Diccionario de Simbolos

Rating:
Summary: A tremendous resource on the meaning of symbols
Review: Ok, obviously you don't want to get this book unless you're very fluent in Spanish, though I'm sure there should be other editions in various other languages.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I have to say that I am very glad that I got this book, however by accident it was. I am a graphic artist studying for my Master's degree in the field and one of my professors kept making constant references to a book called "Enciclopedia de Símbolos". I bought this one from Amazon.com by mistake, thinking it was the one he kept talking about, however my surprise was great when I found out that this one is better!

Organized like a true dictionary, and meant to be used like one, you simply look up whatever symbol you're interested in and you get an explanation of what it means from the shape, its historical context, some cultural information; it's just an amazing resource for someone who simply needs to find out a meaning of something or if you're designing a logo or some other graphic and would like to know if your concept is a good match for what you're doing as per the unconscious meaning it transmits.

I seriously recommend this book to anyone in my field who needs a resource for symbols, or for anyone with any interest in them. You'll find basic things such as circles, triangles, hexagrams (with a very interesting take on them that is totally new to me and that makes perfect sense), all the way to more concrete and ellaborate things such as specific animals or climate related things. Just remember, do not approach it if you don't have a good, fluent grasp on Spanish.