Breaking monotony with patterns from the Philippines
The solution of the "Atlas of Philippine Statistics" from 1939.
It cannot be said that the Atlas of Philippine Statistics is very verbose. Published by the Philippine Department of Agriculture and Commerce in 1939, the atlas contains no written information other than the index of images and the table of contents. Nearly forty pages are filled with choropleth maps and time series column charts showing changes in various production and trade data. So far, this would not be particularly interesting, but the variety of column charts may catch our attention.
It is interesting to see how the constraints imposed on graphic designers inspire creativity when, for some reason, they are unable to use colours and have only black, white, and possibly greyscale at their disposal.1 The atlas itself may not have been published in black and white; this may simply be the result of Google scanning the University of Illinois copy. Unfortunately, I was unable to find another copy, and earlier Philippine statistical atlases contained a mixture of coloured and black-and-white graphics.
However, even if these column charts were originally in colour, the patterns would still break up the monotony of the monochrome columns. Filling in with different patterns, of course, brings up another problem: optical illusions. If we look at these column charts, we can see, for example, the moiré-effect.
Of course, this isn’t the only series in which designers/drawers try to overcome the limitations of black and white. If you know of any similar examples, please share them!
I have a surprise in store for next week, but in the meantime, this week I will also publish THE interview with Michael Friendly.
See about black, white and grey in visualization and design: RJ Andrews: Info We Trust. How to Create Value with Data Graphics. Remastered. San Francisco: Visionary Press, 2005. 66–67.
These charts are impressive! Thanks for sharing :)