View The Math
Facts and figures aren’t usually married to design and color (unless maybe you broke out markers to do your math homework as a kid). But this new book I bought totally proves that statistics and art can live happily ever after after all.
The Visual Miscellaneum is the perfect read for someone like me (a total geek when it comes to trivia and trends, but a sucker for something beautifully or interestingly designed). David McCandless has taken “the world’s most consequential trivia” and visualized it for easier and more entertaining consumption. It caught my eye when WIRED magazine featured this excerpt showing Pantone’s official summer and winter colors for the past 8 years:
Since I’m always on the hunt for a good coffee table book / conversation starter (or even wall art – just tear out a page and throw a frame around it) I just had to buy this book. Its 200+ pages contain fun facts about history, entertainment, health, religion and even humor. Here are some of our other favorite visual grids, graphs, and charts:
A Periodic Table that shows when certain condiments go bad:
A visual list of baby names graphed by popularity (the darker spots indicate the years where the name peaked in popularity and sometimes even suggest why):
For coffee lovers, a mixologist’s chart of popular java drinks (with lots of visual ideas for serving up something gourmet):
And lastly, since I mentioned there’s a bit of humor mixed in, here’s the ever-important graphic entitled: Farty Animals. ‘Nuff said.
So that’s a little taste of my new favorite book. Hope you guys enjoy it. And just to be clear, no one gave us this book for free in exchange for a little write up, we bought it with our own money and thought it was so visually appealing and entertaining that we just had to share it. And the fact that some of the graphs could make awesome wall art or the book itself would be a great conversation starter on a coffee table/guest bedroom nightstand doesn’t hurt either. Oh and we’d love to hear if anyone else has found other books that might satisfy my craving for information-turned-art. Do tell.
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Very cool! I’m a visual person so this book looks like something I’d really enjoy looking through. Thanks for sharing!
This book looks awesome! Especially great Christmas gift for my father who is super hard to buy for. Only problem is every online retailer I searched is out of it!! :( Maybe for his birthday or something. Thanks for letting us know its out there though!
I think that would make a great christmas gift for my husband! He love weird/interesting trivia…thanks for the idea!! I just reserved my copy at borders and will pick it up after work!! = )
Neat! Will definitely check it out.
Awesome book – it’s on back order at Amazon – but it’s in the cart!
This is awesome!! :) I love it. I think some of those would make really great wall arts. That condiment chart would be great framed in a kitchen!
Visually stimulating and entertaining. I love trivia and bright colors. This book is right up my alley. Thanks for the great post!
I almost got that book for my husband for Christmas. He’s in marketing, is a total design junkie and loves all kind of stats and random facts, too. The book sounds awesome. I’m definitely going to have to get it now. Thanks for the review!
Have you checked out “Good” Magazine? The one issue I have seen was full of information about public transit in major cities, and it was all laid out in very interesting and visually appealing ways. Seems like the sort of think you would like based on this post. http://www.good.is/
That book looks both silly and awesome! Thanks for sharing it! I may have to get it for my dad this holiday season…
Loving the Fart Chart! lol. too funny. I’m def. going to hit Barns and Noble tonight and take a looksee of that book!
It’s like a visual Freakonomics. I love it!
I love that periodic table! All told, it looks like a really entertaining book!
That book looks really interesting. You gave such a fascinating breakdown, I’m very tempted to buy it. I was an art major, and a little bit weird myself as my husband would tell you, so it definitely makes my list of cool, fun things I might want. Plus, it looks like it appeals to all ages. I imagine that baby popularity chart will come in handy really soon for you guys. ;)
What an awesome book!! Of course the gas one is classic! Who thinks this stuff up? lol.
I have another beautifully designed book for you to look into – We Feel Fine (http://wefeelfine.org/). Confession….my Brother is one of the authors :) but it is a wonderful and interesting book full of facts and figures.
You guys are awesome! I totally just printed my B&N coupon to go pick this up for the hubbie at lunchtime! Thanks!
I just put this book on my list of gift ideas for my husband, the math geek, trivia hound, and visual learner. Thanks for the tip!
Be still my geeky/artist/mathemetican heart. What a great blend of the things I love!
Awesome book! Love the baby name graphs. Hope Sherry didn’t have a copy wrapped under the tree or hidden in a closet somewhere!
definitely a conversation starter! especially the “farty animals” page – who wouldn’t crack up over seeing that!
lol
Ha! Farty animals. So funny. You should check out Seed Magazine too, John. Pretty, pretty science.
Hey Aryn, Amanda & Bethany,
Thanks for those suggestions! I’ll definitely be checking them out asap.
-John
I am totally buying this book for my graphic designer husband! Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for the suggestion! I’m sending one to my son who is an architecture intern. Could give him some inspiration for presentation boards!
I’m printing out my B&N coupon now to too! This book makes my nerdy little heart happy :) Thanks!
