Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Whether you call these graphics visualization or put them in a category of their
own, there are a lot of things to learn here that apply to traditional visualization.
Why do so many people like these graphics? What is it about these graphics
that resonates with readers and makes them want to share with others? Does
color and readability play a role? How about layout? Some researchers have
tried to answer these questions, but so far, they've only scratched the surface.
DATA AR T
Now enter the right side of the spectrum, where the imagination runs wild,
data and emotion drive together, and creators make for human connection.
It's hard to say what data art is exactly, but the work is often less about deci-
sion making and more about a relationship to the numbers—or rather what
they represent—to experience data, which can feel cold and foreign. Data
art is made of the stuff that analysis and information graphics could often
use more of.
In 2012, with the Olympics in London starting in a few months, artists Quayola
and Memo Akten translated athletic movement, which in itself can be beautiful,
to generative animation in Forms , as shown in Figure 2-24. On a small screen a
video plays of an athlete, such as a gymnast or a diver, floating and spinning
in the air. On a large screen, generated particles, sticks, and poles move along
accordingly. Sound accompanies the movement to make computer-generated
shapes seem more real.
There are no axes, labels, or grids. Instead, it is like real-life activities taking
on different forms. As shown in Figure 2-25, Jason Salavon, a Chicago-based
artist, used MTV's compilation list for the “greatest music videos of all time,”
compressing each video to its average colors. You lose the music, but you get
a sense of theme and flow from the colors in chronological order.
Graphic designer Frederic Brodbeck did similar work in Cinemetrics , which
derived movie data—color, motion, and time—to create a “visual fingerprint”
for each, as shown in Figure 2-26. Each segment represents the color and time
in a part of the movie, and in the animated version, segments move back and
forth according to the amount of movement in the segment.
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