A 100 years old brazilian graphic

This graphic was published 100 years ago by O Estado de Sao Paulo (Brazil). I saw it in a tweet by @tattiana and it reminded me these other examples already published on this blog:


Image from the book Malofiej 14,article by Fermín Vílchez 'Origin and evolution of graphics in Spain, 1856-1936

This second example is from a spanish newspapers in the thirties. Bazil was 20 years ahead then...

Information is beautiful

I don't know how, but I didn't know this blog, informationisbeautiful.net. But some days ago, dumaker (I don't know his/her real identity, (s)he contacted me by e-mail) sent me a link. Just some days after that, my editor (Mario Tascón, you may know him), sent me also a link from it. And other people. And I thank them. I could spent hours surfing through its posts, visually delicious. Clean graphics with very good information. Smart, simple, direct and effective graphics. Many of them have been succesful on Menéame, Digg or Twitter, what demonstarate that general public (or at least those a bit interested in technology) also like those graphics that are not spectacular, animated or with magnificent use of the tools. They also like those that can communicate with data, with information. Sometimes that information can be trivial, but it is presented and a clear way. So, this page is already on my blogroll: informationiseautiful.net.

Laws of simplicity, by John Maeda

I've been on online holidays. I've been reading, and as some of us can't forget our jobs, among the books have been some about infographics. 'Laws of Simplicity' by John Maeda, who teaches at MIT (and anonymous comment tell me that he is now director of RISD) and visual artist, has been the chosen. And I may say that I made the right decission.

It's the perfect book for the summer: you can read it in an afternoon at the beach or during a plane travel. And it's an useful book, for infographics and for life.

If you can, buy it, but here you are a little advance with the ten laws:

1. Reduce: thoughful reduction

2. Organize: makes a system of many appear fewer

3. Time: saving in time feel like simplicity

4. Learn: knowledge makes everything easier

5. Differences: complexity and simplicity need each other

6. Context: what lies on the periphery of simplicity is not peripheral

7. Emotion: More emotions are better than less

8. Trust: in simplicidty we trust

9. Failure: some thing can never be made simple1o. The one: subtract the obvious, add the meaningful