Good stuff. How about Webster’s Pictorial Dictionary? It’s chock full of bygone illustrations, letter press images and all around coolness. It’s on my Amazon wishlist :)
Hey Katie & Erin,
I’ll have to check those out too. Thanks for all the ideas everyone! I guess I’m just geeky for facts in picture form.
-John
This looks like a book that I would absolutely love–bummer that it’s out of stock on Amazon!
That looks like a fun book! To my Amazon wishlist it goes.
GOOD has a lot of cool infographics (info turned art). You guys will like this one about local food- http://www.good.is/post/Transparency-How-Far-Your-Produce-Travels/
I love it when favorite blogs cross over each other! Scrolling down my Google reader, I assumed this was a post from informationisbeautiful but alas, it’s you guys! The book really does look great, and I love your idea about using some of it as wall art. Thanks!
For a more serious, in-depth look at presenting information visually, check out the books of Edward Tufte. No farty animals, alas, but tons of info about charts, graphs, user interfaces, etc.!
Sounds like a good time to me. Thanks for the suggestions Erin and Lisa!
-John
your post immediately made me think of this project:
http://feltron.com/ … Nicholas Felton’s Annual Report. Basically, every year he charts his life from the last 12 months in a gorgeously designed format, showing random stats from what kind of food he ate to how many time he saw a movie… it’s weirdly fascinating and stunning to look at.
I was just reading up on the link you provided and it seems the author had some printing issues. Did you find this in your copy?
Hey Amanda,
I’m not sure what printing problems you’re referring to but our copy is in great condition- nothing smeared or otherwise amiss. Maybe it was just certain printing houses or regions or something? Or perhaps my copy is from the second or third batch so the original issues have been fixed? Hope it helps!
-John
You guys have serious power! I love that readers know that they can trust your judgment on your new obsession! I love to watch what happens when a book is mentioned and all of a sudden a book that probably wasn’t sold out as of 8am this morning, is out on amazon or b&n. A friend of mine wrote a book on newspapers as a dying breed…it was mentioned on Gilmore Girls one night and I emailed him immediately to tell him (I was very excited!). The next day it went from what I assume was relative obscurity to sold out. In fact, it’s still sold out! Craziness! Good job guys, i’m guessing he might contact you soon to give one of these away to a lucky reader?! Hint, hint Mr. McCandless…
If you haven’t seen it already, you’d probably love this site: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager
http://chartporn.org/
similar
Thanks Jessica and Christa. Off to check them out…
-John
Nooo… the cheaper copies are out of stock on Amazon. I keep trying to find a good copy cause it really looks like a good book. Thanks for your review!
Really cute – could be a good xmas present!
John,
Take a look at the book Visual Aid. It’s right up your alley and pretty similar to that one that you have. I just looked it up on Amazon.com and noticed that there was a second one released, too. Very fun stuff… I love the pictures that you’ve shared. I bet my brother and brother in law would get a big kick out of this as a side gift. I sure love them. =)
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Aid-Never-Enough-Stuff/dp/1906155836/ref=pd_sim_b_1
I second the recommendation for Edward Tufte’s books!
Awesome awesome awesome! I’ll be picking one up at Barnes and Noble after work! Thanks!
“Data Flow” is a great infographic book!
http://www.amazon.com/Data-Flow-Visualising-Information-Graphic/dp/3899552172
A couple people mentioned “Good” magazine – they have a fantastic website too. Always some eye candy there:
http://www.good.is/
Another Tufte fan here. Yep, I think for you he’d be a must-read! (Admittedly, farty animals might be more fun, though.)
Awesome! Keep those recommendations coming. My list is a mile long and I love it.
-John
It looks like a great book!
The only thing that bugs me is the hot drink mixology page. The Espresso machiatto one should have the espresso on top of the milk foam! You have to do it that way so it ‘marks’(machiatto) the foam. lol
Dijon mustard goes bad after a month? Did everyone else already know this? Is it disgusting that I’ve had the same jar for like a year? Very cool book though. I obviously need to consult the condiment chapter!
I want this book! Love the graphics. I’m sitting here trying to think of who I still need to buy Christmas presents for that would like this book, but I don’t think anyone in my family would appreciate as much as me. Maybe I’ll just buy it for myself :) I agree with AW, not sure about the condiments. If that’s true, I’d be constantly replacing half of the stuff in my refrig.
This book looks amazing! And maybe I’ll actually read it, since it’s less time-consuming than most novels (I still haven’t started Freakonomics!). Thanks you guys, this is definitely going on my Hanukkah List!
Hey! I am a fellow Richmonder….Where is the re-store? I have been looking for one in the area.
Hey Allison,
Here’s the link for ya with all that info: http://www.richmondhabitat.org/restore.html
xo,
s
The “Periodic Table” is a hoot!
BTW- You guys got a shout-out at the design blog Simplified Bee, for your living room fire place make-over.
Hey Cecelia,
Thanks for the heads up! Headed over there to check it out…
xo,
s
Wow! I bought this book a few days ago for my brother-in-law for Christmas. Just based on the description, I knew he would love it. Now seeing some of the pages, I am even more sure it was the perfect choice!