Visualize the World: Inspiration

The World Clock, Or What Time it is in the Different Places of the Earth When it is Noon in Dresden, is from “Alexander von Humboldt's Kosmos,” 1851.

In my last post, I told you about the forthcoming Lonely Planet book of information graphics, “How to Land A Jumbo Jet.” The book intends to be a “visual guide to the world - a collection of cultural and travel-inspired infographics and visualizations of all kinds.” The book's content will be developed from submissions to an open call for infographic and visualization ideas. The project is under the direction of renowned 'graphic explainer,' Nigel Holmes.

As promised, here’s an assortment of travel-related information design, for inspiration …


Fifty years of Exploration, traces the nearly 200 missions launched in a half-century of space travel.
National Geographic Map by Sean McNaughton and Samuel Velasco, 5W Infographics



This dictionary of cultural nuance, “Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture," by graphic designer Bruno Munari, was first published in 1958. It was re-released by Chronicle Books in 2005.


From 1923, "New and Improved View of the Comparative Heights of the Principal Mountains and Lengths of the Principal Rivers In The World, The whole Judiciously arranged from the various Authorities Extant” Via Natural Selections
Go to "River Deep Mountain High,” on BibliOdyssey for a dozen more examples of this type of info-geo-graphic illustration.



Vintage booklet from Mobil, “DIAL your MILEAGE,” includes a section to record your mileage and offers tips on how to save fuel.


Explained here, by Nigel Holmes, is how the unique choreography of the social kiss varies from country to country. From his book, Wordless Diagrams.


This cutaway of the street below Rockefeller Center, by Emil Lowenstein, appeared in the July, 1939 issue of Fortune, which was devoted entirely to New York City.


Cutaway model by Model by Richard Peduzzi, of the the Garnier's Paris Opéra. Via Oobject


To actually read what the different colors represent in various cultures, you’ll have to view the David McCandless original at his sight, Information is Beautiful. (By the way, his post today includes, and links to, one of the Du Bois charts from AME.)


Promotional infographic for the startup Airbnb, highlights some of the more unusual properties available for short-term rental. Via Co.Design


Snapped this one in San Clemente.


Map of touristiness, based on analysis of photos on Panoramio. Via LA Times


Twelve maps in a case showing the best bicycle routes in the state of Wisconsin. Published in 1897, by The League of American Wheelmen, the maps are keyed to show good, medium, bad, level, hilly, and very hilly roads. An Index map is provided as well. Via the David Rumsey Map Collection


This vintage map (year unknown), shows driving distances between cities in France.

Inaugural Hats

I’ve been waiting for an excuse to post the beige pillbox Jackie wore at JFK’s Inaugural fifty years ago today.

It may not be as famous as the pink pillbox she wore in Dallas, but this one has such an appealing sculptural simplicity. The nobility and purity it conveys exemplifies how expertly Jackie created not just a style, but an iconography with her clothing. According to Oleg Cassini, who famously dressed her while she was first lady, Jackie's signature pillbox, sitting back atop her bouffant hair, was inspired by images of Nefertiti. This one, I think, is more “white chess queen.” The top hat Jack wore that day completed the coronation/wedding couple "look." What a perfect symbol for our love affair with America’s royal family.



See other items from the Met's 2001 exhibit Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.
Visit the JFK Library and Museum for the Inaugural Exhibit online.

The Dame Game

Don’t you want to know the woman who counts among her style icons Bjork, Chaka Khan, Vivienne Westwood and Janis Joplin? Meet “Dame” Lori Sutherland, the pleasure visionary who knows that style lives not in your closet, but in your soul.

Find out who else inspires Dame Lori at The Dame Game. See which other men and women have achieved iconhood, and follow all of Dame’s soul-styling escapades. How can you help but be curious about someone who has managed to corral Ed Koch, Bootsy Collins, and Jean-Paul Belmondo onto one page!