Infographics or graphic representations have always fascinated me. I started reading the thesis of Yuri Engelhardt today, The Language of Graphics. Basically, it is a framework for analyzing the syntax and meaning in different infographics like maps, charts and diagrams. And there are some really nice examples to illustrate the different principles of communicating information through graphics:
This timetable gives you time (horizontal), place (vertical), and even speed in one simple 2D model. The diagonal lines represent trains traveling between Paris and Lyon. You can deduce the speed based on the slope of the diagonal. Brilliant.
SOURCE: E.J. Marey 1885
More train stuff because we love trains. Here: the spreading of the railroad system.
SOURCE: ‘Modern man in making’, Otto Neurath, 1939 (reproduced in Houkes 1993, p. 49.)
Comparison of number of marriages by lineup:
Lineup showing the changing ratio of the number of produced motorcycles and the number of workers involved in their production:
SOURCE BOTH LINEUPS: N. Holmes “Pictograms: A view from the drawing board or, what I have learned from Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz (and jazz).” Information Design Journal 10. (2000/2001).
I really look forward to read Engelhardt’s thesis thoroughly!