Gallery: Why Are Data-Viz Designers So Obsessed With Circles?

  • Image may contain Building Architecture Clock Tower Tower and Window
    David Stephenson
    01

    00-Circles-0071A-pg20.jpg

    In his new book, The Book of Circles, Manuel Lima investigates how the shape has been employed throughout the ages. Here, you see the dome of the Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy.
  • Image may contain Lighting Lamp Chandelier and Art
    CERN
    02

    00-Circles-0081A-pg21.jpg

    Which looks remarkably similar to the Compact Muon Solenoid, a partical detector at the Large Hadron Collider in Cessy, France.
  • Image may contain Rug and Art
    Houghton Library, Harvard University
    03

    01-Circles-0052A-pg68.jpg

    And not so different than this infographic from Oronce Finé, who drew it in 1549 as a way to illustrate the universe.
  • Image may contain Sphere Astronomy Universe Space and Outer Space
    Nicholas Felton
    04

    02-Circles-0101A-pg80.jpg

    Lima's book breaks circular infographics into different taxonomies as a way to better understand how the shape is used. Here data designer Nicholas Felton used a spiral to show the number of articles written on Wikipedia from 2001 to 2010.
  • Image may contain Text
    Anonymous
    05

    04-Circles-0041A-pg94.jpg

    This 13th century infographic is called the Wheel of Moral Struggle. Its anonymous designer used a wheel to illustrate different moral principles.
  • Image may contain Diagram Plan Plot Clock Tower Building Tower and Architecture
    David Rumsey Map Collection
    06

    10-Circles-0072A-pg151.jpg

    This infographic, which shows the causes of death in 1903, is a radar chart, which is used to polot a series of values on three or more axis.
  • Image may contain Diagram Plan Plot and Rug
    Thomas Clever
    07

    11-Circles-0052A-pg159.jpg

    This chart compares weather data from the Dutch Meteorological Institute with posts on social media to see if there's any overlap between the two. As Lima writes: "The visualization shows a ring of 365 days, on top of which are superimposed graphs of weather elements such as sunshine or rain. The size of gray bubbles indicates the quantity of social media messages about the weather, and their placement on the line of the day indicates the average sentiment on a scale of one to ten."
  • Image may contain Art Painting Building and Architecture
    Boston Public Library
    08

    18-Circles-pg220.jpg

    This infographic from the Boston and Maine Railroad shows the view from the summit of Mt. Washington.
  • Image may contain Analog Clock Clock Arachnid Animal Invertebrate and Spider
    Houghton Library, Harvard University
    09

    20-Circles-0052A-pg240.jpg

    Another illustration from Oronce Finé, which shows a detailed compass.
  • Image may contain Ornament Pattern Fractal Sunglasses Accessories and Accessory
    Cristian Ilies Vasile
    10

    20-Circles-0062A-pg241.jpg

    Finé's compass illustration uses the same motif as Cristian Ilies Vasile's computer-drawn visualization of Pi's digits.
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