happy vintage: marie neurath

Meet the inspiring graphic designer who transformed science books for children forever: Marie Neurath.

Working alongside her husband Otto Neurath in the 20th century, Marie developed a visual language for illustrating complex scientific concepts in simple and beautiful ways, making them interesting for children and grown-ups alike. They called this visual language ‘Isotope’.

Our favourite Marie Neurath title is “If you could see inside”, published in 1948 as part of the “Wonders of the Modern World” series. The book allows you to look inside everything from lighthouses to eggs and wonder at the curiosities that lurk within.

Many of the illustration techniques developed by Marie Neurath are used to date, such as her use of a ‘magic knife’ to visually ‘cut’ different objects and study them through cross sections. 

Discover Marie Neurath’s work here.

Something for the kids!

How about getting them to draw your house/flat using the same technique of 'magic knife'. What would we see? Email their artwork to anorakmagazine@gmail.com.