Raw Data, Infographics Designers' Sketchbooks

by Steven Heller, Rick Landers

Raw Data presents work by seventy-three of the worlds most innovative information graphics designers. Now that huge amounts of information can be gathered and processed with ever-greater speed, graphic designers and illustrators are playing a crucial role in explaining what all the collected data really means and how we can make sense of it to improve our personal and professional lives. More than just a survey of finished work, Raw Data gets behind the final image to reveal how a stack of numbers can be transformed into a beautiful image rich with meaning and explanation. Among the international practices included are those who have been leading the way in the infographics revolution (Nigel Holmes, The New York Times ), along with a new generation of designers only just emerging from university (Fernando Hernandez, Tim Hucklesby).

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Art Design, Science

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2014

About the author

Steven Heller writes a monthly column on graphic design books for The New York Times Book Review and is co-chair of MFA Design at the School of Visual Arts. He has written more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration and political art, including Paul Rand, Merz to Emigre and Beyond: Avant Garde Magazine Design of the Twentieth Century, Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design Second Edition, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, Graphic Design History, Citizen Designer, Seymour Chwast: The Left Handed Designer, The Push Pin Graphic: Twenty Five Years of Design and Illustration, Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design. He edits VOICE: The AIGA Online Journal of Graphic Design, and writes for Baseline, Design Observer, Eye, Grafik, I.D., Metropolis, Print, and Step. Steven is the recipient of the Art Directors Club Special Educators Award, the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the School of Visual Arts' Masters Series Award.

Reviews

[Tash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moral of the story: sketch the old fashioned way, offline. Sketch early, sketch often. Don't settle on the first idea you have. Good behind the scenes case studies for those that like to see data visualised.

[Michael Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a sketch of a review:

+++ I love the premise: describe the creative processes of tens of infographic designers and illustrate this with snippets of their sketchbooks. Raw Data:Infographics Designers' Sketchbooks aims to do precisely this.

++/- The book is rich in example and illustration, but also vague and without analysis. Over 70 designers (I counted them), over 625 illustrations (say the authors). Each designer's process gets a brief verbal introduction, plus each project gets a textbox describing at least its title, goal, and year of publication. The visuals are not commented and their selection is not explained.

++/-- The selection includes many good names, but it becomes repetitive and expected. I really liked the book includes Stefanie Posavec (of Writing Without Words and Dear Data renown) and Giorgia Lupi (founder of accurat.it and co-author of Dear Data), but I've seen already the (excellent) drawings presented here in so many places and collections. As a scientist, I find republishing less than appealing.

--- Very little that changed my view about infographics and their current visual language.

[Stjepan Lukac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be 3.5 stars

The book offers a nice overview of different approaches and concepts towards infographics and data visualization, though it doesn't really go in-depth. Designers explain in a few sentences how they came to work in this field, what their process usually looks like (again, very shallow) and append some WIP sketches of their visualizations.

Though the visualizations are interesting, they are often depicted too small, so that some (and in some cases all of) the text essentially becomes illegible.

If you're looking for a "how to" book on infographics and/or data visualization, this isn't it. If you however want to get some inspiration on what data visualization can look like and where / how it can be applied, this book provides a decent overview.

[David Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Edward Tufte's book 30 years ago, this is way better and a great way to get into the headspace of different Information Graphics Designers. I love the "back of the envelope" or "bar napkin" sketches that remind me of code scratched on paper or sticky note reminders I dreamt up at 3 AM, back in my stat analysis days. Recommend this for folks who love design, those (like me) who are left brained and want to see creatives in progress and at work. Some of the final designs just delighted. Easy read for a voluminous tome!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

We live in an era of data overload.
Designers have been tasked to synthesize and condense this data for our complex yet simple human brains.

Although this deluge of data coincides with the digital age, most designers start the infographic process using pen and paper before converting over to software design programs like Illustrator.

We still want to feel and touch when it comes to the creative process.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting infographics, did not help much with the assignment that I was working on.

3/5stars

[Francine Fang · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most special part is that this book shows the design process (sketches). I think some 3d infographic projects look better.

[Dennis Boccippio · Rating 4 out of 5]

My shelves are filling up with similar anthologies of design, but this one is definitely unique. The emphasis is as much on sketches, roughs and prototypes as it is on finished products, which yields a much more creatively stimulating book. As a compendium it's beautiful. As minor quibbles, it occasionally lapses into showcase for finished products over sketches, and the narrative sections on the designers and their thoughts is often too short, I would have preferred to see deeper dives into the whole start-to-finish process for fewer projects, than drive by's of a large number. On the upside, there's much less emphasis on purely code-generated info-design than most similar compilations, the emphasis here is on design rather than programming. Nice to see the pendulum shift away from fascination with the tools back to emphasis on design.

The interviews, short as they are, provide a nice glimpse into the current spectrum of philosophies on sketch by pencil versus sketch by computer; regardless of tool, they all emphasize the importance of exploration and getting messy with the information to discover its stories.

Heartily recommended for those interested in this area.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neither focused on the infographics themselves, nor the creative process that led to their creation. This book is a mix of various styles and mediums, including work that would be considered art, not infographics. This book is more targeted to the art crowd, not the data visualization practitioner.

[Piotr Słowik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Great inspiration.

[Benjamin Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a link to my full review

[Ashfaq Ayon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Full of inspirations.