Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps 1st Edition

by Jacques Bertin (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-1589482616

ISBN-10: 1589482611

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Originally published in French in 1967, Semiology of Graphics holds a significant place in the theory of information design. Founded on Jacques Bertin’s practical experience as a cartographer, Part One of this work is an unprecedented attempt to synthesize principles of graphic communication with the logic of standard rules applied to writing and topography. Part Two brings Bertin’s theory to life, presenting a close study of graphic techniques including shape, orientation, color, texture, volume, and size in an array of more than 1,000 maps and diagrams.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jacques Bertin is a French cartographer and theorist. In 1954 he founded the Cartographic Laboratory of the École pratique des hautes études and in 1957 he was named director of education. In 1967, Bertin became a professor at the Sorbonne, and in 1974 he was appointed director of education and director of the Geographical Laboratory of the École des hautes études en sciences sociales which is part of the École pratique des hautes etudes. In the late 1970s he became head of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Bertin is an internationally recognized authority on the analytic study of graphics.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Esri Press; 1st edition (November 1, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 456 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1589482611
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1589482616
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.18 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.92 x 1.22 x 10.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #426,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #67 in Cartography
- #298 in Scientific Research
- #1,440 in Graphic Design Techniques

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RJ Andrews

Augment natural intelligence!

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2019

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A colossal volume by cartographer and theorist Jacques Bertin. The first 15 of its over 400 pages delivered the most bang. Read the introduction to understand the book’s general theory and spirit. Then use the Contents to navigate to what interests you most.

Like the earlier Enlightenment informers, Bertin makes strong connections between geographic maps and abstract statistical charts. I really like how he emphasizes the importance of producing informative singular images—temporal units of meaningful visual perception—while also negotiating how no one image can reveal everything.

Bertin’s uses the word energy to describe the total salience of how data appears to us. It set the stage for many future authors to riff on their own systems of what Bertin called retinal variables: design dimensions that each have the ability to change how the value of a data mark hits the sensors of the eye’s retina. They include position, size, darkness, hue, texture, shape, and orientation. Info We Trust references Bertin’s work several times, and quotes him directly once: “The entire problem is one of augmenting this natural intelligence.”

3 people found this helpful

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Daniel Erwin

Discovering the story in the information

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2011

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Tufte's books have captured a lot of Bertin's message regarding the visual aspect of graphics (which is, in my experience, now all that is meant by "graphics"), and in a more clear, succinct, and possibly even comprehensive manner. However, _Semiology_ is about much more than what can be seen - it deals extensively with how to get an interesting story from information, which (if I remember correctly) Tufte does not address. I've only seen one other author deal with the process of sifting/sorting/refactoring to find interesting correspondences - Charles L. Owen (in Structured Planning, ) - though it is probably covered in many statistics curricula and is necessarily a part of graduate training in most fields, as Bertin predicts in this book's foreward.
I would like to say that Bertin presents this important perspective/process in a compelling graphic way, but in fact the book is as dense and inconsistently structured as any of Tufte's great counterexamples. The figures are labelled in unpredictable orders on the page, some never mentioned in the text, and because of a mediocre printing job, many exhibit the very errors Bertin seeks to show how to avoid. Worse, these sort of problems are paralleled in the explication (especially with regard to showing a quantity vs. a quantity spread over an area, or Q vs. QS/S in Bertin's formalism), making it a significant challenge to figure out what is central to the argument and what is in the background.
Still, the insight is in there, and the weaknesses are not too great to stop a determined or required reader. The book is full to bursting with myriad practical tips and tricks regarding not just how, when, and why to cram more information onto the page, but also how to decide what information the reader needs. More importantly, it shows how to "discover the groupings contained in the information" (pg 164), that is, to arrive at an understanding of the data without forcing them into a predetermined system*. This is highly significant, and if Bertin was among the first to capture it (even if somewhat obscurely) then this book deserves all of its renown and is sure to grow in importance.
* this is a problematic thing to claim, but in this respect it's my summary which is inaccurate, not Bertin's concepts.

16 people found this helpful

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Stephen Redihan

Impressive

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2014

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I knew the reputation of this work. It's a very impressive reference source. I've found it to be a necessary volume on my visualizations book shelf.

I do wish I could find some companoion sources that address the digital formats we live and work with.

2 people found this helpful

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harry

from the depth to the heights

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2011

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Bertin treats information transfer thru display in the French way, beautifully constructed texts and a severe logic.
For people who grew up with Excell and quick graphs this text is a wonderful grounding in the structure and building blocks of information presentation.
I enjoyed it very much indeed.
And the book itself is nicely printed and bound. Which is good to see.
Well worth every penny and the time to read it carefully. Recommended holiday reading.

harry

2 people found this helpful

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Michael Dubakov

Remarkable

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2011

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This is a remarkable book. I've read Tafte books 2 years ago and after that was unable to find anything interesting or new in the Visualization field. This book was the first one that is comparable with Tufte work and even exceeds them. It provides very clear and beautiful theory of data visualization that you can apply on practice immediately. Yes, it is quite old, but it is absolutely relevant and has "fresh" feeling.

4 people found this helpful

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Mauricio

Must have

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2013

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The book is a very good guide for the basis on how to construct diagrams and other graphics. The language used makes the book a little boring to read, but is absolutely necessary to understand the concepts behind the design of a graphic, infography, diagram, etc.

2 people found this helpful

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Rafael Castro

Classic!

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2015

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It's a classic. Every Information Designer must have one copy of this book

2 people found this helpful

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Eric B. Wolf

27 Years Later - Finally a Reprint (was 25 Years Later - Still No Reprint)

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2008

It's been 27 years since the first printing of this English translation by Berg and 43 years since the original French edition. Finally, the folks at ESRI Press managed a reprint. I can't provide better insight than Howard Wainer in his review (he wrote the preface to the original translated edition).

This is the book that Tufte cribs off of. This is the definitive volume on information visualization and should be required reading for all cartographers. The book a treasure trove of significant ideas in information design, split into two parts: Semiology of the Graphic Sign-System and Utilization of the Graphic Sign-System.

The first part analyzes the properties and rules of the graphic system breaking down the variants and invariants, the plane and the "retinal variables", and combines these and more into rules for construction and legibility. The second part breaks down applications of the graphics as diagrams, networks and maps. The only way the book could be made better would be trough a third section on animation (hinted at in the introduction to the English version).

I have not had the change to check out the new printing but will ASAP!

31 people found this helpful

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Josiel de Alencar Guedes

Um clássico

Reviewed in Brazil on August 1, 2019

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Desconheço um livro melhor que trate sobre semiologia gráfica. Muito indicado para quem estuda e pesquisa na cartografia.

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Riccardo Vanni

Grafica?

Reviewed in Italy on February 23, 2019

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Ben concepito. Bello da tenere in mano e da sfogliare, ma attenzione, è molto ‘tecnico.’

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Fernando Fraenza

Excelente

Reviewed in Spain on August 9, 2013

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He podido observar que se trata de una re-edición magnífica de un libro que ya es clásico en la disciplina. Esta edición hace honor a la importancia que este texto, por sí solo ha ido adquiriendo a lo largo de los años.

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Kindle Customer

Amazing book

Reviewed in Italy on July 1, 2013

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Jacques Bertin's book provides an exhaustive and perceptive analysis of the semiology of diagrams and maps. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this topic.

Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps 1st Edition

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