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Isotype: design and contexts 1925–1971

This book is the summation of the AHRC-funded project 'Isotype revisited'. It documents and contextualizes key episodes in the history of pictorial education through Isotype. As an author, Burke’s contributions are the introduction and chapters 1, 3, 9, and 12. Chapter 1 provides a detailed examination of initial stages in the development of the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics between the wars in Vienna. This is informed by rigorous archival research and a close reading of Otto Neurath's writings in German (with new translations of excerpts), and an examination of Isotype alongside parallel movements in philosophy (logical empiricism) and in the wider context of the modern movement in design. Chapter 3 is a case study of the highpoint of early Isotype, the pictorial atlas Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft (Society and economy). The early reception of the publication is reconstructed with reference to contemporary reviews and responses. Chapter 9 examines the intriguing work of the Isotype Institute in making animated inserts for wartime documentary films produced by a major figure of the British documentary movement, Paul Rotha (also a pioneering scholar of film). Rare copies of the original films have been examined and correlated with archival documents to provide a detailed consideration of the design and production process. Chapter 12 examines the legacy of Isotype in the design of pictograms that surround us today in public signage. The creators of Isotype were the first to design a unified lexicon of modular, schematic pictograms. Again, Otto Neurath's writings have been thoroughly surveyed in order to examine the principles behind their design, and visual similarities and discrepancies with current, standard pictograms are highlighted. Additionally, Burke’s work as editor, image researcher, and book designer coalesce in this publication to make it a tightly-woven visual/verbal exposition of the subject.