Book Review: Book From the Ground—From Point to Point

Strictly speaking, Book From the Ground: From Point to Point (BFG) is unrelated to research communication. Loosey-goosey speaking, I learned about it in a work-related book (Joyful Infographics by Nigel Holmes) and I love icons, so [shrug], here we are.

Book From the Ground was written by Xu Bing, an internationally recognized artist and former MacArthur fellow who originally trained in printmaking. BFG is Xu’s follow-up to Book from the Sky, an illegible manuscript made from 4,000 invented Chinese characters. Ground is Sky’s opposite, intended to be universally legible. BFG takes us through 24 hours in a young office worker’s life using only icons, emojis, and other pictograms.

I was curious but skeptical. Again, I love icons, but could I understand or enjoy them as the bedrock of a novel?

The answer, my friends, is YES.

At its core, BFG is a mostly mundane story. A guy gets up, goes to work, runs some errands, meets up with a few people, goes home. So, what makes it stand out?

The relatability.

(Relatable at least for me, a former 28-year-old single office worker.) You’re a single man and your mom calls, asking when you’re going to stop working yourself to death and start looking for a woman, because 28 years old is practically 30 years old, and 30 years old in ancient. “Ma, a guy’s gotta eat!!”

The funny details.

Your friend emails you. He’s depressed because he and his girlfriend broke up. He’s imagining all sorts of [ahem] things that his girlfriend is doing with another man.

The pride.

Not since I was a 5-year-old reading now-vintage Sesame Street books have I been so proud to have figured out what was printed on the page. Can you figure out what’s going on in the section below?

Deciphering BFG takes some work but I really found it to be worth the effort.

So, that’s it. No business tie-in this time. Just a recommendation for an unusual and fun example of visual communication. 🙂