Warja Honegger-Lavater (1913–2007)

Moving to New York in 1958, she began designing scientific illustrations for the publisher Visuals. It was during this early period in New York that Honegger-Lavater became influenced by American street advertising and began to utilize pictograms as graphic representations of linguistic elements in her work. In 1962 she finished her first book, William Tell, which was published by New York's Museum of Modern Art. This work consisted of a single sheet lithograph, accordion folded, with a legend listing the meanings of the various symbols (e.g., a single blue dot represents William Tell). The story proceeds chronologically as the book unfolds, and told entirely by using the symbols without words. She produced a growing number of similar works throughout the rest of her career. (Wikipedia)