Data Flow

Cover (source)

I recently purchased a couple new books before I head back to school including Data Flow: Visualising Information in Graphic Design, Composing Landscapes: Analysis, Typology, and Experiments for Design, Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop, and Writing for Design Professionals. Reviews for the other books will be coming soon.

"Data Flow presents an abundant range of possibilities in visualising data and information. Today, diagrams are being applied beyond their classical fields of use. In addition to archetypical diagrams such as pie charts and histograms, there are manifold types of diagrams developed for use in distinct cases and
categories. These range from chart-like diagrams such as bar, plot, line diagrams and spider charts, graph-based diagrams including line, matrix, process flow, and molecular diagrams to extremely complex three-dimensional diagrams. The more concrete the variables, the more aesthetically elaborate the graphics sometimes reaching the point of art the more abstract, the simpler the readability. The abundant examples in Data Flow showcase the various methodologies behind information design with solutions concerning complexity, simplification, readability and the (over)production of information. In addition to the examples shown, the book features explanatory text" (Amazon).

At first look through Data Flow is impressive. The complex graphics are inspiring and I hope to emulate some of them in my studio projects this year. Although only a few are even loosely related to landscape architecture the graphic layouts and complexity of organization are what I was looking for when I purchased Data Flow.

The book is organized into six chapters: Datasphere, Datanets, Datascape, Datalogy, Datanoid, and Datablocks.

six chapters (source)

Datapshere focuses on circular infographics. One of the more interesting projects in Datasphere is titled: The Shape of Globalization. The project illustrates the interdependency of different components in the global auto industry.

(source)

The second chapter, Datanets, uses graphics to show cause, context, or collaboration in a network. I was fascinated by the been there graphic by CATALOGTREE. The graphic shows how certain basketball coaches travel across the country in search of talent. The graphic originally appeared in ESPN The Magazine. I like the how the graphic is easy to read while still showing complex relationships. 

Been There (source)

The third chapter deals with the most common infographics used in landscape architecture, datascapes. "Switching between topography and topology, the spatial arrangement of data at once imposes flow, direction, context, and order" (data flow pg. 98). 

There were several projects that caught my interest from this chapter. Atlas of the North Sea project by LUST is a collection of graphics that reveal a variety of information about the region. The most interesting piece of the collection plotted commercial traffic for twenty-four hours. No geographic indicators are given but the landmass of Great Britian is evident as the country's outline is delineated by ports. 

I also found the Globalize me! graphics by Jung+Wenig really impressive. I like how the various graphs and charts are organized around the central map. The monochromatic color scheme and hatching pattern also work well for these graphics. 

Globalize me! (source)

The work of Salottobuono titled Instructions and Manuals also caught my eye. Another monochromatic presentation except they used the primary color as the background. I really like the organization of this project and how each drawing is complements the total composition. I definitely would like to emulate the graphic techniques Salottobuono used when I get back to school. The use of white really makes the objects jump of the page. 

Instructions and Manuals (source)

Datanoid is the forth chapter of Dataflow and deals with human form. Some of these projects appeared more to be more art installations than infographics. The projects in this chapter are quirky and fun.

Datalogy follows Datanoid and deals with data providing weight, space, texture and sensual experiences.  Many of the graphics in this chapter use photographs. I am more interested in minimal graphic techniques but I can still see the value in these projects. I enjoyed the project England vs. Poland, 12th October 2005. It tracks the movement of the soccer ball during the game revealing how the ball covered the entire field. 

England vs. Poland, 12th October 2005 (source)

The final chapter of Dataflow is datablocks and deals with the straight-forward comparability of data when using block graphics. The project Universal Growth & Decline by Abi Huynh shows growth and decline using the same number of blocks in each row of the graphic but to show the differences in growth and decline Abi Huynh spaced the blocks differently. 

Universal Growth & Decline (source)

I am really enjoying Dataflow and think it will help my graphic presentations improve this semester. Although it is not a how to book, the incredible precedents in Dataflow give me things to strive to emulate. I definitely recommend the book to anyone looking to improve their diagrams and infographics it really helps to get inspired. While researching the designers mentioned in this post I discovered other really great projects which I hope to find time to write about soon.