We are thrilled to announce that WW Norton’s The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History’s 100 Worst Atrocities, now on shelves, features a full back-cover illustration by Kiss Me I’m Polish. Written by historian, statistician, and self-described atrocitologist Michael White, the book is an unconventional account of world history. A sort of greatest hits of death – the writing is droll, thoughtful, straightforward, and ultimately sympathetic to those who died.
Taking that into account, KMIP was asked to take some of the pertinent facts in the book and bring them to life in a bright, dense, and humorous information graphic. With the help of some cheerful colors and a healthy dose of skulls, our final design moved beyond the standard pie and bar chart to chronicle stats such as, annual deaths by violence and oppression over the past 200 years, deaths by overall violence (315,000,000 from war!), and the ultimate fate of perpetrators (among them – suicide, assassination, peaceful retirement, and death by natural causes).
The cherry on top? The folks at WW Norton decided to create an animation out of our illustration in this rad promo video for the book!
To find out more about the book, visit the WW Norton website, and check out the book review on the NY Times.