Interactive Data Visualization
What I have in mind is portraying the voluminous writings of the most prolific storytellers of the past thousand years (those who wrote the most words and largest works). This can include Shakespeare, Dante, Charles Dickens, J.R.R Tolkein, etc. It will have a simple scope of information but be dynamic in presentation. Books will stack up in proportion to how many words they wrote on click, with line drawings of the authors sweeping in from the side to complement them. It will also have the number of books, and their most well-known works.
An alternate idea that may be a bit simpler is displaying the decreasing value of the dollar since 1913, when the Fed was first instituted in the United States, as compared to hard money such as silver nickels, for common household groceries and items, gas and other utilities. It would also display the amount of bills that have been printed, if possible, when the dollar was officially detached from the gold standard, and currency exchange rates over time. Dollars would stack up on click for each increment of time in proportion to silver nickels, or the household goods.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Unit 5 Reading
In chapter 6, Cairo explores the hierarchy of human perceptions, and what types of perceptual distinctions make the most difference in cognitive awareness of surroundings and visual calculation. This has great implications for infographics: differences in lightness and color make more of a distinctual impression than differences in shape, for instance. The former create more of an instinctual, automatic sense of distinction ("preattentively"), before focus and reason begin to come into the equation.
Our visual brains have evolved to recognize patterns as a means of survival. Elements such as differentiation in size, orientation, or color and shade that stick out from the environment consequently are perceived as striking and noteworthy. We also tend to aggregate similar elements together into groups (as per Gestalt theory), which enables us to differentiate separately moving entities in our environment. Proximity is another factor that informs our sense of grouping and pattern recognition, which becomes very important in visual hierarchy. Both similarity and proximity can be combined to overlay two different dimensions to a visual graphic to communicate more dynamic information (as in separate sets of bars in a bar chart being grouped together, with each group having one of each symbolic color). Closure is yet another important element (either borders or areas differentiated by different background colors/shades, etc).
The Cleveland-McGill study (conducted for AT&T Bell Labs) ranks the elements of visual design in this order, from that which lends to the most accurate perceptions to the least:
But one of the most important takeaways of this whole chapter, in my opinion, is the difference between creating graphics to represent technical data points vs. visual representations of relationships and comparisons. This can create a huge difference in representation and bring to the forefront dynamic, complex relationships that would otherwise likely not be seen.
Our visual brains have evolved to recognize patterns as a means of survival. Elements such as differentiation in size, orientation, or color and shade that stick out from the environment consequently are perceived as striking and noteworthy. We also tend to aggregate similar elements together into groups (as per Gestalt theory), which enables us to differentiate separately moving entities in our environment. Proximity is another factor that informs our sense of grouping and pattern recognition, which becomes very important in visual hierarchy. Both similarity and proximity can be combined to overlay two different dimensions to a visual graphic to communicate more dynamic information (as in separate sets of bars in a bar chart being grouped together, with each group having one of each symbolic color). Closure is yet another important element (either borders or areas differentiated by different background colors/shades, etc).
The Cleveland-McGill study (conducted for AT&T Bell Labs) ranks the elements of visual design in this order, from that which lends to the most accurate perceptions to the least:
- Position along a common scale
- Position along nonaligned scales
- Length/Direction/Angle
- Area
- Volume/Curvature
- Shading/Color saturation
But one of the most important takeaways of this whole chapter, in my opinion, is the difference between creating graphics to represent technical data points vs. visual representations of relationships and comparisons. This can create a huge difference in representation and bring to the forefront dynamic, complex relationships that would otherwise likely not be seen.
Unit 4 Reading
Chapter four of Cairo's book delves into the subject of beauty versus function, and design serving information. His point is that decoration or graphic style can crowd out or distract from the information intending to be displayed. This is somewhat of a rehash of some of the topic covered in chapter three, but in more depth.
Design in an infographic is best used as a way to express the information organized together to communicate the knowledge that is intended to be communicated to the reader. As such, it should be guided by the information content rather than vice versa, or rather than sacrificing some of the communication of that information for the sake of merely creating eye-catching elements.
After all, infographics, contrary to a popular misconception, aren't meant to simplify information, but rather to clarify and highlight information. As has been previously discussed, this is a great aid to the human brain beyond mere tables or other information hierarchies that require more memorization in order to gain the appropriate knowledge. In structuring design to serve information, one is simply making all that information more immediately apparent and striking.
But it is usually assumed that the reader is going to be too dense to really grasp the full knowledge intending to be conveyed. But this should really only be judged via the contextual interests of the demographics on the receiving end of the infographic, and it should only drive the designer to make the information that much more apparent and immediate, while not sacrificing necessary complexity.
Cairo goes step by step through his own conceptual guidance tool to more fully explain specific ways in which typical infographics can be given more complexity. The examples he gives involve weighing a little more in favor of multidimensionality and density (vs. unidimensionality and lightness, respectively), functionality and abstraction (vs. decoration and figuration), and originality and novelty (vs. familiarity and redundancy).
