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Notes covering: The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization - by Alberto Cairo By: Miguel A Barbosa

of DataVersed.com

Table of Contents
The Functional Art: An Introduction to Information Graphics and Visualization - by Alberto Cairo ............................ 1
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Part 1: Foundations ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Key Themes ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3 Chapter 1. Why Visualize? Information to Wisdom ........................................................................................................................................................4 Chapter 2: Visualization as Technology ...............................................................................................................................................................................5 Chapter 3 The Beauty Paradox Art & Communication ..................................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 4: Presentation vs Exploration ................................................................................................................................................................................8 Part 2: Cognition ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 5: The Eye & The Visual Brain .................................................................................................................................................................................9 Chapter 6. Visualizing for the mind ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 7 Images In The Head ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 8. Creating Information Graphics ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 9. Interactive Graphics & Visualizations ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 Part 4: Profiles (of information visualizers) ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Profile 1: John Grimwade .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Profile 2: Juan Velasco & Fernando Baptista .................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Profile 3: Steve Duenes & Xaquin Gonzalez ...................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Profile 4: Hannah Fairfield ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Profile 5: Jan Schwochow ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Profile 6: Geoff McGhee .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Profile 7: Hans Rosling ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Profile 8. Moritz Stefaner.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Profile 10: Stefanie Posavec .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Part 1: Foundations
Key Themes 1. Seeing precedes understanding 2. Humans are a symbolic species Theme: 1. Understanding mechanisms that brain uses to make meaning = better communication 2. Infographics - tell stories and are designed by communicators 3. Information visualizations help readers discover stories by themselves Infographics -------------------------------------------------------------------------Information Visualizations (Presentation) (Exploration) 4. Graphics, charts, maps arent just tools to be seen but they are to be read and scrutinized. With a goal of first being understandable then beautiful. 5. The relationship between visualization and art is similar to that of journalism and literature.

Chapter 1. Why Visualize? Information to Wisdom 1. First goal of any graphic visualization is to be a tool for your eyes to perceive what lies beyond their reach. 2. What you show is as important as what you hide. 3. DIKW Hierachies a. First you have unstructured information ...ie reality b. Data c. Information d. Knowledge e. Wisdom 4. Your goal as an information architect is to anticipate and generate order before your brain tries to do it. 5. The big picture: what we are exploring falls within information architecture. Information Artchitecture Information Design

Graphics

Visualization

6. Visualization is a technology. Which means it is a means to reach a goal. 7. Brian Arthur talks about 3 forms of technology a. Technology to aid a specific purpose b. Tech as plural = where you have a group of technologies combined to create something new c. Tech where you have devices and practices

Chapter 2: Visualization as Technology Analyzing A Graphic (i.e. when looking at information visualizations) 1. What is the designer trying to get me to do with graphic? a. Narrow goals are better b. This leads to the topic of what goals is/should the graphic accomplish? 2. What shape should my data have a. Function determines form (not really) b. More like form of data determines function c. Truth is its a combination of both d. **Whats important in answering this question is thinking about Ed-Tuftes Principles: i. That you need to translate thinking principles into design principles. ii. Translation you need to understand what a user is likely to do with a tool (from a cognitive point). iii. If you are judging the graphic/visualization then you need to ask if the designer is translating these design principles properly.

Chapter 3 The Beauty Paradox Art & Communication The Visualization Wheel

More Complex (Deeper Analysis)

Graphic (Presentation)

Visualization (Explore)

More Intelligible (Shallower Analysis)

Complex (traits) Abstract Functionality Density Multidimensionality Originality Novelty Think of the traits above as poles. Figurate --- closer the graphic represents reality Abstract --- concept driven Density ---- a large quantity of information Lightness ----a small quantity of information MultiDimensional --- Many layers of depth Unidimensional --- Few Layers of depth Originality ---More difficult to read Familiarity ---Easier to read Novelty ---Explain things once Redundancy ---Explain things several times

