Book review: WDR 3 “Mosaik”
On the Mosaik radio show on German broadcasting station WDR 3, host Daniel Finkernagel and design theorist René Spitz review the book Fritz Kahn which rediscovers Kahn as the “father of visual storytelling” and chronicles his work. To hold and “flip through the voluminous publication one will need a heavy underframe”, the pair say, but “it is worth while” since it contains “fascinating things”. Spitz describes the educational impetus of Kahn and explains the meaning of the monograph for the modern world: The current renaissance of information design is caused by a desire to understand incomprehensible circumstances. Not only does Fritz Kahn accomplish this, but the narrative information graphics also allow the reader to understand at his or her own pace. Finkernagel agrees by citing that a Berlin-based design studio explained the global financial crisis to chancellor Angela Merkel through information graphics.
Mosaik (link to audio file in German, 7:20 minutes)