Finally, the designer should never forget the emotional factor. The best infographics stunningly display the informational content in such a way that they capture the reader's imagination and give a "boom" effect. This is the proper substitution for the overly decorated technique that one might be inclined to employ. It requires much more thought and practiced design, all in the service of the informational content.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Unit 3 Reading
This chapter of The Functional Art, "The Beauty Paradox: Art and Communication," is packed with information and analyses of concepts related to the particular subject of how information is dressed up in infographics.
He begins with analyzing a rather dense, complex infographic of his that stirred up some controversy in a review at his workplace regarding its intricacy, with criticisms insisting that it would be too impenetrable for people. But Cairo insists that we shouldn't condescend to people too much - while taking into account one's audience, one should not assume that they have the understanding of children.
In response, though, he goes into his personal metric for how he analyzes where infographics are on the scale between various forms of complexity and simplicity. There are all kinds of different sets of poles to determine this that take several pages to explain, and they are all very interesting. But, his conclusion is that different contexts call for different methods.
The second half of the chapter dives into Tufte's criticism of "chartjunk," which is basically unnecessary decoration in graphs and charts. But Tufte goes all the way to turning bars into lines in bar graphs, and minimalizing to the point of complete abstract simplicity. This may be helpful for his way of compiling dense information, but it is not necessarily the only way to go, Cario argues. He then mentions studies which suggest that there may not be a significant difference between the two ways of displaying information, and that in fact it's possible that employing more fun artistry or decoration may help retain memory of the data in the mind of the reader.
Of course, one can go too far in the other direction and decorate to the extent of distorting perception of the data. But a medium balance was pioneered by Otto Neurath, who emphasized incorporating enough of an element of entertainment to encourage people to read something that educates them in the process. His process was one of simplifying graphics and humanizing them at the same time. In summary, there are many ways to approach visualizing information, and they should be explored in-depth.
He begins with analyzing a rather dense, complex infographic of his that stirred up some controversy in a review at his workplace regarding its intricacy, with criticisms insisting that it would be too impenetrable for people. But Cairo insists that we shouldn't condescend to people too much - while taking into account one's audience, one should not assume that they have the understanding of children.
In response, though, he goes into his personal metric for how he analyzes where infographics are on the scale between various forms of complexity and simplicity. There are all kinds of different sets of poles to determine this that take several pages to explain, and they are all very interesting. But, his conclusion is that different contexts call for different methods.
The second half of the chapter dives into Tufte's criticism of "chartjunk," which is basically unnecessary decoration in graphs and charts. But Tufte goes all the way to turning bars into lines in bar graphs, and minimalizing to the point of complete abstract simplicity. This may be helpful for his way of compiling dense information, but it is not necessarily the only way to go, Cario argues. He then mentions studies which suggest that there may not be a significant difference between the two ways of displaying information, and that in fact it's possible that employing more fun artistry or decoration may help retain memory of the data in the mind of the reader.
Of course, one can go too far in the other direction and decorate to the extent of distorting perception of the data. But a medium balance was pioneered by Otto Neurath, who emphasized incorporating enough of an element of entertainment to encourage people to read something that educates them in the process. His process was one of simplifying graphics and humanizing them at the same time. In summary, there are many ways to approach visualizing information, and they should be explored in-depth.
Unit 2 Reading
In chapter 2 ("Forms and Functions: Visualization as a Technology") of The Functional Art, Cairo analyzes the concept of how function constrains form in infographics visualizations. He relates this to the maxim that "form follows function," first stated by Louis Sullivan in his essay, "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered." Sullivan's argument was that the form of each organism or entity betrays its intrinsic functions.
Cairo shows the difficulty with this by citing evolution and how natural selection weeded out organisms with less advantage in relation to their environment, and showed how the two aspects, form and function, have a much more complicated relationship than that. But while function doesn't entirely dictate form, it does constrain it. He shows this by again citing evolution to explain why it is so hard for us to conceptualize the area of a given shape in contrast to one of its dimensions at a time (as in circles). In this way, the function of attempting to inform the viewer of precise statistics outweighs the pleasing aesthetic of the circle shape.
He also shows how metrics should be illustrated rather than just given in numbers that people have to compare by memory, since our brains are primarily visual. By illustrating more dynamic relationships rather than simply listing data, the impact and conveyance of both knowledge and wisdom can be successfully accomplished.
There are four examples of goals that Cairo gives that an infographic might want to pursue (though it is not exhaustive or necessarily universal, depending):
1) present various data/variables
2) compare examples to each other
3) organize data according to metrics
4) correlations/relationships that are comparable (proportional)
However, while function does constrain form, as noted, it is a bit more complex, and there is no one tried and true way. It's a principle that can take many different forms depending on the demographic of the viewership and the type of information being presented.
