In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz collaborated on Isotype (International System of Typographic Picture Education).  Isotype is a system of pictograms meant to communicate information concerning the economy, politics, and society by using simple images.  Many of the 4,000 signs designed by Arntz can be seen at the Gerd Arntz Web Archive.  The above image is from the beautiful Atlas of Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft (Atlas of Society and Economy), which someone has scanned and put online as a pdf. Click “Read More” for more images and text.  

In early 2008, Alicia Cheng and Adriana Lins de Albuquerque collaborated on a stunning, Isotype-inspired chart on the type and location of the 2,592 fatal attacks on American and coalition troops in 2007.

Click on image for a larger, legible version on the NY Times website.

Thanks to John Krygier at Making Maps: DIY Cartography for posting on this.