DIG THAT: INFORMATION GRAPHICS

INFORMATION GRAPHICS
AUTHOR | SANDRA RENDGEN
PUBLISHER | TASCHEN
RELEASE | 3.27.12

We each have subjects we can talk about for hours, while our friends sit idly in boredom and/or change the subject to cats. As a graphic designer, I geek out over thought provoking minimalism. When I arrived at the Dig office last week, there at my desk was a holy grail —Information Design by Taschen. This infographic-rich release is innovative and cleverly compiled; a work of art itself with silver, embossed lettering and neon color-coded tabs.

One infographic specifically caught my attention: the Rock and Roll Metro Map. As a fan of Black Flag and Nirvana, I was interested in how Norwegian designer Alberto Antoniazzi interprets a band’s subway line. Similar to Boston’s T Map, the rails are color coordinated, each line representing a genre of music. Interestingly, this map shows some bands intersecting other “lines” or genres. Antoniazzi points out that Gorilla Biscuits are as much punk rock as they are hardcore, and their “lines” have transfer points.

That’s creative problem solving!

Infographics are interesting because of the many forms graphics can take. They can be abstract, minimalist, photographic, hand drawn, and be composed of charts, lines, or icons. The wide range of approach is both challenging as a designer and fascinating as a viewer. In the graphic for the “World’s Largest Trees,” the data is simple, but the method of conveying the data makes it highly interesting. It’s really only three elements: a map, arrows, and a list. The swooping, descriptive lines make it visually interesting and cleanly legible.

The quantity of graphics is initially intimidating, but Taschen has the best of the best in this tome and makes it all very enjoyable to take in.