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Abstract-o-meter
The abstract-o-meter is a visual concept created by illustrator Christoph Niemann. In graphic design, there is realism and there is abstract. Realism is detail. It is anatomy and wrinkles. Realism carries with it every piece of information that an object contains. Abstract, in contrast, is as little information as possible. It is a representation of the object.

An illustration can be too complex or realistic for communicating a message concisely. On the other hand, it can also be too simple and abstract to understand.

Niemann's abstract-o-meter is depicted using the image of a heart to demonstrate how illustrations need to have this perfect balance, where there is just the right amount of information to be perceived effectively. At one end of the scale, the heart is represented in its simplest possible form: a red pixel. This is not enough realism to recognize it as a heart. However, at the other end of the scale, a much more realistic heart is considered too repulsive to be the symbol of love we know it as. Somewhere in the middle is the classic ‘love heart, symbol which is recognizable to all.

This is discussed in the Netflix documentary series Abstract: The Art of Design.