Arum Press

Commissioned by Arum Press, the content for The Periodic Table: A Visual Guide To The Elements was devised over six months by myself, design agency Urban Ant, and science author Tom Jackson.

Our brief was to produce a pop-science volume that presented each of the Periodic Table Elements - one per page/spread - as an array of data translated into illustrated infographics. As well as drafting all of the initial layouts for the spreads, I was tasked with creating all the illustrations and diagrams.

We amalgamated the data in a clean, graphical/diagrammatical format, with physical items, materials and processes presented in a flat, bold illustrative style.

The graph-work was intensive. Often, all 118 elements of the Table were compared simultaneously, so space and scale were volatile factors. My task was to find harmony in filling each page whilst keeping the data clear and legible.

I also needed to combat repetition. With a lack of imagination there are only so many graph formats to utilise, so I made it my aim to make each spread feel like a reset. I wanted the reader to have to navigate each page to breakdown the content and study each new data convention. I wanted plotted lines and paragraphs to intermix. I wanted spreads to feel full and rich.

Some of the Elements offered greater illustration opportunity than others, and I did all that I could to ensure they each weren't simply plonked on the page. I wanted all the components to build a fuller picture.

A few of my favourite pages in the book include spread 66-67 - Strength - which is vibrant and visually striking, successfully combining both the Bulk modulus (compressive strength) and Young modulus (elastic strength) data in a single graph, with the whimsical touch of slightly distorting the Young bars to aesthetically represent the stretching and elastic properties of all the Table's Elements.

One of the more thoroughly illustrated spreads is Aluminium where the central oversized image compares the physical properties of a steel girder with an aluminium one, surrounded by several other supporting images that highlight statistics of its admirably recyclable property. The composition of beams traversing the gutter make for another attractive spread.

Playing with scale, line-weight, iconography and minimalism are all aesthetic traits defining the book's visual style.

As an extensive exercise in visual communication, colour coordination and creative expression this project represents the most intensive illustrative commission of my freelance career. I'm very proud that the resulting 224 pages of artistic data interpretation are enriching classrooms and coffee tables alike.