Art + Design

The Illustrious Omnibus of Superpowers.

I just bought this taxonomic superpowers poster from Brooklyn-based Pop Chart Lab (“…founded in August 2010 by a book editor and a graphic designer who joined forces for one reason: to bring order to a swirling chaos, that is, to render the world as charts”) for Evan. Isn’t it awesome? I had no idea it’s even super-possible to have prehensile hair.

We already have Pop Chart Lab’s Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names poster in our hallway, and I gave my nephew the Evolution of Video Game Controllers poster (which coincidentally uses the same font as my blog header) for Christmas. Yeah, I was the cool aunt for a minute or two, believe me.

These are posters for nerds. Design-loving nerds. Like me. I’m a fan.

It’s hard to appreciate how awesome this stuff is at small sizes, so hop over to Pop Chart Lab to check out some enlargements. The level of detail in the taxonomy charts in particular is pretty amazing.

Pictured above, clockwise from top left:
+ Bill Solo t-shirt (the only thing better than Bill Murray is…Bill Murray)
+ The Splendiferous Array of Culinary Tools poster
+ Periodic Table of Heavy Metals poster
+ A Visual Compendium of Notable Haircuts in Popular Music poster

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30 Comments

  • Reply Miss Alix August 6, 2011 at 12:06 am

    Ahhh the culinary tools. Just love these designs. Now where to hang it…?

    • Chantal August 7, 2011 at 2:27 pm

      Gosh, I am thinking the same thing! Where to hang these…..

  • Reply Elisa @ What the Vita August 6, 2011 at 12:11 am

    These posters are awesome – thanks for sharing! I’m definitely going to get that Culinary Tools poster for our kitchen!

  • Reply Audrie August 6, 2011 at 12:44 am

    I might have to get that Bill Solo tee for my husband’s birthday pressie!!! He LOVES Bill Murray.

    • Anna @ D16 August 6, 2011 at 1:09 am

      Audrie, there are a bunch of Bill tees…and more to come! Maybe he needs a whole new wardrobe 🙂

  • Reply Jill August 6, 2011 at 1:09 am

    ugh, you are reminding me of what a weakness i have for collecting silkscreens. i had to unsubscribe from a few of the poster blogs to stop enabling myself. seen these before, and now i want since they’re made here in brooklyn. must stay strong.

  • Reply Momo August 6, 2011 at 1:42 am

    Absolutely lovesticks, Anna! Have just bought 3 tees for Tim, and that amazing haircuts poster for our new bathroom (when it’s finished)!

  • Reply Leaca August 6, 2011 at 2:43 am

    Both of my sons love t-shirts like this. They are really cute nerds and they tell me that nerds are in these days, “not like the nerds of your time, mom”. I was an 80s girl.

    • Anna @ D16 August 6, 2011 at 7:16 am

      Hah!!! I guess nerds are cooler now than when we were kids. 😉

    • kelly w August 8, 2011 at 12:15 pm

      ‘nerds are in these days, “not like the nerds of your time, mom”’ is probably the best thing I will hear all day. (I’m an 80s girl, too.)

  • Reply Adrienne August 6, 2011 at 6:55 am

    I love Pop Chart Lab! A friend of mine bought me the culinary tools poster for my birthday last year when I was in the thick of culinary school. It hangs proudly in my kitchen and makes me chuckle all the time.

  • Reply Tina August 6, 2011 at 7:10 am

    I am a huge fan of Pop Chart Lab and have wanted to purchase a poster for a long time. (One of those deals that pops up then you forget)
    Would love to see the process of creating a chart. The thought already sent my anxiety through my head.

    • Anna @ D16 August 6, 2011 at 7:18 am

      I know!! I’d be in a constant state of panic that I’d leave something out and another bigger nerd would come along and point it out and mock me.

  • Reply Rachel August 6, 2011 at 8:19 am

    This is brilliant! My husband would love it too (plus the Breuckelen one).

  • Reply Holyoke Home August 6, 2011 at 9:10 am

    Okay – setting aside the amazing *content*, the designs are pure genius. I hope they are making a million dollars. Just LOOK at the font in the one you bought. Amaze balls.

    • Anna @ D16 August 6, 2011 at 9:44 am

      The font in the Super Powers poster, Umbra, was actually designed in 1935 by R. Hunter Middleton.
      http://www.youworkforthem.com/product.php?sku=T1160

      I’m noting that not to diminish the design of the posters (which is indeed great!), but just to clarify the origins of the type you mentioned.

  • Reply Nina August 6, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    Thank you so much for the link! The posters are absolutely fantastic and I’m already working on getting the superpower one sent for my husband, who used to love comics as a kid – and in fact still does. Actually I’d love all of them but the flat is small.

  • Reply jen b August 6, 2011 at 2:28 pm

    Anna,

    Weird, I was just on the site yesterday. I have the rap poster, and will be buying the periodic table soon for my husband. You are a fountain of knowledge!

  • Reply DEBORAH MATALON August 6, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    This is just what I need it!!!

    super power ans kitchen tools.

  • Reply Sherry August 6, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Ah I remember checking out the site when you posted about the Taxonomy of Rap Names poster and wanting to buy one… but I procrastinated and out of sight, out of mind. Thanks for reminding me.

    In another note I couldn’t stop laughing at the migratory patterns of fresh princes poster. I used to watch that show all the time when I was younger and when I started dating the boyfriend (it had been long since off the air) I would put on his old baseball cap from youth (sideways ofcoarse) and sing him the theme song. I know I’m a loser! I still remember all the words.

  • Reply Dan @ Manhattan Nest August 6, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    Yay Pop Chart Lab! I bought the Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names poster for Chandler and she LOVES IT. They’re really nice quality and so reasonably priced, too.

  • Reply Mamma Biscuit August 6, 2011 at 7:42 pm

    I might have to buy the Haircuts poster for my dad to put up at the barber shop….It’s amazing and very extensive!!

  • Reply Journeyland August 6, 2011 at 10:31 pm

    I ordered exactly the same poster a little over a week ago. My husband is a massive comic book fan and I was so excited to find something that appealed to both our tastes. It should arrive any day now…

  • Reply Sophia August 7, 2011 at 5:47 am

    The culinary tools poster might be exactly what I was looking for our little kitchen space, I just hope that all those other priorities don’t suck up my urge…

  • Reply julia wheeler August 8, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    the periodic table of heavy metals… in the shape of Dio horns!! that is just beyond amazing!

  • Reply chrispito August 9, 2011 at 12:07 am

    ok is it just me, or does the ‘culinary tools’ circle in the middle look like it’s pulsing as you scroll down?? (and no, i am NOT high, lol)

    • Anna @ D16 August 9, 2011 at 7:37 am

      HAHAHA, no, it’s not just you! That’s what happens when you look at dense shapes like that with spaces that are smaller than a pixel—when you scroll down, you’re actually “losing” part of the image as you cross a pixel. Then it’s back! Then you disappears again…etc.

    • chrispito August 11, 2011 at 2:27 am

      ok, thanks! tee hee!

  • Reply megan August 9, 2011 at 1:38 am

    I have the superpower poster in my house and got my brewer brother the beer one. I love all the details in their work. It’s like art and hours of entertainment all in one.

  • Reply Jen August 16, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    i LOVE the Compendium of Haircut in Popular Music. I recommended it to a friend for her hairstylist boyfriend. Awesome.

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