catalogtree is a multidisciplinary design studio based in Amsterdam. Their work is instantly recognizable for its complexity and exceptional clarity; a combination not easily achieved. Their ability to compress large amounts of data into these gorgeous infographics is unparalleled. Joris Maltha and Daniel Gross are the designers behind catalogtree and I had the pleasure to ask them a few questions before I left for Tokyo. Their answers and some example work after the jump.
What were your goals when you initially set up shop?
We never really set up shop and in a way this is our goal. To not have a shop and be amateurs at what we do. Right now we’re working on a 232 meter long radio antenna and are building a crystal radio to receive a local pirate station. We have never done this before and have no idea if this project will succeed.
Intelligence in Lifestyle magazine is the new holy grail of infographic greatness. It is a high-end Italian magazine aimed at men. The magazine is equipped with a beautiful design by the art director Francesco Franchi and the creative director Luca Pitoni.
For some of us, getting ahold of the magazine could be difficult. However, several several of the layouts from the interiors spreads and covers are archived on Flickr. Check out the larger sizes, they may compliment your desktop nicely. If in case you’re wondering, the magazine utilizes Publico, a serif face that fits perfectly into the design is much less ubiquitous than say Helvetica or Archer.
On another note prior to being introduced to this magazine via Colorcubic, I was starting to become overwhelmed by the amount of infographics being pumped into the designosphere. Infographics about infographics were being designed for crying out loud. It just seems like it has become trendy very quickly. It’s not to say its a bad thing, but it sure makes me appreciate great design like in this magazine or Nicholas Felton’s works more than ever before.
This is Vanishing Point, an absolutely mesmerizing video by Takuya Hosogane. There are some amazing compositions here, even when just viewed as stills. Seriously you could pause this video, print out half of it, and have yourself all the artwork you would ever need to decorate your place (or an art gallery…). The coolest part is how every single musical element effects the visuals — even the smallest little glitches cause something beautiful or cool to happen. All about the details. Song is awesome too; “LePetitPrince” by cubesato. Wish it was longer…
This is an old video but it’s amazing and I had to post it. I was blasting around the web looking at various inforgraphics and I came upon the fantastic indexed again. The video above, Le Grand Content, was inspired by the site, and is a similarly excellent collection of random and insightful anecdotes (this time in motion) about nothing in particular. Any time you have a graph with time on one axis and “the adventures you’ve taken” on the other, I am going to be intrigued. The voice over by Andre Tschinder is my favorite part — the delivery is oddly perfect (…”but speaking of forever, it’s obvious that this takes some time”.)
Le Grand Content examines the omnipresent Powerpoint-culture in search for its philosophical potential. Intersections and diagrams are assembled to form a grand ‘association-chain-massacre’. which challenges itself to answer all questions of the universe and some more. Of course, it totally fails this assignment, but in its failure it still manages to produce some magical nuance and shades between the great topics death, cable tv, emotions and hamsters. by Clemens Kogler
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday last week (or weekend if you’re abroad)! I just got back from DC tonight after a nice long break and was greeted by this excellent work by Hey Studio. Their entire portfolio is filled with incredible work, but I was especially attracted to this piece for the Observatori del Treball. I love information graphics more than most things in the world and these illustrative forms reminded me of some really beautiful graphs I’ve seen in the past. Of course they aren’t providing any “info” here, but they look so good I don’t mind at all.
