Charles Baldwin, a retired environmental-health engineer, explains his role in developing the biohazard symbol, and it’s peppered with tons of user research:
“The color was blaze orange, one of the colors chosen in Arctic exploration as being the most visible under the most conditions. It was three-sided because if it were on a box containing biohazardous material and the box was moved around, transported, it might wind up in different positions. Another thing — we needed something that was easily stenciled.”
Symbol Making via the NYT Magazine
