Information Graphics

Seeing Is Understanding. How complex ideas are communicated via graphics

Graphs, maps, stats, and diagrams: this collection of infographics explores the development of visual communication in the big data age. More than 400 exemplary graphics — ranging from journalism to art, government to education — are accompanied by essays tracing the evolving art form that is pictorial explanation. Complete with in-depth fact sheets explaining each graphic project.

“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 the complex variety of data floating around us, sometimes the best — or even only — way to communicate is visually. This unique book presents a fascinating perspective on the subject, highlighting the work of the masters of the profession, creators of breakthroughs that have changed the way we communicate. Information Graphics has been conceived and designed not just for 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 section gives readers an excellent overview of the subject. The second part of the book is entirely dedicated to contemporary works by today’s 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 topics Location, Time, Category, and Hierarchy.

Includes:

- 200 projects and over 400 examples of contemporary information graphics from all over the world — ranging from journalism to art, government, education, business and much more
- Four essays about the development of information graphics since its beginnings

The author:

Sandra Rendgen studied art history and cultural studies in Berlin and Amsterdam. Her work both as an editor and in developing concepts for media installations concentrates at the interface between image culture and technology, with a particular focus on data visualization, interactive media and the history of how information is conveyed. She is the author of TASCHEN’s Information Graphics and Understanding the World.

The editor:

Julius Wiedemann studied graphic design and marketing and was an art editor for newspapers and design magazines in Tokyo before joining TASCHEN in 2001. His titles include the Illustration Now! and Record Covers series, as well as the infographics collection and books about advertising and visual culture.