Cairo shows the difficulty with this by citing evolution and how natural selection weeded out organisms with less advantage in relation to their environment, and showed how the two aspects, form and function, have a much more complicated relationship than that. But while function doesn't entirely dictate form, it does constrain it. He shows this by again citing evolution to explain why it is so hard for us to conceptualize the area of a given shape in contrast to one of its dimensions at a time (as in circles). In this way, the function of attempting to inform the viewer of precise statistics outweighs the pleasing aesthetic of the circle shape.
He also shows how metrics should be illustrated rather than just given in numbers that people have to compare by memory, since our brains are primarily visual. By illustrating more dynamic relationships rather than simply listing data, the impact and conveyance of both knowledge and wisdom can be successfully accomplished.
There are four examples of goals that Cairo gives that an infographic might want to pursue (though it is not exhaustive or necessarily universal, depending):
1) present various data/variables
2) compare examples to each other
3) organize data according to metrics
4) correlations/relationships that are comparable (proportional)
However, while function does constrain form, as noted, it is a bit more complex, and there is no one tried and true way. It's a principle that can take many different forms depending on the demographic of the viewership and the type of information being presented.
P2 Project Statement - Gun Control
2nd Amendment Advocacy is a news outlet that seeks to defend the right to private ownership of firearms as originally defined and established by the U.S. Constitution by providing scholarly studies of the relevant amendment and ratifying committees as well as statistics and demographics and current events. We seek to report in a nonpartisan and factually-centered way, and while we do believe that the philosophy of private arms ownership does bear itself out to be the most beneficial policy, we also believe that the facts should speak for themselves.
We are commissioning an infographic showing the statistics of reported use of firearm defense annually, as well as the rates of violent escalation and damage in areas of greater control vs less, before and after laws were passed in the former.
Here are some resources to get started with:
http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp
http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/offenses/violent_crime/index.html
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=161637
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead#
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/
http://reason.com/blog/2013/01/24/making-sense-of-mass-shooting-statistics
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/12/gun-rhetoric-vs-gun-facts/
http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/offenses/violent_crime/index.html
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=161637
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead#
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/
http://reason.com/blog/2013/01/24/making-sense-of-mass-shooting-statistics
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/12/gun-rhetoric-vs-gun-facts/
Unit 1 Reading
In chapter one of The Functional Art (titled "Why Visualize: From Information to Wisdom"), Albert Cairo goes into the hierarchies of communication from beginning to end. The basic well-known format for this is as follows:
DIKW = Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom
Where, data is the raw pool of representational facts that are collected from the environment or a resource/study without any expressive presentation or relation to the viewer. It is simply the collection of findings gleaned from a source that is not dictating how the facts should be arranged.
The information stage is where this data is arranged into understandable ways that have a more familiar relationship with the audience and can help impart some kind of insight into the material.
This leads to the next step, knowledge. When the reader/audience grasps this information, they apprehend the facts and ascertain what is going on, the relationships and patterns involved, based upon the way that the data has been structured in the second step.
But this is not enough in and of itself. Hopefully the material, if arranged well, will impart a deep enough level of understanding or applicable insight to the mind of the person on the receiving end that it is absorbed in the sense that it begins to change how they relate to the world or act accordingly. This is not a mere ascertaining of facts, but a deeper comprehension of information.
Infographics are meant to serve this last final end result through all of the aforementioned steps. It does this via visual arrangements and hierarchies established in the medium.
Lastly, Cairo makes the intriguing point that infographics, as a tool of information sharing and display, are a type of technology. There are all kinds of technology, but they all basically share a couple of things in common: they are extensions of ourselves (beyond our physical bodies), and they are means to ends. There are also nested hierarchies of general technology, to types of technology, to different tools that are subdivisions of the various types.
DIKW = Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom
Where, data is the raw pool of representational facts that are collected from the environment or a resource/study without any expressive presentation or relation to the viewer. It is simply the collection of findings gleaned from a source that is not dictating how the facts should be arranged.
The information stage is where this data is arranged into understandable ways that have a more familiar relationship with the audience and can help impart some kind of insight into the material.
This leads to the next step, knowledge. When the reader/audience grasps this information, they apprehend the facts and ascertain what is going on, the relationships and patterns involved, based upon the way that the data has been structured in the second step.
But this is not enough in and of itself. Hopefully the material, if arranged well, will impart a deep enough level of understanding or applicable insight to the mind of the person on the receiving end that it is absorbed in the sense that it begins to change how they relate to the world or act accordingly. This is not a mere ascertaining of facts, but a deeper comprehension of information.
Infographics are meant to serve this last final end result through all of the aforementioned steps. It does this via visual arrangements and hierarchies established in the medium.
Lastly, Cairo makes the intriguing point that infographics, as a tool of information sharing and display, are a type of technology. There are all kinds of technology, but they all basically share a couple of things in common: they are extensions of ourselves (beyond our physical bodies), and they are means to ends. There are also nested hierarchies of general technology, to types of technology, to different tools that are subdivisions of the various types.
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