• design philosophy
  
• globalization and localization
  
• the importance of visual design for applications
  
• typical process
  

Visual design is a global language. Cultural differences can affect the meanings of color, images, words, and symbols. Misuse of a color or icon can have disasterous effects to brands and businesses. Tristream’s experience in globalization has extended from Europe to the Pacific Rim of Asia.

The Tristream globalization checklist:

• Be sensitive to different cultures - Cultural sensitivity is important when creating application content to avoid using words and images that might be offensive to various cultures around the world.
  
• Use the appropriate color - Certain colors evoke distinct images in various cultures and countries, from political parties and countries to companies and sports teams. This can have a mixed effect globally.
  
• Use appropriate graphics and icons - Pictures and symbols create powerful and different associations in each culture and context.
  

Globalization also refers to making a company’s applications work seamlessly regardless of the user’s language and culture. Multinational companies can now confidently extend their new web applications to an international market.

Plus sign for addition: since this can be interpreted as a cross, Israel and some Muslim countries sometimes use substitutes for the plus sign.