable path; an animal crossing.
“sensory” by mangunkarsa · Noun Project · CC BY 3.0
How the vocabulary carries through
- One symbol per domain. Reuse the same form in the essay, diagrams and future slides.
- Color identifies the theme. Use a distinct pastel hue for each pictogram and carry it through its rules and outgoing relationships. Keep labels dark.
- Match visual weight. Use 48–72 pixel symbols beside text and 80–96 pixel symbols in diagrams. Judge their apparent size, not only their image dimensions.
- Keep the words. Color and shape reinforce a visible domain label.
- Connect the symbols. Whole-system modeling is represented by relationships among domains; arrow labels describe the exchange or influence.
The diagram is conceptual. It specifies relationships to investigate, not effect sizes or a claim that every connection is modeled by a particular product.
Further branches
For a broader industry survey, reserve a factory for industry, an antenna for communications, and an organ or heartbeat for health. Keep audiences—businesses, agencies, communities and researchers—as a separate set of smaller labels.
The selected Noun Project icons are recolored under CC BY 3.0 with creator credits. The communications symbol is public domain. Colored SVG wrappers retain the original PNG contours; editable vector source is available through the linked creator pages under their download terms.