Isotype, an acronym for International System of TYpographic Picture Education, is a method of graphic design — a system of pictorial statistics. It was developed in Museum of Society & Economy in Vienna, between 1925 and 1934 and was previously known as Vienna Methods of Pictorial Statistics. It was pioneered under the direction of Otto Neurath, a Viennese philosopher and social scientist, developed with the help of his associates. Neurath is known for his work in several fields as a social scientist, economic historian, housing bureaucrat, professor, and museum director. After World War I, he focused on re-conceptualizing and developing a museum of a new kind. He opened the Museum of Settlement and Town Planning in Vienna, which was later,
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It is described as international as it has achieved significant success in the UK, the USA, the USSR and in Africa.
But surely this was not the first time pictograms were used in design to communicate or educate. Nader Vossoughian suggests the work “was inspired by military cartography, silhouette portraits, Egyptian hieroglyphs, mass advertising, early innovations in information graphics and the New Typography movement in Germany”(2007).
It is ironic that Neurath, who is known for his notable work in philosophy, and responsible for the ‘linguistic turn’ in the twentieth century, with no art or design education, was concerned with development of the ‘pictorial language’ in the last twenty years of his life (Burke 2013).
Isotype symbols and charts are a huge success in visual communication and are the building blocks for several design disciplines. It can be seen widely today in newspapers, magazines, on television, in public environments like airports, hospitals, schools as way finding signages for directions, weather information, warning signs on equipment to the over-pouring of statistical information as data visualization and infographics
It is described as international as it has achieved significant success in the UK, the USA, the USSR and in Africa.
But surely this was not the first time pictograms were used in design to communicate or educate. Nader Vossoughian suggests the work “was inspired by military cartography, silhouette portraits, Egyptian hieroglyphs, mass advertising, early innovations in information graphics and the New Typography movement in Germany”(2007).
It is ironic that Neurath, who is known for his notable work in philosophy, and responsible for the ‘linguistic turn’ in the twentieth century, with no art or design education, was concerned with development of the ‘pictorial language’ in the last twenty years of his life (Burke 2013).
Isotype symbols and charts are a huge success in visual communication and are the building blocks for several design disciplines. It can be seen widely today in newspapers, magazines, on television, in public environments like airports, hospitals, schools as way finding signages for directions, weather information, warning signs on equipment to the over-pouring of statistical information as data visualization and infographics