Wordless Diagrams

I recently moved apartments with my now fiancée Coley. In the process of unpacking, we discovered each others’ book collections. While she was probably astonished at the sheer number of graphic novels I had, I was intrigued by many of her design and art books. In particular, one stood out to me as being both beautiful and yet relevant to the comic medium.

The book, Wordless Diagrams, is by Nigel Holmes who is the former Graphic Director of Time magazine. In the words of the synopsis:

Award-winning illustrator and graphic designer Nigel Holmes depicts the things we do every day like you’ve never seen them before.

Pruning a rose or building a sand castle might seem like a common activity, but when you see them visualized on paper in wordless, step-by-step diagrams, you’ll discover them anew.

Imagine a LEGO or Ikea instruction manual mashed with a Survival handbook and you’ve got something close to this book. Comics are also known as sequential art and this book is a great example of how powerful sequential art alone can be.