Elegant ‘Typograms’ Visualize Complex Systems and Make Them Easier To Understand

Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Skeleton Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Information visualization is a powerful way to convey knowledge. For many people, it’s easier to understand complex subjects when they are organized in beautiful and thoughtful ways. Typographic technician Aaron Kuehn has created a collection of designs that use typography to construct the things about which they are informing us. The results are ingeniously developed and educational at the same time.

Knowledge is at the heart of Kuehn’s work. “My typographic artwork is arranged to communicate a comprehensive understanding of a complete system to the viewer,” he tells My Modern Met, “in a format that encourages discovery and specific learning and simultaneously a holistic understanding of the interrelationships within a system.”

This is, perhaps, best displayed in his piece titled Skeleton Typogram. It features a skeleton taking a long stride, and every component of the figure has been “typo-grammatically replaced with 676 free and fused glyphs” to form one complete diagram. At once we can see the types of bones in the human body and how they allow us to move.

As helpful as this visualization is for us, it’s a positive for Kuehn, too. “The most enjoyable part of creating my typographic artwork is doing the foundational research,” he shares. “Only once I completely understand the systems myself can I start to translate that understanding into a novel, useful, compact, and possibly elegant artwork.”

Kuehn sells his work, including prints of these designs, on his website.

Typographic technician Aaron Kuehn has created a collection of designs that use typography to construct the things about which they are informing us.

Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Muscular Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Brain Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

They are ingeniously developed and educational at the same time.

Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Viral Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Pollinator Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Bridge Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Kuehn's work is meant to inform and inspire learning and discovery.

Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Bicycle Typogram by Aaron Kuehn

Aaron Kuehn: Website | Instagram | Twitter

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Aaron Kuehn. 

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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