Otto Neurath from Hieroglyphics to Isotype, 1945

Egyptian Hieroglyphics • not an excessive amount of detail, just enough to convey a clear impression of a given situation • no distracting elements, every detail had its purpose • the drawings are not confusing Engraved cross-section of a lion from Peter Mark Roget, Animal and Childhood books Vegetable Physiology. Instruction sheets for building blocks that Neurath used as a boy. • fascinated w/toy and game instructions as a child Example of the kind of schematic shading that Neurath preferred to • analyzed the more successful styles of instructive visuals indicate the effects of light. From the children's journal: Der gute • illustrations should treat the reader properly, respect them and Kamerad: illustrierte Knaben-Zeitung. communicate clearly to them Pages form Oliver Byrne, The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid (in which colored diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners), William PIckering, 1847. • ". compel me to regard a certain simplicity, combined with impressiveness, as something of importance wherever pictures for children are concerned." - Otto Neurath From Hieroglyphics to Isotype, 1945. • oddly, he criticized Oliver Byrne's Euclid as a "bad attempt at applying color" Silhouette portraits & paintings similar to the ones Neurath had in his collection. (usually scissor-cut, sometimes ink) • " a silhouette forces us to look at essential details and sharp lines; there are no vague backgrounds or superfluities Rene Descartes, Opera Philosophica, 1685. • thought the childish caricature of the sun as a face with the halo around it was a little excessive, Neurath felt it communicated much more quickly and effectively than a simple disc/circle, because people were familiar with seeing the sun presented this way Aubrey Beardsley • clear line drawings • clarity of detail similar to hieroglyphics, but an expressiveness and sensuality that reflected the times the artist lived Franz Willhem Seiwart Dada (& Stupid), Constructivist painter, printer, and sculptor Augustin Tschinkel • Neurath respected Tschinkel's work so much that he hired him to create Isotype symbols Deacon's Synchronological Chart Deacon's synchronological chart – of universal history, with maps of the World's great empires and a complete geological diagram of the Earth, Chromolithograph, by Professor Edward Hull, 1890. Book illustrations criticized by Neurath for superfluous and deceptive naturalism. • too many details detract from the instructive nature of the illustration • perspective is off • insults the reader, "When I discovered serious blunders of this kind as a child, I felt disappointed and in some degree offended by adults who made picture books for children in such a stupid way. ." "To remember simplified pictures is better than to ISOTYPE forget accurate ones." International System of TYpographic Picture Education Otto Neurath (1882-1945) Marie Neurath Gerd Arntz • Isotype: the use of elementary pictographs to convey complex information (using as few words as possible) • how can information be transformed into symbols • aka Wiener Method/Vienna Method • Modern, influenced by Art Deco/Sachplakat • lack of decoration, every detail represented meaning (in the form of information) • disseminate information to the masses, before Isotype this really was not possible FUTURA Paul Renner • Isotype was about standardization, universality • Renner was strong proponent for strict, universal geometry and single-case alphabet (simple, sleek, modern) • but, came to the realization that pure geometry (with no stroke variation) and all capital letters in a typeface sounded good theoretically, but when put into practice was not aesthetically pleasing nor fluid in reading • so, he compromised and we get a double-case typeface with some line variation Organization of an Industrial Enterprise • Isotype team = 1 director, 2 transformers, 2 chief artists, numerous production technicians • Gerd Arntz – over 4000 isotype pictographs (most on relief linoleum blocks) • after WWII, process switched to photo print/engraving process) 1 2 4 3 • axis • "Configuration around a central axis allows comparisons to be made both within and between two categories. " • changed 'Death' symbol from coffin (scale/legibility issues) to gravestone • horizontal arrangement in #5 shows the excess and deficits more clearly 5 Distribution of Wealth in Germany • key design aspects necessary for successful Isotype diagrams: - repetition - division (fractioning) - combining - stylistic treatment (line, shape, color) - scale - orientation • "the point of the work is to make something intelligible and interesting – a positive statement that will reward study." How to. Rudolf Modley • Pictorial Statistics, Inc. • Believed a symbol should: 1) follow principles of good design 2) be effective in both large and small sizes 3) have unique characteristics to distinguish it from all other symbols 4) be visually interesting/have ability to engage the viewer 5) function well as a statistical unit for counting 6) work in both outline and silhouette more Rudolf Modley Longevity Isotypes that have to go Coat Check Hotel Information Car Rental Lost & Found Customs -communicating over language barriers Lance Wyman pictograhic sports symbols -pictograms 1967 -conceptually animated repeated sequence -continuous design Lance Wyman Mexican Olympiad postage stamps 1967-68 information design Ladislav Sutnar (1897-1976) (423) 689-8383 Ladislav Sutnar Ladislav Sutnar cover design for Minimum Housing cover design for Samuel the Seeker 1931 1931 Ladislav Sutnar title page for Catalog Design Progress 1950 Ladislav Sutnar Trademark for Sweet’s Catalog Service 1942 Ladislav Sutnar section page from Catalog Design Progress 1950 Ladislav Sutnar Function Visual Design in Action Form 1961 Flow ‘visual unit’ = double-page spread Ladislav Sutnar Ladislav Sutnar page from Catalog Design Progress Visual Design in Action (interior spread) 1950 1961 Ladislav Sutnar design for Addo-X 1956-59 www.feltron.com .

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