Poptogramas.

Popto What?
Poptogramas are the pop pictograms

Ok, but what is a pictogram?

Do you remember the boy and girl signs that indicate ladies or gentlemen on the restroom door? or the traffic signs that say you can't park on that perfect spot you just found?

There you go! These are pictograms! Universal symbols made to help you if you need, for example, to use the W.C. at the international airport of Istambul, Turkey.

Now try to picture those pictograms a little more friendly and also representing the coolest singers and bands around. Got it? Yes, those are the Poptogramas!

From Audioslave to Dee Lite, from Joy Division to Ozzy Osbourne, author Daniel Motta borrowed the coolest pop and rock artists and used them to create a funny and smart book that works almost like a quiz. You look at the page, guess which artist it is and turn it to find the answer.

Poptogramas would be a Ramones album if the they were to turn one of their albums into a book: quick, clever and easily assimilated. “I felt like drawing those bands would be almost like covering their songs. Since I’m a designer, not a musician Poptogramas was born.”

The idea in this book is to convert some of the most known pop and rock artists into pictograms. The reader finds a poptogram on each page, and then has to guess who the artist is. The name is revealed on the back of the page, which also makes Poptogramas also an entertaining quizz game you can play with your friends. Although it's a book with a strong graphic design content, Poptogramas can please even those who are not familiar with the subject.

The first volume of the Poptogramas series was released in 2005.

After gathering a small but faithful following with the first release, the follow-up Poptogramas Brasilis was released on december 2008. This time the book’s focused on Brazilian musicians, from Os Mutantes to Tim Maia in a response to fans who wanted to see a specially dedicated, national-specific version. Even if you haven’t heard, or know about, most of the bands included in the book, the creativity and ingenuity behind each pictogram make it worth keeping this publication on your coffee table.

Here's how it works: