GordonGR02

Information Design ~ Day 2, diving in to data. In our ongoing discovery, we look to find the balance between the information to be communicated and the visual form in which it is laid out.

We may as well start our in depth study with what many consider to be the best statistical graphic ever drawn. The chart was conceived by E.J. Marey in 1861. It is still in its original language – French and tells the historically accurate tale of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812. This epic march included large numbers of troops, vast terrain, horrific frigid temperatures and countless burned out homes and gruesome battles. I wonder how the 422,000 souls of the French troops might view their ordeal boiled down to a single chart. One of the reasons that the chart is so universally respected is that it has no language barrier. While the printed words may be “Greek” to me (sorry) – the graphic techniques used make the information easily discerned. One can almost travel the trail seeing the ever shrinking line of men dwindle as city after city are marched upon. Frigid killer river crossings along with the battles bring sharp, harsh alterations to the line as it continues to thin along its course. Let’s not forget that this army was also fighting Mother Nature. Thanks to the ingenious incorporation of temperature rules, the chart viewer can also “feel” the harsh winter conditions throughout the campaign. In the end, 412,000 souls were lost as only 10,000 troops made it back to the final destination. A heavy load of information to sum up in a chart – this is truly a model to marvel. I must admit that I did miss out on a key bit of information. I totally overlooked the 6,000 troops that broke off early and rejoined the ranks at the end. Now a workable chart designer must take into consideration communicating to the “lowest denominator” and for the French designer that would be me, an American (ha). That being said, I do think the two black lines representing “re-joining” troops are a bit lost under the girth of the beige advancing troop line. A possible option may have included a “dotted line” to aid the viewer in following that “hidden” bit of troop movement. A bold constructive criticism from a student… but I’m just saying! My observation does however dove tail nicely into the TED topic of the day.

Dave McCandless presented his take on data and information graphics in a 2010 TED video. He mentioned that we all demand visualization in our information now – by the sheer fact that we are bombarded with it every day in every media. So I guess that gives me the right to rank on good ‘ole E.J.Marey! In all honesty – his vision and what he communicated in the chart created back in1861 is one for the ages. Fast forward (back) to Dave McCandless and his views on data. He brings a deep consciousness to his style of information design. Why is it that the “word” guys always think it’s so easy to be a designer? I believe he sells himself short on the fact that he is amply gifted in both disciplines…. and he just makes it look easy. Among his cool chart examples, he also threw out a fair amount of interesting insight nuggets. One of my favorites was when he said “turn information into a landscape that you can explore with your eyes”. I will be following this guy.

The reading assignment for the day was equally interesting. Layering and Separation are more like solid rules than concepts. It’s hard for me to not think of all the principles as they relate to all the design challenges across all mediums. Then again, that’s not a bad thing. Focusing on charts and the examples in the reading clearing indicated to me that engineers should stick to engineering. The text also touched on the power of the “line” and the rhythm of focus. Why certain charts work and why they look just plain wrong. Type placement was lightly touched on – a discipline sure to be expanded in the coming days. And finally color was also broached. All these tools will find their proper place in prioritizing the issues involved with solving information design challenges. Looking forward to it…