Data Flow 2: Visualizing Information in Graphic Design [Hardcover]

Robert Klanten (Editor), Sven Ehmann (Editor), Nicolas Bourquin (Editor), Thibaud Tissot (Editor), Johannes Schardt (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2010

International interest in the sophisticated and aesthetic visualization of complex information made Data Flow a bestseller. Today, more and more graphic designers,
advertising agencies, motion designers, and artists work in this area. New techniques and forms of expression are being developed. Consequently, the demand for information on this topic has grown enormously. Data Flow 2 expands the definition of contemporary information graphics. The book features new possibilities for diagrams, maps, and charts. It investigates the visual and intuitive presentation of processes, data, and information. Concrete
examples of research and art projects as well as commercial work illuminate how techniques such as simplification, abstraction, metaphor, and dramatization function. The book also includes interviews with experts about the challenges in creating effective information graphics and about the relationship between complexity,
clarity, content, and innovation.
Offering practical advice, background information, case studies, and inspiration, Data Flow 2 is a valuable reference for anyone working with or interested in information graphics. Because designers the world over work with the visualization of information, Data Flow 2 is available in English, French, and Spanish editions.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Die Gestalten Verlag (March 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3899552784
• ISBN-13: 978-3899552782
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 1.1 x 11.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 56 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Let data scream... but where's the data? December 2, 2008

By Juhan Sonin

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

We're inundated with small data, big data, complex data... lotsa data. And the data is THE story; it should be front and center. Data Flow depicts hundreds of stunning data viz examples. The book is aesthetically beautiful. However, several of the diagrams suffer from low data-to-ink ratios (lots of paint, little useful data)... and many are illegible and printed too small to see or require specific domain knowledge to decrypt.

Where's the data? The book proselytizes the importance of data and there ain't much raw data to be seen (or linked to).

The book designers have forgotten to treat typography as the visual hierarchy for words, the interface design for text. The type treatments and layouts are difficult to read.

Designers, engineers, statisticians, and decision-makers need data viz guidance. This book is not an academic dive into data visualization and needs to follow several of it's own rules for displaying information. But this book provokes your imagination.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Content, Compromised Design February 15, 2009

By Russ Brami

Format:Hardcover

This book had such promise and I think that there must be a story in why it is so compromised. The text and choice of images are excellent. The design of the book and execution are a failure. It's as if the author lost control of the book and the manuscript was taken through a process that degraded the very purpose of the book. It is still worth reading but there is a baffling irony in the fact that a book about information design has such mediocre information design.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book but little Data February 12, 2009

By Robi Sen

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a wonderful book that shows numerous examples of Information Aesthetics. My problem with the book is I was hoping for something that showed good examples of how to visualize data and make it aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately for me the book mostly focused on Aesthetics and some of the examples where actually very poor at communicating the content of the data which would have been great if they were listed as anti patterns.
Regardless of my criticism I am happy I purchased the book and have found some interesting and useful examples. If Amazon allowed half ratings I would have rated it 3.5.