World Without Words is about something bigger than what is usually known as "information design." It is a voyage through the visual shorthand of modern life: the attempts by designers to condense words and data down to their simplest visual equivalents. Here is a scrapbook of the familiar, the peculiar, the confusing, and the innovative visual language that we as consumers are asked to interpret, such as typical road signs, wash care symbols, Website icons, barcodes and holograms, multinational business logos and brand names, and even US pharmacoepia pictograms. Over 300 full-color illustrations demonstrate how simple images and graphic devices can communicate all kinds of information wordlessly, yet powerfully. Finally, it shows how we are moving toward a world without words, dominated by maps, diagrams, charts, symbols, logos, identity cards, and machine codes.