Kate+D+R02

Since I was not in class for the first day, today was really my introduction to what this course is all about. I am pleasantly surprised that it’s so interesting! Previous class work has led me to an interest in mapping but I’ve never had the chance to fully explore it. I find mapping to be a beautiful art form and not just an informative tool.

The video we watched in class today was interesting too in how it showed graphs that when the content was missing we could make assumptions about what the graph was depicting. Most of the time all the guesses were wrong and the graph was something completely absurd, which correlated to our discussion of graph variables not having any direct meaning to one another and seeking out information to fill in the unknown. The concept that humans are so afraid of what they do not know that they attempt to find some direct correlation between possibly unrelated items is almost comical to me. People will believe anything when it is presented to them in a factual fashion.

Todays reading about separation and layering is important in the relief of noise and therefore in effective communication. The quote “undifferentiated, unlayered surface results, jumbled up, blurry, incoherent, chaotic with unintentional optical art. What we have here is failure to communicate” spoke very clearly about the whole point of having graphs, which is effective communication. Looking at the different examples of maps really showed how proper layering and background tones makes a difference in the ease of understanding a map or graph.

The section in the reading about weight and negative areas was also interesting because it is something we encounter everyday. The use of borders and illusory borders is strategic in effective design and marketing and can be detrimental when over-used. It seems like every advertisement or logo is scattered with outlining boxes and borders in an attempt to stylize the product and ends up over-stimulating. I’m not a graphic designer but as a photographer I am interested in how graphics play in to effective advertising. I now realize how things like text size, font, color and placement can be the difference between an effective graph and an unusable graph.

paula R01

Graphical Excellence

What is graphical excellence? The simplest answer would be the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”. The author actually alludes to this saying when comparing a time-series graph of House of Representatives postage spending before an election and a newspaper article of 700 words discussing the same topic. The goal of data graphics is to represent large amounts of data in a clear, easily understood manner. In a way it is a way of displaying data that corresponds to the right brain or non-verbal capabilities of the human mind.

Mental development also seems to have played a part in the development of graphic representation systems. Geographical maps have a long history going back thousands of years before the present era. It is perhaps easier for the mind to make a physical representation of something that is already physical than it is to represent statistical measurements or the passage of time. Isolated examples of the latter did not occur until the Middle Ages and did not become commonplace until about the time of the Industrial Revolution in the West.

It is interesting to note the gap of 800 years between the planetary movements timeline and the next known example of such time series depictions as indicated in the article. It would seem to indicate that these ideas are the products of exceptional individuals and not the result of a long tradition. This gap may also be accounted for by the restricted dissemination of such materials, perhaps even their suppression by the powers that be, as well as by the limited number of people who would have been educated enough to understand the data presented. Certainly a person would need to combine the talents of both the artist and the scientist to create such graphic representation of data and such persons may have been hard to come by at the time. Is our current emphasis on the sciences to the detriment of art programs perhaps leading to our own dark age in some aspect of our cultural and intellectual development?

While graphic representations have their advantages, they also have their limitations. As with any process, what you get out of it will correspond to the quality of what you put into it so that graphic representations are dependent first and foremost on the quality of the data that is collected or measured. Even with that, however, graphic representations are limited by our ability to see and understand what we see. A data map printed in black and white will be limited by the degrees of gray that we will be able to easily differentiate when creating symbols used in the map. If data ranges are broadened as a result, a symbol representing data in its high range will seem completely different than a symbol representing data in its low range although the values may not be that far apart. Furthermore, our mental processes will attempt to understand visual elements in terms of objects we already know so that lines will appear or patterns will be grouped into circles or rectangles that do not exist in the data. The mind will fill in the visual gaps to suit its predispositions.

The use of more refined categories is not always better either. The graphic example discussed in the article regarding the export of wine from France to several other countries using lines whose thickness represented to amount of wine exported and the direction of the line indicating the countries to which the wine was exported was very clear and easy to understand. However, if more products were added and more countries of export were depicted, the graphic would soon become incomprehensible even if countries and products were color-coded. Determining which method of representation would work with a particular set of data is more of an art than a science.

