# Isotype Pictorial Statistics > A method of visual education developed by Otto Neurath, Marie Neurath (Reidemeister) and Gerd Arntz in Red Vienna from 1925, which turns statistics into rows of identical pictograms where a greater quantity is shown by more signs, never by bigger ones. Continued in The Hague and Oxford until 1971, its standardised symbols, flat colours and sans-serif captions laid the foundations of modern information graphics and pictogram systems. - Period: 1925–1971 - Where: Central Europe, Western Europe - Origin: Vienna (Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum), then The Hague and Oxford - Branch: Rational modernism - Also known as: Isotype, Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics, International System of Typographic Picture Education - Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/isotype/ ## How it works - Show quantity by repeating identical symbols in rows, never by enlarging a symbol. - Reduce each subject to a flat, frontal or profile silhouette with no perspective and no incidental detail. - Keep one symbol for one thing across every chart so readers learn a consistent vocabulary. - Pair the pictograms with a minimal sans-serif caption; let the picture carry the comparison. - Use a few flat, conventional colours that carry meaning, with black for the main symbols. - Route every chart through a 'transformer' who turns the data into one clear visual argument. ## Its design choices Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then. ### Layout & composition - [Modular grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/modular-grid/) (characteristic) - [Column grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/column-grid/) (occasional) ### Space & hierarchy - [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (defining) - [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic) - [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic) ### Typography - [Geometric sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-sans/) (characteristic) ### Colour - [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (defining) - [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic) - [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic) - [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (occasional) ### Form & shape - [Pictogram](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pictogram/) (defining) - [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic) - [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (occasional) ### Surface & texture - [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic) - [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (occasional) ### Ornament - [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic) ### Imagery - [Diagram & data](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagram-and-data/) (defining) - [Icons & pictograms](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/icons-and-pictograms/) (defining) ### Medium & production - [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (characteristic) - [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (occasional) - [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (occasional) - [Motion & broadcast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/motion-and-broadcast/) (occasional) ### Tone & intent - [Rational & objective](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rational-and-objective/) (defining) - [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (characteristic) - [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic) - [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (occasional) Avoids: Naturalistic depiction, Illusion of depth, Abundant decoration, Gradients, Ornamented display, Skeuomorphic material, Painterly illustration Palette: #f2ecdf, #1a1a1a, #c8372d, #2c5aa0, #4b8a3c, #8a5a3b Typefaces: Futura (Paul Renner, 1927), Gerd Arntz's linocut pictogram set (c. 4,000 signs), used like a fount of picture-type Known for: Otto Neurath (Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum in Wien, 1925); Marie Neurath (née Reidemeister), chief 'transformer'; Gerd Arntz (pictogram designer, from 1928); Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft atlas (1930); Otto Neurath, International Picture Language (1936); Isotype Institute, Oxford and London (to 1971) ## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to - Grew out of: [Russian Constructivism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/constructivism.md) (1917–1934) - Influenced by: [Die Neue Typographie](https://stylogeny.com/styles/new-typography.md) (1923–1940) - Led to: [Bitmap & Pixel Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bitmap-pixel.md) (1977–1995) - Led to: [Newsroom Data Graphics & Scrollytelling](https://stylogeny.com/styles/newsroom-data-graphics.md) (2009–present) - Led to: [Data Humanism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/data-humanism.md) (2014–present) - Alike in its design choices: [HfG Ulm Systematic Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ulm-school.md) (1953–1968), 65% alike - Alike in its design choices: [Munich 1972 Olympic Design (Otl Aicher)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/munich-72.md) (1966–1972), 63% alike - Alike in its design choices: [Flat Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/flat-design.md) (2010–2016), 62% alike - Alike in its design choices: [International Typographic Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/swiss-international.md) (1950–1975), 60% alike - Alike in its design choices: [Brazilian Concrete Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/brazilian-concrete.md) (1951–1975), 60% alike - Alike in its design choices: [British Road Signage (Kinneir & Calvert)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/british-road-signage.md) (1958–present), 59% alike ## Real works - [Gewerkschaften der Erde 1912–1928 (plate 83), from Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft: Bildstatistisches Elementarwerk](https://archive.org/details/dr_gewerkschaften-der-erde--1912-1928-angefertigt-fr-das-bibliographische-i-14080086): Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum in Wien (Otto Neurath, director; pictograms by Gerd Arntz), 1930, David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries (14080.086), via the Internet Archive - [Men Living on a Unit of Space in Towns (Picture 32), from International Picture Language: The First Rules of Isotype](https://archive.org/details/internationalpic00neur/page/n94/mode/1up): Otto Neurath (Isotype, The Hague), 1936, Duke University Libraries copy, digitised by the Internet Archive - [Home and Factory Weaving in England, from Modern Man in the Making](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.280898/page/n50/mode/1up): Otto Neurath (Isotype charts), 1939, Central Archaeological Library (ASI), New Delhi, copy digitised by the Digital Library of India (Internet Archive) - [Die bunte Welt (prospectus leaflet)](https://hdl.handle.net/10622/0D7F2F34-A999-4EC6-AA5A-4EC1C467AA9B): Gerd Arntz for the Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum in Wien, c. 1930–34, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam (BG C15/492) ## Sources - Christopher Burke, Eric Kindel & Sue Walker (eds.), Isotype: Design and Contexts, 1925–1971 (Hyphen Press, 2013) - Otto Neurath, International Picture Language (1936) - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 'Otto Neurath', supplement on visual education (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neurath/visual-education.html) --- From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Isotype Pictorial Statistics”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/isotype/