Explainist » icons

Aren’t You a Little Short for a Stormtrooper?

Tom — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 03:24:16 +0000

Destined to spread across the Internet: Star Wars Ep. IV told in icons.

Know Your Street Vendors

Tom — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:26:30 +0000

Dave came across this remarkable piece of explanation from the Street Vendor Project (SVP). As part of their mission to champion and empower New York’s 10,000+ vendors, SVP members teamed up with designer Candy Chang and The Center for Urban Pedagogy to create a series of infographic-heavy brochures that demystify regulations and other challenges for New York vendors.

Many street vendors aren’t fluent English speakers, so it’s essential the imagery in these brochures does the heavy explanation lifting. This is work from the front lines of infographics.

The full brochures aren’t available, but you can download two PDF samples from the Street Vendor Project Web site.

[via information aesthetics]

Crisis of Credit Visualized

Tom — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:25:41 +0000

I’m a little late on this one — I missed it when it popped up on BoingBoing and elsewhere a couple weeks ago. Designer Jonathan Jarvis put together this super slick animation explaining the credit shenanigans that got us into this mess.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

This is part of Jarvis’ thesis work at the Art Center College of Design. According to the site, his thesis work is related to “exploring the use of new media to make sense of a increasingly complex world.” Sounds like my kind of thesis work.

[via Scott McCloud]

History of the Internet

Tom — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:00:20 +0000

The animated icon style of this history of Internet technology is effective, and oh so crisp.

History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.
The movie is a showcase for Pictorial Communication Language (PICOL), German designer Melih Bilgil’s “project to find a standard and reduced sign system for electronic communication.” The idea is to come up with an extensive icon set open to anyone communicating through diagrams. The Picol site is partially under construction, but includes a blog with more information.

[via ReadWriteWeb]