Wordless diagrams

I went back to the NPR archives to find a story I heard a while ago about a graphic designer, Nigel Holmes, who illustrated a "how-to" book called Wordless Diagrams. Listen to the story and take a look at some of the illustrations he creates.

Every day designers are faced with different problems in communication, and I think it is interesting to see how others solve these problems. Sometimes they turn up more complex solutions, and other times they surprise me with extremely simple solutions to what initially appears to be complex.

I have not seen the entire book, but it seems to me that Nigel's work, and the work of designers like him, is understated in our society, as we take for granted the diagrams that help us with a choking victim or demonstrate how to change our car's oil.

Here's a diagram, I thought was a bit odd for a facelift. I don't know if I want to go to th plastic surgeon's office and see this hanging in the operating room. Ouch!