History and Legacy of Isotype

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Christopher Burke (University of Reading, UK) Günther Sandner (University of Vienna, Austria)

History and Legacy of Isotype

Christopher Burke (University of Reading, UK), Günther Sandner (University of Vienna, Austria)

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Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury Visual Arts
03 October 2024

Based on extensive archival research, this open access book provides a fresh perspective on the early history of Isotype and pictographic communication, with new information about largely unknown episodes throughout its development.

The picture-script Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education), previously conceived as the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics, evolved through numerous publications and exhibitions in the early 20th century. Christopher Burke and Günther Sandner trace how its development responded to differing cultural and political climates, through a period when the idea of a universal language – an artificial or planned language – was linked to ideas of internationality and democratic planning. This book explores in depth, for the first time, the early picture-statistical work carried out at Austrian institutions during a new era of visual education and communication during and after World War II.

Examining the work of Isotype’s initiators – Otto Neurath, the founding director of The Social and Economic Museum of Vienna, the artist Gerd Arntz, and Marie Reidemeister, who performed the role of ‘transformer’, a prototype of the modern information designer – this book challenges existing conceptions of an enormously influential pictographic language. Richly illustrated throughout with over 60 examples of work by key figures, this book provides a comprehensive history of Isotype and offers critical reflections on its legacy within, and relevance to, contemporary design practice.

The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

By: Christopher Burke (University of Reading UK), Günther Sandner (University of Vienna, Austria)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 226mm, Width: 146mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 1.400kg
ISBN: 9781350359079
ISBN 10: 1350359076
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 03 October 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Christopher Burke is a design historian and Associate Professor in the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication at the University of Reading, UK. He is Research Fellow on the project ‘Isotype: Origin, Development, and Legacy’, based at the University of Vienna, Austria, and he co-curated the exhibition ‘Isotype: International Picture Language’ at the Victoria and Albert Museum, UK. He co-edited Otto Neurath’s autobiography, From Hieroglyphics to Isotype (2010), and the collection Isotype: Design and Contexts 1925 1971 (2013). Günther Sandner is a political scientist and historian. He is FWF Research Fellow at the Institute Vienna Circle, University of Vienna, Austria, where he leads the project ‘Isotype: Origin, Development, and Legacy’. He has written numerous essays on the topics of Isotype and logical empiricism and is the author of Otto Neurath, a biography, published in 2014.

Reviews for History and Legacy of Isotype

Sandner and Burke’s fascinating account of Isotype’s global dispersal and applications is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of this influential approach to visual education and information design -- Benjamin Benus * Associate Professor of Art and Design History, Loyola University New Orleans * Isotype was one of the great projects of modern graphic design in the 20th century. This book reveals and tells Isotype's most comprehensive, accurate, and thrilling story. And it makes us wonder what we should take from its legacy in the 21st century. -- Hisayasu Ihara * Faculty of Design, Kyushu University * Sandner and Burke bring to light new material on the early history and mid-century development of Isotype and pictographic communication, which enriches our understanding of the origins, aims and legacy of Isotype by locating its roots in the social and educational reform of Red Vienna and exploring how different cultural and political climates influenced its development. Their book helps the reappraisal of Isotype as an open-ended, adaptive system rather than a definitive, or imposed language, and the key role of the “transformer” in the selection and interpretation of statistics for visual communication to public audiences. -- Peter Hall * University of the Arts, London *