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Two Graphic Designer Pen-Pals Tell Each Other About Their Lives Using Only Infographics

By Cammie Finch on September 7, 2016

Two award-winning information designers, Stefanie Posavec and Giorgia Lupi, have taken “being pen-pals” to the next level. Posavec lives in London; Lupi resides in New York. Having only met each other twice, the artists were fascinated by each other's work and took on a year-long analog data-drawing collaboration project called Dear Data. According to their project's website, this is how it works: “Each week, and for a year, we collected and measured a particular type of data about our lives, used this data to make a drawing on a postcard-sized sheet of paper, and then dropped the postcard in an English ‘postbox' (Stefanie) or an American ‘mailbox' (Giorgia)! Eventually, the postcard arrived at the other person’s address with all the scuff marks of its journey over the ocean: a type of ‘slow data' transmission.”

The weeks' postcards are always themed, tracking everything and anything—from “number of times you look at the time and why you looked at it” to “a tally of different complaints and general grumpiness” and even such mundane topics like “types of doors I walked through.” Not only are the postcards creative and informative, but they also double as works of art. When seen side-by-side, the contrasting styles of Posavec and Lupi are heightened. Lupi's designs are small, detailed, orderly and monochromatic while Posavec prefers big, bold, and more abstract doodles.

The entire collection of postcards can be viewed together in their newly published book, which the artists hope “inspires you to slow down, take stock, and draw – to see the world through a new lens, where everything and anything can be a creative starting point for play, expression and connection.” The book is currently available on Amazon.

Take a look below at a sample of their weekly postcards.

Week 1