Information Design Post 6

Massimo Vignelli’s Subway Map. Found on Flickr.

Vintage Connecticut Map. Found in Coffee shop in Wallingford.

Though I have looked into map design in previous posts, this week I took a closer look into why information design has varied in it’s execution since the beginning. When I was studying at Fuel Coffee in Wallingford this week, I was looking through a bunch of old maps they had on a shelf, when I stumbled upon an extremely illustrative guide map of all the attractions in Connecticut. As an art piece I found it to be extremely interesting and beautiful, yet, as far as info design is concerned, I found it to be a bit busy and complicated to dissect. When quickly browsing through to find which attractions were represented by each illustration, I was easily distracted by the various other pictures. Nevertheless, a sort of child like instinct drew me in to begin with, and it most definitely held my attention. This interest pushed me towards wanting to find the attractions’ descriptions on the chart above it. I thought bringing in Vignelli’s famous subway map, was a considerable contrast to this attraction map. It shows how much infographic maps have varied even when the idea of infographics was fairly new. Vignette’s classic, strict, mathematical, and color-coded design is easy to understand. It creates a quick first read, and allows the information to become much less fussy and more constructive. That being said, there is something about the illustrative approach that adds a sense of interest and liveliness to mapping. Should we place a stronger importance on good, grid-like, swiss design or should interest and illustration play just as important of a role? No matter what, just like long ago, I believe we will continue to see diverse variations in design for years to come.

Information Design Post 5

Found on Pinterest. Designer Unknown.

Found on pinterest (cv.duncanmckean.com)

This infographic about the Titanic shows that time, statistics, and comparisons can be used even when representing a single point in time or an event. Visually, there is a lot of depth in the main focus of the graphic (the ship), which acts not only as a subject, but creates a story throughout the piece. In the bottom right, the chronology of sinking remains depth-like in the use of 3d space on the 2d poster. This depth is extremely useful because of what information it is portraying. However, in other parts of the poster, such as the bottom right, where the ship is being dissected, a flat design plays a bigger role. I contrasted this infographic which is very diverse and broken up against a very straightforward, combined infographic that has much less variety. Though I think there is validity to both of these approaches, I think that they serve different purposes and are therefore use different methods. The infographic on the right which compares education versus employment, does a very good job as still remaining separation and diversity through color, yet collectively allows the audience to quickly glance and find what they are looking for. In the titanic infographic, though the information is interesting to look around, it is more difficult to scan through and find what you are looking for. However, content again comes into play when it comes to this comparison, because in an informational poster about the titanic, one may not be sure what they are looking for in the first place, so it is okay if the poster is a little more fun and broken up.

Information Design Post 4

This week I wanted to contrast two vastly different infographics in order to show how there is not a singular way to effectively display groups of information, and yet how storytelling seems to consistently play a role. In the first infographic shown, the frequency of blood groups in the Singapore donor population is shown in a red “droplet” made of paper. The information has a sort of “key” around the top, which still plays a role in the overall story. It is effective in giving us percentages in this key, and then visually displaying the information in the interesting graphic that gives us a quick-glance idea of what these different percentages look like when compared to one another. The information in this infographic is separated only by color, yet is effective in making the group visual still be distinctive. The coffee infographic on the other hand, which shows the different kinds of coffee served at Starbucks, is much more separated and distinctive in terms of space, yet the colors are consistent and do not play a role in showing the variety in drinks.The color is used to distinguish what is milk, foam, espresso, water, etc., but scale and shape is used to show the difference in each drink. Though this particular poster does have more words and explanation, it could have been just as effective with using a simplistic key to distinguish what each drink has, as the blood type poster uses. Both of these examples, though different in the way they use their “keys” distinguish differences while still showing consistency and togetherness.

