About
The origin of Isotype
Named after a 100-year-old idea
In the 1920s, Austrian philosopher Otto Neurath created ISOTYPE (International System of Typographic Picture Education) — a visual language for communicating complex information through simple pictograms.
His insight was profound: complex ideas don't require complex presentation. The goal is maximum signal, minimum noise. Information-dense visuals that communicate at a glance.
We're applying the same philosophy to a new medium. Instead of hand-drawn pictograms, we use React components. Instead of print, we use the web. But the core principle remains: distill complex information into glanceable visual units.
The personal web died. We want it back.
Remember Geocities? LiveJournal? Personal homepages? The early web was a collection of personal spaces — each uniquely crafted, each owned by its creator.
Then social media happened. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram offered an easier alternative: just type and post. The trade-off seemed worth it. But we gave up ownership, creativity, and control.
Now we're in the era of algorithmic enshittification. Platforms optimize for engagement, not expression. Your content looks like everyone else's. You're renting audience from companies that can change the rules anytime.
The technology finally caught up
Personal websites died because they were too hard to create and maintain. Social media won because it was easy.
But four technologies have converged to change this:
- React — Component-based UI that's composable by design
- shadcn/ui mindset — Copy-paste components, not heavyweight packages
- AI that writes React — Claude and GPT-4 generate components from natural language
- File-based architecture — Content as code, git-versioned, no database required
This convergence makes something new possible: personal websites as easy as social media posts.
Two principles
Compression
Every isotype must earn its existence by conveying maximum meaning in minimum space. Not minimalism for aesthetics — efficiency for communication.
Composability
Content has never been truly composable before. Blog posts are monolithic. Social posts are isolated. Isotypes compose like software components.
Anti-slop
The modern creator economy optimizes for quantity. Post daily. Chase the algorithm. Burnout is built in.
Isotype optimizes for quality that compounds. Create one great isotype that you refine over time. Reuse it in multiple stories. Watch it get better as you learn more.
You're not feeding an algorithm. You're building a library.
"Content is code. Components are content. Living content that improves over time, composes into larger narratives, and belongs to you."
Ready to create?
Join creators building visual content that compounds.