How complex ideas can be communicated via graphics
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
—Albert Einstein
Our everyday lives are filled with a massive flow of information that we must interpret in order to understand the world we live in. Considering this complex variety of data floating around us, sometimes the best — or even only — way to communicate is visually. This unique book presents a fascinating historical perspective on the subject, highlighting the work of the masters of the profession who have created a number of breakthroughs that have changed the way we communicate. Information Graphics has been conceived and designed not just for designers or graphics professionals, but for anyone interested in the history and practice of communicating visually.
The in-depth introductory section, illustrated with over 60 images (each accompanied by an explanatory caption), features essays by Sandra Rendgen, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Richard Saul Wurman, and Simon Rogers; looking back all the way to primitive cave paintings as a means of communication, this introductory section gives readers an excellent overview of the subject. The second part of the book is entirely dedicated to contemporary works by the current most renowned professionals, presenting 200 graphics projects, with over 400 examples — each with a fact sheet and an explanation of methods and objectives — divided into chapters by the subjects Location, Time, Category, and Hierarchy.
Features:
Browse the best books of the summer including popular series, classics, and editors' picks in our Teen Summer Reading Store. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
The author:
Sandra Rendgen is an art historian who has worked for both print and interactive media. After completing her studies in Amsterdam and Berlin, she has contributed as a picture editor to German magazines and newspapers, such as Vanity Fair, Die Welt am Sonntag, and to TASCHEN’s Interiors Now! As an editor, she develops interactive media installations for various museums and institutions.
The editor:
Julius Wiedemann was born in Brazil, studied graphic design and marketing, and was an art editor for digital and design magazines in Tokyo. His many TASCHEN digital and media titles include Illustration Now!, Advertising Now, Logo Design, and Brand Identity Now!
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Robin Benson
Format:Hardcover
Look at all the amazing graphics in this huge book and it's hard to imagine that the original data existed just as numbers and text, in black and probably printed on white paper. Some very clever designers have managed to turn this raw data into beautiful eye-catching images. It's not only numbers into charts though, several pages show diagrams that interpret a situation: Improvised Explosive Devices in Afghanistan (pages 144-145) or the Tour de France (page 193) for example.
The first ninety-six pages (printed on a shorter page width) with four essays, look at the background and history of charts and diagrams. The best I thought was by Simon Rogers of the London Guardian with an interesting overview of data and the press. To go with the essays (in English, French and German) there are sixty-four illustrations as a visual timeline from 1144 BC to 2010. This includes a couple of old favourites: Minard's wonderful flow map of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow; Harry Beck's 1933 London Underground map.
The main section of the book is in four parts: Location; Time; Category; Hierarchy. Each explores graphics with generously sized images on the page and detailed sections where the original was quite large or a poster. The work is from the last ten years with a long caption to explain the concept and an additional caption for technical detail: project info; data source; research; design; illustration. I thought the range of material within the four sections very impressive and incredibly wide ranging, though predictably, some of the graphics really do appear to be unreadable (but still pretty looking).
Once again Taschen have chosen a subject and given it their usual thorough treatment with a comprehensive editorial in a beautifully produced book. No doubt Edward Tufte would dismiss most of the content as 'chart-junk' but I always thought his interesting observations were more concerned with the visual treatment of data for an academic or technical readership rather than eye candy for readers of magazines and the consumer press where so many of the book's graphics originally appeared.
###LOOK AT SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
The first ninety-six pages (printed on a shorter page width) with four essays, look at the background and history of charts and diagrams. The best I thought was by Simon Rogers of the London Guardian with an interesting overview of data and the press. To go with the essays (in English, French and German) there are sixty-four illustrations as a visual timeline from 1144 BC to 2010. This includes a couple of old favourites: Minard's wonderful flow map of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow; Harry Beck's 1933 London Underground map.
The main section of the book is in four parts: Location; Time; Category; Hierarchy. Each explores graphics with generously sized images on the page and detailed sections where the original was quite large or a poster. The work is from the last ten years with a long caption to explain the concept and an additional caption for technical detail: project info; data source; research; design; illustration. I thought the range of material within the four sections very impressive and incredibly wide ranging, though predictably, some of the graphics really do appear to be unreadable (but still pretty looking).
Once again Taschen have chosen a subject and given it their usual thorough treatment with a comprehensive editorial in a beautifully produced book. No doubt Edward Tufte would dismiss most of the content as 'chart-junk' but I always thought his interesting observations were more concerned with the visual treatment of data for an academic or technical readership rather than eye candy for readers of magazines and the consumer press where so many of the book's graphics originally appeared.
###LOOK AT SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Jess Bachman
Format:Hardcover
I received a complimentary copy of this book because I'm featured in it (with hundreds others). It's a truly massive tome, the heaviest book I own. Huge full color pages, it really is a steal at $69, let alone $45.
It doesn't go into much theory or best practice but serves as an excellent source of inspiration or just eye-candy. Not all the graphics are in english and the text accompanying each graphic is in three languages.
One of the most interesting portions is the first 60 or so pages which detail information graphics from the previous thousand years up to 1900 or so. Really fascinating that this art form is really nothing new and people were doing some complicated stuff hundreds of years ago.
It doesn't go into much theory or best practice but serves as an excellent source of inspiration or just eye-candy. Not all the graphics are in english and the text accompanying each graphic is in three languages.
One of the most interesting portions is the first 60 or so pages which detail information graphics from the previous thousand years up to 1900 or so. Really fascinating that this art form is really nothing new and people were doing some complicated stuff hundreds of years ago.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By soze
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I manage a Data Analysis department, which means that no one else in my division understands what we do. I keep this large, showy book open on the customer-facing side of my desk. Co-workers come in, paw through it, and get an idea of what we can really do with their data given appropriate parameters. It's a fantastic marketing tool for my team.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
great examples, big format
A good book with a lot of interesting examples and historical representations.
It has a designer approach and I missed more info about graphical tools.
It has a designer approach and I missed more info about graphical tools.
Published 4 days ago by Bruno
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome
This is a great reference tool / coffee table book. It is FULL of beautiful imagery, GINORMOUS in size, and CHEAP for the price. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Grady
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful
This book is trully a piece of art, one that conveys all the efforts that the authors put into making it. As one of my friends said when he saw it, "They really fooled with it". Read more
Published 8 days ago by Guillaume W.
3.0 out of 5 stars
History
If you need a book to learn how the best infographics have been made, or how to make great info graphic this is not the book. Read more
Published 1 month ago by David esteban henao
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelous!
Hardcore information graphics book! Every communications/graphics/visual designer should read it! It shows you how sexy information can be when you make them perceivable!
Published 2 months ago by L TANG
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very good book for those of us who are bored by too many words...
As a scientist, a person who makes a living interpreting graphs and charts for clients, I sometimes forget that graphs and charts and timelines really do make the interpretation of... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Stewart Ebersole
5.0 out of 5 stars
really informative
bought this for a class and i totally love it. there are so many amazing infographics in this book. definitely recommend it!
Published 3 months ago by Martinelli
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good value -- pages/content v. cost
There are a good number of reviews of this book here on Amazon, but one thing I found remarkable was the sheer size of this volume -- about 2X of what I expected. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Hunter Wimmer
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent survey of the field
Let's get the obvious out of the way: The 480 page book is beautiful and packed with dozens of very good info graphics. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Rom
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book
I was amazed at the size of this book and the number of graphics. It's beautifully illustrated, has colorful tabs, multi-lingual descriptions and full of visually appealing... Read more
Published 7 months ago by C. Baldwin
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
