Data Flow: Visualising Information in Graphic Design

by Robert Klanten, N. Bourquin, S. Ehmann

More and more information is being visualised. Diagrams, data and information
graphics are utilised wherever increasingly complex elements are present,
whether it is in magazines, non-fiction books or business reports, packages or
exhibition designs.
Data Flow presents an abundant range of possibilities in visualising data and
information. Today, diagrams are being applied beyond their classical fields
of use. In addition to archetypical diagrams such as pie charts and histograms,
there are manifold types of diagrams developed for use in distinct cases and
categories. These range from chart-like diagrams such as bar, plot, line diagrams
and spider charts, graph-based diagrams including line, matrix, process flow,
and molecular diagrams to extremely complex three-dimensional diagrams.
The more concrete the variables, the more aesthetically elaborate the graphics
sometimes reaching the point of art the more abstract, the simpler the readability.
The abundant examples in Data Flow showcase the various methodologies
behind information design with solutions concerning complexity, simplification,
readability and the (over)production of information. In addition to the examples
shown, the book features explanatory text.
On 256 pages, Data Flow introduces a comprehensive selection of innovatively
designed diagrams. This up-to-date survey provides inspiration and concrete
solutions for designers, and at the same time unlocks a new field of visual codes.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art Design, Art, Science, Reference, Graphic Novels

255 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2008

About the author

Robert Klanten has been a key figure in the global creative industry for more than a quarter of a century, helping to reimagine the way we approach publishing. He has driven over 800 publications and commercial projects.
Robert is the CEO of gestalten, the company he founded in 1995. Under his leadership, gestalten has established itself as a pillar in the field of contemporary visual culture, design and architecture, by immersing its readers in creative landscapes, cultures, people and art. gestalten regularly collaborates with the biggest names in the creative world and is known and loved by millions around the globe for its iconic books.
He has shown how creativity has no limits in the digital age: through inspiration, inclusivity and promoting understanding; and by connecting the global and the local through storytelling.

Reviews

[Eric Phetteplace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little more effort by the editors could have made this an outstanding, jaw-dropping book full not only of visual but also informational beauty. Unfortunately, many graphics are presented at an inappropriately small size (they're posters sized down to a half-page or quarter-page) and left untranslated, as apparently data visualization is very happening in Germany and its surrounding countries. Regardless, the collection does present some awe-inspiring graphics, the very best of which can change the way you think about not only information but life itself. The "conflict map" which redoes the globe but with images of various warriors and battles comes to mind, and it's interesting because it's not really quantitative or tied to a distinct data set yet functions in a very precise manner nonetheless. Overall, this book will be immensely enjoyable if you just let yourself peruse through it and not get too caught up in what each image means. Also, the sections and their introductions were sort of useless to me, far too abstract to latch onto anything in my imagination.

[Jlawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to rate this book higher, because so much of it is fascinating and beautiful -- it's a collection of excellent examples of the intersection of graphic design and data presentation, often very dense data presented through striking, creative visuals.

But as other Goodreads reviewers have noted, a large number of the examples are shrunk to fit on a page in a way that makes their text illegible, thus destroying the whole point of communicating information! (some examples are also untranslated (all the intros & descriptions are English), but I could have forgiven that if the text were always *legible*.) The editors really should have chosen less examples and broke them up across multiple pages, or chosen a different size for the book. As is, it's frustrating as often as it is fascinating.

[Badwill Ambassador · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely more useful to graphic designers than data analysts. Great examples and guidance to get information across but many of these would not cut it in most industries (unfortunately?) due to their lack of clarity. Good inspiration material nonetheless.

[Deniz Cem Önduygu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The work displayed in this collection is great, but the presentation not so: most of the data/infoviz projects are in German, and the English captions are too poetic to render them comprehensible.

[Hailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the best data viz books I've ever seen, it did cost me one million dollars for being late to the BYU library though

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't come close to the elegance or explanatory brilliance of Tufte's data visualization books but does offer have a fine survey of current innovations with an impressive amount of breadth and diversity in what it covers. And for my own interests, it was a little frustratingly unabashed in it's focus on form over function (for instance, you can't even read the legends on a lot of the graphs)...but you know, to each their own.

[Cira · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a major disappointment! I desperately wanted to love this book, but it is so poorly designed and many of the visualizations are inexplicable, lacking sources, raw data and context.

A number of websites do a far better job of aggregating and analyzing information design; do not waste your money on this overpriced mess.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be an interesting book if the text was legible in many cases. Several interesting data displays are found throughout the text, but often they are printed in a manner that is so unecessarily small that deciphering the clever visualizations is impossible.

[severyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

A fascinating set of data visualisations done a horrible disservice by an unimaginative and insensitive publisher who seemed to see no need to find a way to reproduce the visualisations legibly or to provide anything more than a limp, trite and inaccurate commentary on them.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some lovely stuff and many interesting new ideas but was severely hampered by having many of its images way too small and often in a foreign language.

[Dallas · Rating 4 out of 5]

May technically never finish it as I open it randomly, as a graphic information designer web app programmer its a springboard at times.

[Widgets & · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good resource for dense and unusual ways to present data graphics. Not the best for examples of data being simplified...

[Closerlook]

Our version has a pink back, and a picture of a desert with black balloons on the front.