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information aesthetics

form follows data - data visualization & visual communication

An Animated Infographic Annual ReportYesterday

Dan Meyer's infographically translated statistics about the year 2009 shows an original and animated view on the now popular practice of publishing one's life as data. The data contains several dozen statistics about the pop culture he consumed, the people he talked to, the (Belgian...) beer he drank, the places he visited, the vehicles he took to those places, and the amount of sleep he enjoyed each day. These statistics was spread across several thousand cells of a spreadsheet, which were then condensed and animated into the 2.5-minute video clip.

As one commenter smartly puts it, animating one's statistics might become a potential new feature for services like Daytum, Mycrocosm, Nebul.us, EyeBrowse,

Data Fiction: Storytelling with Information GraphicsFebruary 4

The combination of storytelling and information visualization has been long predicted, although still very few examples do exist. On the other hand, some might claim typical information aesthetic visualization is all about tell a compelling story.

Following project takes infographic storytelling one (literal) step further: Sumedicina [janalange.de] is the title of a fictional thriller story about an international virus scandal, and is mainly told through the medium of infographics.

One might not feel completely sure whether this is just an excuse to create a collection of visually impressive infographic representations, or whether the narrative of the story is somehow hidden within the graphs. Answer: the short notes below the graphs at the Flickr collection reveal it is probably a combination of the two.

Huge Interactive Signpost Shows the Direction to Favorite LocationsFebruary 4

This gigantic, interactive signpost sponsored by Nokia Ovi Maps in the form of a dynamically rotating electronic LED screen allows passers-by to send in their favorite location and coordinates via text or email. The giant pointer, hung on a 60ton construction on height of 50m, then automatically rotates to the given direction and displays the submitted description to the world.

Watch the documentary video below.

See also the Nokia Blog [1,2] and FarFar. Via Engadget.

Ward Shelley: Infovis Oil Painting ArtistFebruary 4

Unknown to me before, visual (infovis?) artist Ward Shelley [wardshelley.com] comes as a refreshing surprise.

Shalley's impressive oil paintings and pencil drawings use real information in an attempt to depict the understanding of how things evolve and relate to one another, and how this develops over time. Usual topics range from art or cultural history, such as the arc of an artist's career and its influences, or the effect of particular ideas in an aesthetic or political movement. The paintings are interpreted as being "wide-screen", as all information is available to the interacting eye at every moment.

These works are full of compact information, which takes months to collect and organize. The designs are done with pencil on paper because each piece goes through constant revisions during this time. 3 different versions of the painting are made from same information. Normally the pencil drawing goes through minor changes from version to version, and the painting is entirely different, using different colors and brushwork.

Thnkx Irene.

Information Landscapes in 1994 (MIT Prof Muriel Cooper)February 2

Back in 1994, Muriel Cooper, one of the co-founders of the MIT Media Lab where she taught interactive media design as the head of the Visible Language Workshop, presented her work at the TED5 conference in Monterey, CA.

Her presentation would initiate a new era of data visualization, and it changed the way designers thought of the possibilities of electronic media. (Maybe quite similar to how David Small's dynamic renditions of text changed my way of thinking about 3D visualization). Her work was revolutionary as it pushed typography into the 3 spatial dimensions, and augmented it with dynamics, animation and interactivity. Tragically, it was just after this event that she passed away.

Since many years, David Young has carried around an old VHS tape that demonstrated this work, to show it to students as an example of Muriel's vision and as an inspiration to push creative boundaries (or, as told in the film: "We must reexamine the current stultifying interface standard