SALON

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 1:01 AM UTC

Inventing a genealogy for the digital age

A designer tells the story of his father's life in stunning visual form

By

Topics: Imprint, Design,

Inventing a genealogy for the digital age

I held a man’s life in my hands. It was red and blue with gold foil stamping. I was looking at the life of Gordon Felton, originally Gunter Fajgenbaum, as compiled by his son, information designer Nicholas Felton. For the last six years, Felton has generated the Feltron annual report, a self-portrait of aggregated personal data (which he meticulously collects), such as beers consumed or concerts attended. But last September his father passed away, and shortly afterward, while going through his belongings, Nicholas discovered a database of treasures — artifacts that he has used to design a visual synopsis of his father’s life.

Image courtesy of Nicholas Felton



Image courtesy of Nicholas Felton

The report is a brilliantly innovative piece of genealogy. Page one graphically showcases the 4,348 items Nicholas found and used to construct a 12-page tribute, cataloging Gordon’s life and travels. The book is a timeline that follows from Gordon’s birth in Berlin to his childhood in England and his migration to the West — first to Canada before settling, sort of, in California. Intertwined between these locations are snapshots of Gordon’s DNA — his grade school reports, the postcards, passports and slides he kept, and his libraries of music and books. Every field of information is distilled so cleanly that you discover a rich legacy upon each glance — his best subject was math, he traveled to 1,011 locations, and he purchased seven Volvos.

Image courtesy of Nicholas Felton



Image courtesy of Nicholas Felton



Image courtesy of Nicholas Felton

The homage offers both a macro and micro lens, presenting a long view of Gordon’s life, but also providing the kind of rich, intimate detail that reveals his personality. The center spread, for example, plots a spider web of travel routes so dense that it is not necessary to have the world map behind it to know what you are looking at. The intricate graphic could only be the fingerprint of one individual: he spent the mid-1930s in Nazi Germany, visited Machu Picchu in 1962, rode the trans-Siberian rail in 1968, and vacationed in Honolulu in 1992. There may be just eight photos — all passport portraits — illustrating it, but the richness of Gordon’s life is apparent.

Image courtesy of Nicholas Felton



Image courtesy of Nicholas Felton

I collaborated with Nicholas multiple times when I was the creative director at Metropolis magazine. I never met Gordon. It was great to get to know a little more about both of them.

Read more about Nicholas Felton and his recent collaboration with Facebook.

Copyright F+W Media Inc. 2011.

Salon is proud to feature content from Imprint, the fastest-growing design community on the Web. Brought to you by Print magazine, America’s oldest and most trusted design voice, Imprint features some of the biggest names in the industry covering visual culture from every angle. Imprint advances and expands the design conversation, providing fresh daily content to the community (and now to Salon.com!), sparking conversation, competition, criticism and passion among its members.

More Criswell Lappin.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

Salon is proud to feature content from Imprint, the fastest-growing design community on the web. Brought to you by Print magazine, America's oldest and most trusted design voice, Imprint features some of the biggest names in the industry covering visual culture from every angle. Imprint

advances and expands the design conversation, providing fresh daily content to the community (and now to salon.com!), sparking conversation, competition, criticism, and passion among its members.

Continue Reading

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations