History of Information Graphics

by Sandra Rendgen, Julius Wiedemann (Editor)

In the age of big data and digital distribution, when news travels ever further and faster and media outlets compete for a fleeting slice of online attention, information graphics have swept center stage. At once nuanced and neat, data graphics can distill abstract ideas, complex statistics, and cutting-edge discoveries into succinct, compelling, and masterful designs. Cartographers, programmers, statisticians, designers, scientists, and journalists have developed a new field of expertise in visualizing knowledge.

This far-reaching compendium discovers the rich history of the infographic form, tracing its evolution from the Middle Ages right through to the digital era. Curated by Sandra Rendgen, the author behind TASCHEN's best-selling Information Graphics and Understanding the World, the book offers a stunning and systematic overview of graphic communication, gathering some 400 examples across astronomy, cartography, zoology, technology, and beyond.

The collection is expansive in culture and geography, incorporating medieval manuscripts and parchment rolls, elaborate maps, splendid popular atlasses, and early computer-based information design. Highlights include Martin Waldseem�ller's famous world map, Andreas Cellarius's cosmic charts, and the meticulous nature studies of Ernst Haeckel, alongside many unknown treasures. The author's introductory essay and precise captions detail each work's historical and cultural contexts; the selection is framed by four chapters showcasing the special historical collections of infographic specialists David Rumsey, Michael Friendly, Michael Stoll, and Scott Klein.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, History, Science, Reference, Coffee Table Books

462 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2011

About the author

Sandra Rendgen is an author and editor with a focus on information graphics, interactive media, and the history of information visualization. Based in Berlin, Germany, she studied art history and cultural theory and is the co-author of Information Graphics and Understanding the World: The Atlas of Infographics.

Reviews

[Wilte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very big book with nice pictures, some even fold-out. I mainly looked at the figures and graphs. Text is in English, German and French.

Twitter thread with best visualizations:
https://twitter.com/wilte/status/1324...

[Jo Oehrlein]

Saw on kottke.org
http://kottke.org/12/05/information-g...

[Hamish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seriously hefty tome.

A real grab-bag of visualisations. Many were very good. Many were stinkers.

Some visualisations I found particularly interesting: the personal visualisationsliterary organism; and Bureau D'etudes' world government infographic.

[Alexandru · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the beginning, this books seems just another huge coffee table book that contains visual information in various languages, thus hard to understand. But after reading it in depth, it is clear that the book focuses more on the way the information is presented and not on the information itself. And for any person who is involved in presentations or research it is quite useful.

[Brook]

I love this book for so reasons.
1) The book is well organized.
2) So easy to understand.
3) Due to easy wording this saves you time.
And if you want to become a master about Information graphics, this may be a helpful source to start. I'm also start this site Logo Design after reading this

[Samira Pourkhalil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book for many reasons. The book is well organized, easy to understand, and saves you time. And if you are interested in learning about Information graphics, this may be a helpful source to start.

[Daylyn Presley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the history of infographics. It's amazing to see how we've used infographics over the millennia.

[Shimista · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good!!

[auria]

formato pouco manexable

[Nara]

An excellent reference with the iconic information design classified based on location, time, category, hierarchy. Good for anyone who specializes in this subject.

[traveler, learner, lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this earlier in 2024 — forgot to log.

[Valeria Beccari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best collection of datavisualization, I've definitely seen nicer. gave it a three stars only for the brief essays at the beginning, they give a professional view into the field

[Zhang Stanley]

Fantastic book!
Forgot to add to my shelve, then I couldn't recall the title of the book for a while.
I think I was reading this book in 2015, before I changed my phone to iPhone 6 in September.

[Parka · Rating 4 out of 5]

( More pictures on my blog )

This is one humongous book on infographics put out by Taschen. It's 480 pages and it's heavy so there could be additional weight surcharge depending on where you're shipping to.

As an artist at the newspaper, I also create infographics occasionally. I bought this book for reference. It's a good reference with lots of examples. But there are some things to take note.

The infographics presented are rather heavy on data. There can be a case of too much information in an infographic. Some are rather complex, and most definitely drawn with the help of computer programming. While they can look spectacular, I'm not sure if readers will be overwhelmed by the complexity and skip reading it. So we are unable to know whether they are effective or not. The accompanying text just provides information on what the infographics is about but not the thought process that goes behind.

The examples are from a huge variety of publications, mainly magazines and websites. I'm actually hoping for more newspaper infographics but there aren't a lot compared to other forms of publication, but you can get The Best of Newspaper Design books for that.

Overall, it's a great visual reference. There are many interesting ways of presenting information. That should inspire some ideas.

The book's written in English, German and French.

- See more at: http://www.parkablogs.com/content/boo...

[Jeremy Kuzub · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is physically the largest book I own, and I managed to get it home from LA in my carry on baggage somehow. Probably the most thoughtful part of this book is the initial mini book that is slightly inset in the first 96 pages; It is a historical view of information graphics, from their origin through the 20th century.

The book is an example of its subject, being information and graphics. It is inspirational, in that it can be opened randomly for a new hint into visualizing numbers and making meaningful emphasis out of large data sets. But it can also be used systematically to identify the type of data that must be presented and solutions for its presentation: the sections are divided into graphics which best show data based on Location, Time, Hierarchy, and Category, respectively.

Of course, this is a book, and so animated, or interactive infographics can't be easily shown, however I've found that if you can't get your meaning across in a static infographic, at least as a storyboard or infographic, you are not going to benefit a user by making them play with your interactive interface.

