today meets yesterday: yang liu takes us on pictographic journey through the ages

graphic designer yang liu takes viewers on a pictographic journey through the ages. ‘today meets yesterday’ uses illustrative pairings to explore the transformations and challenges of our constantly-evolving world. the publication brings familiar and everyday situations — from facebook to food waste — to light, raising awareness as to who we are, how we’ve changed, and specifically how drastically technology has changed our culture.

all images © yang liu / taschen

the third installment in her pictographic series for taschen, yang liu combines a graphic precision with an acute observation of behavioral patterns. in ‘today meets yesterday’, liu pits past and present side by side to explore these fundamental shifts in society — where breakfast has gone from coffee and a newspaper, to a to-go cup and tablet. topics probed include both historic and present global dangers, human interaction with the environment, and the undeniable impact of technology on our ways of ways of living. cleverly focussing on everything from online shopping to subsidiaries, liu’s outlook blends the details of daily experience with the most important happenings in human history.