A volvelle or wheel chart is a device, typically printed on paper or plastic, that is made up of two or more rotating layers. They’re used for everything from executing calculations and linking questions and answers to displaying marketing information and as a whimsical way to discover content.
I caught sight of a few nice volvelles recently and decided to do a little research and share what I found with you. I hope this does not become a lost art—it’s been around for hundreds of years (here’s one from 1540).
The example below, titled Garrick and Hogarth, or the Artist puzzled, is from The New York Public Library’s Digital Collection. I animated a couple of frame to show you how it would have worked.
More examples…
Example 1: A food-related version from Saveur Magazine…
Example 3: Another food-related version from Saveur Magazine…
Example 4: For a modern day application from printer American Slide Chart…
More of Kirsten Hively’s volvelle collection on Flickr.com…
Ready to try your hand at it, here are two companies the specialize in printing and finishing wheel and slide charts…
As an aside, I thought that this was worth noting: From the United States Copyright Office’s Circular 33 (a 2011 version) regarding, Computing and Measuring Devices:
“Devices and similar articles designed for computing and measuring cannot be copyrighted. Common examples of uncopyrightable computing and measuring works include slide rulers, wheel dials, and perpetual calendar designs.
“Ideas, methods, systems, mathematical principles, formulas, and equations are not copyrightable, and the same is true of devices based on them. Printed material on a device—for example, lines, numbers, symbols, and calibrations, as well as their arrangement—is likewise not copyrightable, because such material is necessarily dictated by an uncopyrightable idea, principle, formula, or standard of measurement.”
“To be copyrightable, a work must contain a certain minimum amount of creative authorship in the form of original literary, artistic, or musical expression. A computing or measuring device as such ordinarily contains no copyrightable expression. It does not communicate facts or ideas but, instead, is a means for arriving at an almost unlimited number of readings or results. To the extent that the contents of a device are predetermined by its function, they lack creative authorship.”
Then, there’s this…
The image at the top of the page is used with permission from Kirsten Hively from, her volvelle collection on Flickr.com.
Posted in SEPTEMBER 2020 / Chuck Green is the principal of Logic Arts, a design and marketing firm, a contributor to numerous magazines and websites, and the author of books published by Random House, Peachpit Press, and Rockport Publishers. All rights reserved. Copyright 2007-2020 Chuck Green/Logic Arts Corporation.
Hi Chuck –
The business of designing and producing volvelles is still going strong.
I am lucky to work in an industry that not only creates interesting products, but actually manufactures them. In the past month we’ve worked on wheel charts for wine and cheese parings, digital photography, pregnancy vitamins and air duct sizing calculators… to name a few.
Thanks for your comments about volvelles/wheel charts and the link to our website.