Information Design Post 3

Whether it be a map or a set of data, information is harder to present graphically than it looks. Though both of these examples may look a bit boring at first glance, they are carefully thought out in order to make sure that the viewers will be able to obtain the information in the  most successful and efficient way possible. The first photo was taken in downtown Gig Harbor, WA and displays a map intended for the boater audience. Because fisherman or boaters most likely need a chart that can quickly show them what they need to know, the key in the corner makes it so that they can easily find places to fill up on gas, where they can stay overnight, and parks. The icons may not be the most creative or beautiful, yet sometimes when the goal is efficiency, simplicity wins over interest. In the second graphic, I really liked the way they approached the hierarchy. The chart shows what people who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in visual and performing arts go into for their careers post- college. The thicker lines leading to the other half of the circular graph represent a larger portion of people, and the thinner lines suggest a smaller amount. In this case, most people who graduated with an art degree of some sort DID end up going into the “Arts and Entertainment” occupations, and the thinnest lines show us that very little when into the physical science field or into construction. This split graph allows us to easily flow from one side to the next, while still feeling an overall sense of whole-ness. This graphic is successful not only in its it’s visual information execution, but in the overall feeling it gives from its natural and non-harsh shape qualities.

Sources:

Map – Downtown Gig Harbor, made by Bri Communications
College Majors vs. Occupation Groups – Found on fastcodesign.com, made with the U.S. Census Bureau‘s dat, Dikiiy // Shutterstock

Information Design Post 2

Found on Pinterest

Found at Woodenville Winery – Chateau Ste. Michelle

These two examples of information design both have distinct features which make them more life-like than most of the info-graphics on trend at the moment. I have seen some amazing illustrations for information lately that are articulated in well-crafted info-graphic posters, but what caught my eye about these two examples was the use of photography. The first graphic is purely an example, so the information does not require much accuracy, but the bending of the ribbon would need to fit the data depending on what it is representing. It is effective though, because of the ”realness” that the photography aspect gives. It is as if we can feel and touch the difference in height measurements. The visual forms give it movement and hierarchy. The second example, though it consists of less tension, has depth and visual movement throughout, because of it’s use of color and photo complexity. Each little fruit, plant, herb, etc. is photographed inside of the wine glass to show the possible tastes and smells that can be found in wine. It is clever, informational, and visually intriguing. The audience can look at this piece and immediately navigate based on color and recognition of real life objects. It is consistent while still giving variety in color and placement, making the overall poster appear organized, easy to read, and yet completely attention grabbing (I saw it from across the room while wine tasting this weekend). Though the stylistic approach for infographics has been much more illustrative as of lately, I think that photography can make for a composition with depth and relate-ability  that may otherwise be unattainable.

information Design Post 1

Chart showing where the oldest tree’s in the world are located and what their ages are. (Found on Pinterest.)

This is an information card I found at Starbucks for their new Columbia Montebonito coffee.

I was originally drawn to both of these examples of information design because of the way they both successfully executed using interesting, yet easy to read typography and graphics in order to present their information. The tree graphic uses the lines that represent where the trees are located on a map of the world to create a tree-like shape overall. This idea uses revealing graphics to give the piece a clear meaning to reflect the overall information. Instead of merely listing the age and location of the trees, this poster approaches the typical information design layout in a different way. Composing information graphically does not mean that movement, interest, and overall meaning need to be ignored. “The Earth’s Oldest Tress,” is a great example of how to organize information in a thought-provoking and systematized matter. Starbuck’s mini Columbia Monte bonito information card, achieves hierarchy and organized spacing while fitting an explanatory paragraph, growing region on a mini map, tasting note chart, processing, complementary flavors, and even the altitude in which the coffee was grown. The designers for Starbucks used a mini map to indicate where the coffee is grown and circles to indicate how acidic and what kind of body the coffee has. To get this much information on a 2” x 2” card while still succeeding in creating a hierarchical, interesting, and spacious card is difficult to do. Both of these information design examples create a visual map that allows our minds to not work very hard at finding information, while still engaging us in the design.