This visual arrangement of the elements has worked well in the field of science (with some refinement) since the 1870s or so. It's worked so well that the idea has been borrowed and tweaked for other subjects. Here are a number of different takes on the periodic table, especially those closely related to graphic design and desktop publishing:
- A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods
Proposes to visually organize the way data is visually represented. Mouseover each element for more details and a visual to explain each item. Rather interesting and educational. - The Periodic Table of Brand Evolution Terms (Successful brand chemistry)
From A (Advertising) to Vb (Service Brand) it's a kind of interactive glossary of terms related to brand and identity (click on the image to open the interactive table). The terms do appear to be grouped (color grouping) in a meaningful way. - The Periodic Table of Typefaces
Squidspot has attempted to group typefaces by similarity and then rank by popularity. Of course it doesn't cover all typefaces, but for designers and type geeks it makes a nifty wall decoration. - A Periodic Table of Form
Now this is no familiar array of little boxes with letters in them. Rather, it is an attempt to "give order to form's relationship with meaning." Um... yeah. Basically, it's about product design. - Periodic Table of Adobe Shortcuts
Users of Adobe software who love keyboard shortcuts may like these. They are cute, colorful, and potentially useful too. Click the link in the blog to reach all the tables (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator) which you can print as A2 posters. - Periodic Table of Twitter
Not an actual table, this is the Twitter avatar design created by a SXSW Interactive participant. Makes you wonder, how would you distill yourself into a single element? - More: Periodic Table of...
Video Game Controllers | Video Game Characters | Beer Styles
What's missing in these perioidic tables? Perhaps a catchy song?
Visual Metaphor: Does It Work?
Does the Periodic Table of Elements really work as a visual metaphor outside of chemistry? If you want familiarity, it's got that. But is the arrangement the best way to present other forms of complex information?
Stephen Few gives thumbs up to the Periodic Table of Elements when used to organize elements but feels it fails as a useful means of organizing other types of information. The example he breaks down is A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods (first table in the list above).
Caitlin Gannon shares similar thoughts:
"The fact is that mimicking existing paradigms just because they provide a familiar lay-out doesn’t add any insight into what we are looking for... ."
Also in opposition, Punya Mishra laments Yet another periodic table taking aim at the Periodic Table of Typefaces among others:
"The design of a representation needs to emerge from the properties of the data being represented. It bugs me no end when designers (who are really the people who ought to know better) try to shoe-horn their information into a representation that is pre-selected based on its “cuteness” factor."
What's your opinion? Is it gimmicky, useful because it's familiar, or useful because it really works?