About the Research
ISOTYPE is a visual language using images instead of text for information dissemination. Created by Otto Neurath, it aimed for civic education through standardized symbolic images in social statistics, transcending mere aesthetics or text replacement. While emphasizing public education, research on its visualization methods remains underexplored.
This study analyzes ISOTYPE's origins, morphology, implications, and logic, exploring knowledge visualization and transformation through historical analysis, surveys, and case studies. Its intellectual logic, surpassing time and technology, remains relevant for modern design, especially in cross-cultural communication and AI integration.
ISOTYPE, despite its obscurity, is a pivotal design milestone with influence across various fields. This research investigates its short-lived history, reorganizes its principles, and explores its impact and inspiration for future design, thoroughly examining its composition and thinking patterns.
ISOTYPE and ISOTYPE Thinking
ISOTYPE, a historical visual language, is under-researched. Unlike linear artistic movements, it's an interdisciplinary breakthrough (Neurath, 1955). Its focus on political and communication achievements, rather than graphic design, hindered its development in art history.
ISOTYPE Thinking
This study, from a design perspective, unifies research on graphics and their presentation significance. It explores "ISOTYPE thinking," a distinct cognitive advancement facilitated by ISOTYPE, differing from "thinking like ISOTYPE." A key contribution is examining, from a design perspective, the disappearance and continuation of ISOTYPE, and the impact of its era on this art form.
Contribution
As a major academic contribution of this study, from the perspective of design, examine the disappearance and continuation of an artistic achievement, as well as the accompanying effect of the times on an artistic form this logical framework is the core reason why ISOTYPE has given rise to information graphics, signage systems, logo systems, internationally recognized public information icons, and other elements that dominate our visual system in today's world.
Website Souces
About this Website
On this website, the researcher has placed several units, including:
1. Five practical projects to help researchers verify the transition from ISOTYPE to ISOTYPE thinking and draw research conclusions.
2. Very valuable historical materials collected during the research, which verify many motivations behind the creation of ISOTYPE.
3. Practical project designs to demonstrate the potential for expanding the application of ISOTYPE in future fields.
The Practice
For Neurath, the new criteria for primary design communication are to “assist everyone in understanding”(Harvey, 2021). The ISOTYPE has changed the way people process information and it brings visible benefits. Specifically, classified graphics shown in front of people’s eyes instead of data waiting for analysis in the brain. According to this fact, the interpretation of how does ISOTYPE “assist everyone in understanding” has become the key to answer the research question. To delve into the essence and application value of ISOTYPE Thinking, this study began its practical exploration in 2017. The researcher carefully selected five practical projects, each corresponding to one of the three core aspects of the research questions, and systematically advanced from ISOTYPE to ISOTYPE Thinking in a step-by-step manner.
Resouces
To fully understand ISOTYPE Thinking, this research requires more data than publicly available. In 2019, I accessed Otto Neurath's extensive archives at the University of Reading, a unique resource encompassing nearly all his work. This primary source material, spanning various aspects of Neurath's career, offers an unparalleled opportunity to understand ISOTYPE's development and evolution, forming the basis of this study's comprehensive and targeted literature analysis. Further research into related archives, diaries, notes, and biographies is still needed.
Signage
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