As Marey’s man in black velvet and Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase illustrate, data collection and representation could serve as a basis for creating artworks. Many of the graphical data representations in the article have an artistic quality in themselves. It would be interesting to explore enhancing the graphic representations as artworks completely divorced from their practical uses as representations of data.

Kate+D+R01

As a newcomer to the art of information graphics I have never put much thought into the history of graphs and maps. Our culture is constantly bombarded with marketing strategies that include brightly colored graphs flashing rapidly supposedly conveying much needed information. That was as much as I knew about graphs. The use of graphs and maps transformed our ability to convey information quickly and effectively without the use of overprinting and made it easier to understand important information. I don’t have much of a background with graphs and my understanding of them is limited so reading this article was a bit difficult for me. I am strictly used to graphs and maps as a fast way to show me information. I am interested in how so many different forms of graphs and maps will depict the same information but some are much easier to understand than others. It is very easy for me to be overwhelmed by the intensity of some graphs and information will get lost but the time series form of graphing stood out to me from this article. We’ve all been introduced to time series graphs at one point and I was surprised to learn about the drawbacks of time series graphing and the information it can convey. When you add in spatial graphics to the time series the graph is given another dimension and able to depict more information. Before reading this article I had no idea that graphs went so far back in history so reading about the complexity of Minard’s graph of Napoleon’s army was eye opening. The fact that six variables were plotted and the graph is still recognizable and understandable is impressive to me. I am looking forward to learning more about information graphics and getting a better grasp their functions.

NicoleS-R01

The chapter on Graphical Excellence by Tufte explains how graphical maps are visual tools through which multiple sets of data or ideas can be conveyed to create new meaning or trains of thought. I particularly noted his quote on how the map’s graphics reveal data and invite the viewer to investigate the data rather than consider the designs execution or technique. It was also interesting to see the direct juxtaposition of the Chinese map and the Cosmographia by Petrus Apianus. The Chinese map appears to have been executed using brush and ink with great detail and minimal noise. The later map has some letterpress and decorative elements; making is seem more inviting and prompting investigation. In Edmond Halley’s 1686 map stroke variation in size and placement is used to portray the historic Trade Winds. The famous dot map of Dr. Snow helped to identify the source of the cholera outbreak in central London, connecting seemingly unrelated events back to its source. The importance of accurate and depth of data is repeated throughout the reading as well, if the data is lacking then the graphics will struggle as well. Charts can act as a means to create relationships between two seemingly unrelated topics such as the Playfair map, which compared wheat prices to mechanical labor. When designing graphs that move through space and time, create consistent graphics in order to maintain the focus on the data variations.

Overall the fact that the majority of these maps were all hand made in their time is astounding. The amount of accuracy created without modern technology reveals the persistence and patience of the creators. One has to wonder from what means they gathered their data and how these maps were shared throughout their land. Initially, I image the ultimate control of these maps being created had to rely on the financing and resources of the reigning leader. It’s not entirely surprising that it took so long for statistics to be added to the geographical maps since the financial gain of such a project must have seen fleeting. The foreign leaders main concern, I would image is mapping out their own territories and the territories of their enemies in order to keep track of the unknown to better prepare themselves. Also, the collection of such data for statistical maps must have been difficult with the expansiveness of the territories and the difficulty with retaining accurate information. As Tufte had beaten with a dead horse, inaccurate information will create uninformative maps which is essentially a waste of time and resources.