Anyways, there is a reason that the pioneer and voyager space probes have infographics written on them, as their first means of communication with any alien intelligence that may find them, and this is certainly a universal language which it is worth being literate in. As with any language, it is harder to create simplicity that it first seems, and this book is a great support to lean up against in the first few minutes of planning your next bar chart or 9 dimensional genetic map of Canadian immigration patterns.

[Jonathan Jeckell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is enormous and heavy. It's rather intimidating to even consider reading it because it's so big and you will be tempted to browse it. However, the short essays and the paragraphs describing the huge amount of examples of infographics in the book are written in three languages, which wastes a lot of space, so it's really not that hard to do an end-to-end survey of what the book is trying to tell you.

The book is filled with a huge number of examples, and some of them are awesome. Some are kind of meh, and they are all included with a little paragraph to explain the concept, which is essential for some of them written for foreign publications. The editor did a fantastic job categorizing them into four general types: Location, Time, Hierarchy, and Category. Within those categories they are presented in sequence without any further attempts to classify them by a type. One way of looking at it is this is a good thing because you will browse the book and come across something great through serendipity. Another way of looking at it is that it does not provide a theory or framework of what makes a good or bad infographic, or what about each of these are good or bad ala Edward Tufte.

But if you want to effectively explain complex concepts to an audience so they are interested in and understand what you are trying to say, this book can probably help. It can provide a lot of helpful ideas to help you do it.

[BlackOlive · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is STUNNING. A behemoth measuring as tall as my 17" MacBook Pro is wide and a good 3" thick. The binding is perfect for this size book, allowing it to lay flat as you approach the middle. The paper stock is impeccable — a thick bright white coated paper that feels luxurious to the touch. The design of the interior is also perfectly in line with the subject matter in that it is structured by "type" of information graphic and color-coded accordingly both within and at the edges of each page for quick-glance navigation when approaching the book in its closed state.

The reproductions are brilliant, each with substantial blocks of information in three languages (one block/paragraph per language) and about four fold-out spreads, each spanning four pages.

[Sergej · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially this is a great book if you carefully read the description and understand that this is mostly historical point of view on where data visualization comes from plus illustrations/examples of infographics made in the past. There are very short descriptions for each example and I, having no background in this field, hardly can decompose/reverse engineer the examples to understand why it was done like that and not the other wat. I.e. this book is a good reference and companion to other core material in the field of data visualization/information graphics.

[Karen Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this with a gift certificate I recieved for my birthday. It is stunning! A vast array of charts, maps, and other forms of visual information. It is a beautiful testament to the innumerable ways we can present and receive information. You know it is good when the bookseller at Elliot Bay is jealous of your purchase. I look forward to many hours of absorbing information from this visually inspiring volume.

[Azem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is HUGE. Heavy and really beautiful. Not one to take with me to have a browse through when I am on the bus - but to dive into and enjoy at home.
The graphics are inspiring and the printing is gorgeous. A lot of research has gone into putting this book together and the authors/editors have done a great job at pulling together some really fantastic examples of Information Graphics.

I highly recommend this book for graphic designers.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't necessarily call this a book. A hardcover at 9.7 x 14.6 in., 480 pages, it is a hefty tome. This unique tome presents a fascinating perspective on the subject of complex data and our attempt to make sense of them by communicating via graphic visualization. It features 200 projects and 400+ examples of contemporary information graphics in fields ranging from journalism to art, government, education, business, and more. This 'book' is a veritable feast for the eyes.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful survey of information graphics (albeit only a handful of non-Western examples). Each of the essays starting the epochal chapters do well at orienting the reader to the section starting. The four invited essays interspersed throughout give a more detailed look at particular categories of information graphics (e.g., cartography and newsprint graphics). A well designed and organized, although some of the images are nigh impossible to actual read the smaller print.

[Katherine Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a duo of fantastic data visualization books, Tufte-style. You could get lost in either of these for hours on end… so much information in such a small space (well, relatively small – they are massive books). If you are wondering how to convey dense information in a coherent way, without watering it down, you will find inspiration here. [along with "Atlas of Science"]

[Lumissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tyrmäävän kokoinen katsaus infografiikan historiaan. Jättikokoisessa kirjassa kuviot pääsevät kerrankin oikeuksiinsa. Kirja keskittyy pitkälti 1900-lukua edeltävään historiaan, ja 1800-lukukin on aika pinnallisesti katettu. Tilastokuvioiden historiaa odottaneet joutuvat siis hieman pettymään, mutta Raamatun sukupuista innostuneet saavat makeaa mahan täydeltä.

[Reinis Bekeris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I am obsessed with graphs and charts of different type - this book was extremely interesting and immersive. I wish they provided a guide where some of these graphics could be acquired for a large print-out.

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quality of the book is astonishing. But it feels a lack of variety, especially in the first half which deals with antiquity. Most of these charts are maps, genealogical trees, etc. I feel fewer examples there (which are very similar) could've made way for more of the varied more modern ones.

[Synaps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This enormous volume does justice to its expansive topic: Humankind has long conveyed factual information in rich schematic forms, evolving toward modern standards via a slow process of innovation and education. The graphs that work best today usually borrow from age-old wisdom.

[Cyrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative.

[Robert Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing! Three languages. Stunning graphics. Exceptional production. One of the best examples of the book as cultural artifact that I've seen in ages.

[John Hudson]

Too early to tell, but it looks fabulous, the ultimate coffee-table book as well as what I hope will be a great reference.