By Steven Heller and Rick Landers

352 pages, hardcover, $60, published by Princeton Architectural Press, papress.com

It is said that no one wants to see how the sausage is made, but when it comes to the production of infographics, Steven Heller and Rick Landers disagree. They've convinced more than 50 leading infographic designers from around the world to show us the process of creating an infographic, one sketch, false start and breakthrough at a time. Turns out, one of the most essential tools for creating an infographic is the humble pencil. Although this is a book about process, the end products are just as fascinating. The examples selected by Heller and Landers literally jump off the page—more than 700 full-color reproductions feature 3-D infographics in museum exhibit design, pharmaceutical packaging, tableware, sculpture, fashion and media walls. In addition, Infographic Designers' Sketchbooks showcases infographics as posters, how-to manuals, maps and illustrations. Like the infographics collected here, Infographic Designers' Sketchbooks is revelatory. —Sam McMillan