Valentina D'Efilippo is a designer with an interest in data visualization, art direction and interactive design. She studied industrial design in Italy and earned a post-graduate degree in London.
James Ball is a multi-award-winning data journalist with The Guardian's investigations team. He was a core journalist on several of the newspaper's data-driven investigations, including its reporting on WikiLeaks' Guantanamo Bay files.
Valentina D'Efilippo and James Ball celebrate the many unique ways
that information can be visually shared in this entertaining look
at the history of the world.... [They]manage to provide an enormous
amount of information by distilling it down to these colourful and
highly effective graphics.-- (02/14/2014)
The book is separated into four sections, starting with 'In the
Beginning' which almost resembles a Victorian illustrated textbook.
'In the beginning' is all about the beginning of the solar system
and evolution... Then we move on to the next section 'Getting
Civilised' which keeps a similar style as the first section but
moves into the use of color within its illustrations. This part of
the book looks at information about what makes man and how we
developed as civilised beings, with the development of cultural
elements like art, language and music... The third section is
'Nation Building' in this section which is all about the age of
empires and the importance they had within history, their military
might, scale of rule, exploration and war. The infographics in this
section are more developed and far more interesting to look through
due to their complexity, also the strength of information is clear
and creatively detailed. This is the part of the book where I
believe it becomes inspiring as an infographic enthusiast, not to
mention it is historically quite interesting. The information is
not only more detailed but the style of infographics is more
creatively aesthetic... You can see by this point of the book the
thought that has gone into this book, as it slowly develops one
section at a time. Exploring the progression of the infographics,
fine detail and strength of information is interesting as you are
experiencing the book evolving, much like the worlds history. The
final section 'The Modern World' is vastly different visually to
the rest of the book, but far more familiar to the infographics we
see in our everyday lives, such as the ones we see in newspapers
and business literature. The attractive part of this section is
that the information is relevant to modern day so you get that
common interest in the information... Something that really
interested me about this book is how all of the sections each have
their own identity. The style of the artwork noticeably changes
from section to section and the tone of each section differs, the
start of the book gives a more serious and traditional feel, where
towards the end it becomes more fun and light hearted. I think this
type of detail truly improves the experience of the book, taking
you through a journey through the ages. The beauty of each sections
identity is the intro page which showcases a wonderfully creative
illustration that sets the tone to each sections journey. I believe
the next generation of infographic books can learn a thing or two
about how infographics can be used to take you on a journey and not
just lay down some facts and vectors in a cold and unimaginative
way... Any creative who enjoys infographics should definitely pick
this book up and enjoy the journey.--Marco Constantinou"Inkfo"
(09/24/2015)
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