Graphic Design: Tata&Friends illustrate numbers to make maths a lot more interesting

Unless you’re born a gifted arithmetician, maths tends not to be an awful lot of fun; those most opaque of school-taught subjects – trigonometry, calculus and algebra – all blend into one to create a giant, indelible knot of difficult questions and tricky excuses. This is where Spanish studio Tata&Friends come in. Specialising in art direction, brand identity and editorial work, they’ve illustrated a series of numbers from joined, jumping and moving parts, to make those tricky subjects that little bit easier. They even had the equally great Cuadro Post animate them to create playful, unmissable gifs.

They explain: “Learning maths has always been a pain to us. These numbers represent the new tools for an outdated education system. Complex things can be learned faster if they are taught with stimulating and fun tools.” We believe they’re 100% right. Now hand me that calculator.