It is best to review the proposed graphics for international applicability early in your design cycle. Localizing graphics can be a time consuming process.
Although graphics communicate more universally than text, graphical aspects of your software — especially icons and toolbar button images — may also need to be revised to address an international audience. For example, a toolbar image that includes a magic wand to represent access to a wizard interface does not have meaning in many European countries and requires a different image.
When possible, choose generic images and glyphs. Even if you can create custom designs for each language, having different images for different languages can confuse users who work with more than one language version.
Many symbols with a strong meaning in one culture do not have any meaning in another. For example, many symbols for U.S. holidays and seasons are not shared around the world. Importantly, some symbols can be offensive in some cultures (for example, the open palm commonly used at U.S. crosswalk signals is offensive in some countries). Some metaphors also may not apply in all languages.