While gatefold mechanisms were already used in the 1100s, one of the first movable paper mechanisms was a volvelle created by Benedictine Monk Matthew Paris to calculate the dates of Christian holidays in his book Chronica Majorca (1236-1253, see left image above). Volvelles are paper discs or rings placed on top of each other that rotate around a string or rivet. Many other types of paper mechanisms have been invented since then, such as flaps, which were used in anatomy books starting from […]
1875 – Van't Hoff's Molecular Paper Models
Van’t Hoff disseminated his stereochemical ideas to leading chemists of the day by sending them 3-D paper models of tetrahedral molecules, like these now housed in the Leiden Museum. There might be some difficulty in following my reasoning. I felt this myself, and I have made use of cardboard figures to facilitate the representation. Not wanting to require too much of the reader I will gladly send him the complete collection of all these objects Sources: Van der Spek, Trienke M. Selling a […]
1941 – Traffic Flow Profiles of the Interregional Highway System
2D area diagrams encoding average daily traffic as height and color are set up along their respective highways on a background map of the US. Background map seems to be a cut-out wooden panel; area diagrams potentially cardboard, or also wood veneer. Source: In: Fortune, June 194, pp. 94-95. Original by-line reads "Map by PRA. Photograph by Richard Carver Wood". PRA is presumably the Public Roads Administration (cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Highway_Administration#History). Accessed […]
2011 – Sleep Patterns
Laurie Frick's Pokey Red is a physical visualization of sleep data over a month. Frick makes an interesting use of the physical support: in her visualization, periods of sleep of a lesser interest (light sleep) are folded up, giving more importance to the periods of quality sleep (coloured rectangles), while remaining integral part of the visualization. "Pokey Red" 12 in x 12 in, cut paper, watercolor and ink. Based on a month of sleep data, with the light sleep (aka trash sleep) periods folded […]
2011 – Paper Models of 3D Plots
2013 – Pop-Up Infographics
In 2013, Italian graphic designer Elena Turtas crafted four books that convey data about sustainability using pop-up and movable paper mechanisms. Source: Elena Turtas (2014) The Four Books of Visualising Sustainability.
2013 – Examined Life: Giving Shape to Activities
Designer Alex Getty logged his daily activities for 40 days and turned them into data sculptures that look like colored paper origami. Source: Alex Getty (2013) The Examined Life