Hyrom-S-R02

I have always found the data format of graphs to be an excellent display of information. The describing of detail in forms of lines, numbers, bars etc. glued my eyes to the presentation presented to me. This confirmation of my interest in the descriptive information in front of me was a moment gained through the great execution of concepts and details. Now, how is this made possible? The format of a graph should be clear through clear factors such as description, exploration, tabulation, and decoration. Also a proper graph shows data, boldly inducing the reader to think about the substance of its content and not just its method of presentation. A good graph avoid distortion, present many numbers in small space, make large data sets coherent, encourage the eyes of the viewer to compare different components of data, and reveal data at several detail levels from broad overview to the finest structure. When all these important pieces of information are included in a graph, communication between a viewer and a piece of paper, or digital format, can be practical. With this in mind, after going through the article, I learned that there are several key components of possibility that brings an excellent graph into existence. These formats of designs include: data maps, time-series, space-time narrative designs, and relational graphics. To expand on what I’m trying to explain, I will give a brief descriptive opinionated analysis of each design. First off, the data maps design usually display patterns of high volume of data in small space broken down into very fine detail. These types of designs are very interesting to me because sometimes they can have very visual composition that can keep an eye glued to its presentation. Think of how many times you saw a map, and repeatedly looked at it with points of interest. The next design, time-series, is one most fluent in graphic design. Why is this so? This is made possible because a time-series format have great strength and efficiency of interpretation through the instillation of the regular harmony of the inclusion, if decided, of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, centuries, or millennia. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, time-series is greatly appreciated by viewers because time is an essential that everyone can relate to and have persistent familiarity with everyday. Therefore using this device in a graph is very understandable and easy to observe. After reading the article, I also learned that the design of narrative graphics of space and time is one that’s very effective. It is effective because it enhances the explanation of the power contained in time-series displays. The goal of this type of structure may be to add special dimensions to the design of a graph so that the data are moving over space as well as overtime. This design creates an even greater design opportunity because the presentation of these sources can be visually manipulated. And last but not least, the relational graphics design is a significant one. This is so because not only has it been in rotation for thousands of years, but it replaces the typical latitude-longitude coordinates of a map with more abstract measures not based on geographical explanation. All of these types of designs and the important content of graphs help make life easier through careful organization of presentable data.

RachelHR02

I just realized I did the wrong reading.

I learned a great deal from this reading, much of which is helpful to my field of art education. I just recently finished teaching an 8 week unit at Hartford University School on "Community and Personal Mapping." The unit was integrated with an 8th grade Language Arts class and to satisfy National Standards in Language Arts we included multiple writing components where students were to utilize multiple typefaces. We spent time looking at various typographic styles and we explored several maps from traditional to experimental. The part in this reading that was particularly relatable to the lesson was the 4 diagrams of the Rhein River where text was placed poorly on the first three and most correctly on the last diagram. Before this reading I had never really looked at a map to admire the careful placement of labels and how vital that placement is in terms of reading and understanding the map. A map filled with rivers, roads, and hundreds of other landmarks could get quite confusing if the text is haphazardly placed. At Hartford, the students made blind contour maps of Milwaukee and filled the interior with memorable landmarks using various styles of type; however, I did not even think to teach that the placement of the text is just as important as the font that you choose. Now after reading this article I think I have a lot better understanding and awareness of text placement and proportion, particularly in conjunction with graphics or images. I plan on incorporating aspects of this reading into this unit for my student teaching as it will make it richer and even more multidimensional.

In the teacher samples and bulletin boards I will inevitably produce I now know keys and rules to making the information easier for students to understand by using techniques of layering and separation.

JenniferL_R01

"A silly theory means a silly graphic." I completely agree with this quote from our reading. But I think it's also important to point out: a silly graphic means a ruined theory. If you google infographics, you'll come across plenty of successful and unsuccessful modern infographics. The successful ones draw you in, yet still present the information in a way that is legible, logical, and understandable. Successful infographics act as a guide, helping you see quantities and relationships you may have not been able to imagine on your own. After all, the main point of this reading was to point out that a visualization of data is more valuable and understandable than data on it's own. On the other hand, the unsuccessful infographics seem to be "trying too hard." They seem more concerned with "looking cool" than presenting the information in a way that is helpful. And often times these graphics do succeed at drawing you in with their good looks, but once you try to figure out what you're looking at, you become confused and sidetracked. A boring, old school bar graph might be more successful than a modern, highly attractive, yet highly confusing infographic. I can only conclude from these personal observations that the design and the information of an infographic must work together. Design is important, but legibility and logic are still the foundation of success. I think the modern infographic designer has to remember that in the end, it is more about the information than the aesthetics. With this being said, infographics seem to be ever changing and ever evolving, and there are plenty of good looking, creative, AND successful infographics out there. The challenge is to create great design that will stand out among the competition without sacrificing the data it is supposed to carry. I think Playfair understood this concept long before the boom of modern infographics. If you look at his graph regarding mechanic wages, wheat prices, and British kings and queens, he's presented the information extremely well. He's also used color, shading, and decoration to help maximize the legibility and appeal of the information. It is an early attempt at mixing information and design worth applauding.