A visual atlas of the entire Internet

"The Digital Revolution and information era have radically changed every aspect of our lives, and continue to shape our social structure. Within that spectrum, the internet stands out as a unique phenomenon which captures our hearts and minds. We use it as an extension of ourselves, granting it access into our most inner circles in the process."

This is the thought process of Dafna Aizenberg, the creator behind a modern-day atlas that displays the Internet with all of its geographical and social implications.

The Israeli designer has developed the Atlas of the World Wide Web, a 120-page visual guide to how the Internet has blurred both physical and social borders worldwide. The atlas contains information on IP address growth, e-commerce trends, web search interests, cybercrime and usage growth in different countries among many other subjects.

However, the information is not laid down in a text or graph basis -- instead, the design is clear and clean. Talking to Wired, Aizenberg said:

"Inspired from generative design, I used basic shapes that change according to the data. The challenge was to create a generative system without any computer-generated graphics, as I wanted to have full control over each map. Although the entire atlas needed to keep the same general aesthetics, it was clear that each chapter has to adapt itself to the subject at hand and be unique."

It's interesting to view the atlas to see the "have" and "have not" countries in relation to Internet usage; by using open-source data, the creator charted the progression of IP addresses worldwide -- and how colors are used to show how dense, or non-existent, Internet access is. Africa barely registers, whereas the United States comes up in a deep, red hue.

More of the visualizations can be viewed on Cargo Collective.

Via: Wired

Image credit: Dafna Aizenberg

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com