07 3 / 2011
If you’re into Isotype, symbols, icons, playing and wasting time, you’ll love this
Gerd Arntz (1900, Remscheid – 1988, The Hague) was a German Modernist artist and communist, famous for his black and white woodcuts.
Born into a family of merchants, Arntz was educated at a private academy in Düsseldorf and later attended the school of applied arts in Barmen (1921). He acquired the Düsseldorf studio of Otto Dix in 1925, when Dix moved to Berlin. Arntz travelled widely through Europe, and lived in Vienna, Cologne, and Moscow among other cities. From 1926 Otto Neurath sought his collaboration in designing pictograms for the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics (Wiener Methode der Bildstatistik; later renamed Isotype). From the beginning of 1929 Arntz worked at the Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum (Social and economic museum) directed by Neurath in Vienna. Eventually, Arntz designed around 4000 pictograms. Between 1931 and 1934 he travelled periodically to the Soviet Union (along with Neurath and Marie Reidemeister) in order to help set up the ‘All-union institute of pictorial statistics of Soviet construction and economy’ (Всесоюзный институт изобразительной статистики советского строительства и хозяйства), commonly abbreviated to IZOSTAT (ИЗОСТАТ). After the brief civil war in Austria in 1934 he emigrated to the Netherlands, joining Neurath and Reidemeister in The Hague, where they continued their collaboration at the International Foundation for Visual Education. Arntz cultivated a wide acquaintance among the artists and political activists of his generation. In 1943, while living in The Hague, he was conscripted into German military service and later was a prisoner of war.[1]
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05 8 / 2010
New BSR (Berlin city cleaning) campagne - nice icon work for “Orange Box”
04 5 / 2010
Icon set for http://www.monocle.com
And founder Tyler Brûlé is joining a trend talk tonight in Berlin http://twitter.com/thewavingcat/status/13365900440
“Category icons for Monocle’s daily column, Monocolumn. Categories include: education, society, transportation, design, urban affairs etc.”
05 3 / 2010
Not sure if I agree with the NY Times, but this is still worth watching: “Olympic Pictograms Through the Ages”
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03 12 / 2009
Clean and cool podcast about custom icon & pictogram design
27 11 / 2009
Make your own catastrophe - a DIY weatherhouse
I’m in the middle of facilitating a three day meeting for young people from all across Europe at Heinrich-Böll-Foundation. The foundation’s purpose is to support political education both within Germany and abroad, promoting socio-political activism, democratic involvement and cross-cultural understanding (says Wikipedia). Among the many foundations in Germany this is the one closest to the Green Party. No suprise then that I found a nice installation on climate change in the entrance area.It has icons and movable figures that you can place in a smoke-emitting factory disguised as a weatherhouse. You can mix and remix your own catastrophe, choose the corporate players, your type of toxic waste or your very own carbon credt label. I’m all up for communicating sustainability and climate issues in a playful way. Thumbs up from me.
06 11 / 2009
Thank You For Not Smoking Two-Legged Dogs With No Tails
I found this in a friends Facebook photo album. I think it was taken in Norway. They sure breed some strange animals up there.
03 11 / 2009
Airport Sketching
When the flight is delayed and the newspapers on the plane are tabloid only this is how I entertain myself
flight icons. gotta love the “no high heels”
Liski&Fresi
now I know the exits by heart
bored bored bored waiting waiting waiting
03 11 / 2009
Graphic Symbols for Disaster Response