More Intelligible (traits) Redundancy Familiarity Unidimensional Lightness Decoration Figuration

Identifying your audience: Complexity is adapted to the make of your reader A normal visualization process:
Data (managed by designer) Adopt form (based on nature of information) Visually Encode Info ( based on anticipating user needs)

Decode Information

User Knowledge

{These Steps Are Handled by The Designer

{These steps handled by user }

The focus on clarifying vs simplifying depends on audience: Think of it as 2 archetypes 1. Those preferring complexity (i.e. dense information lets call them engineers) 2. Those preferring Intelligible (i.e. low density information lets call them designers) Minimalism & Efficiency: 1. A visual design project is good if it communicates a lot with a little 2. We must always ask if the visualization is clear/precise/efficient? a. A great tool to do this is the concept of the Data Ink Ratio: i. Data Ink Ratio = Ink used to represent Data/ Total Ink

Chapter 4: Presentation vs Exploration Remember: Graphics allow designers to communicate and readers to analyze/interpret Presentation vs Exploration depends on how interested people are in the topic. Graphics dont simplify they clarify. This means the goal is to enlighten. Steps to thinking about design: *these are steps you should think about as you design your graphics. 1. 2. 3. 4. Density vs Lightness Multidimensionality vs Unidimensionality Functionality vs Decoration Abstraction vs Figuration

Part 2: Cognition
Chapter 5: The Eye & The Visual Brain Seeing is fast. Reasoning is slow Seeing/perceiving/knowing are different states The goal is always to translate a perceptual principle into a design principle. While remembering that our brain priorities things.

Chapter 6. Visualizing for the mind Lower level perceptions happens in what is called pre-attention. Some interesting findings: 1. The brain loves visual differences. Such as background vs foreground. a. This means the brain is better a detecting shade variation than shape differences. 2. Proximity. Objects that are grouped together are perceived as natural groupings. a. So when designing a graphic put objects related to each other closer together. 3. Similarity. Objects that look identical are automatically grouped together. 4. Connectedness. Objects linked by surfaces are linked together. 5. Continuity. Easier to perceive shapes of an object as a whole when contours are smooth and rounded. 6. Closure. Objects inside an area are perceived as belonging to a group. a. So enclose something if you want to make it part of a group 7. Depth. Light sources and interposition. a. Put something in front of something else makes us feel closer vs further away. Scale for understanding how to encode data

More Accurate Judgements

Examples of things you can do and where they place on scale in terms of judgement making. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Position at scale Position along Scale Length, Direction, Angle Area Volume/Curviture Shading/saturation

Less Accurate Judgements

Chapter 7 Images In The Head High-level Perception Sensory properties are not intrinsic to objects such as plants and animals. Rather they are attributes. Meaning our mind assigns them depending on how they are related to us. Example: How things are vs how things work *Gives example of photo of how to open emergency door in plane. Sometimes a photo can show too much information (much of it is irrelevant). Remember our brain is trying to find what is relevant. Bottom-up Image Processing: Perceiving Image --Retina-Iconic memory--Visual Memory Top Down Image Processing: Memory --Visual Memory The Comparing Brain a. Identify objects by comparing what you see vs what you know and remember. i. Example would be seeing faces in clouds ii. Visual object recognition theory 1. We mentally rotate images until they are more normal a. Step 1. Brain uses nonaccidental properties (junctions/corners) b. Step 2. Uses Components c. Step 3. Configurations based 2. The ideas is that sketches can work better than pictures because sometimes when there is a picture our attention is too distractedfrom what we can recognize. If the goal is to explain how something works then we should use sketches and abstractions The better we understand the shortcuts our mind uses to make sense of the world the better we will be able to anticipate them

Chapter 8. Creating Information Graphics Rough Steps 1. Do a lot of research 2. Organize 3. Summarize 4. Deliver information in a structure and appealing manner Exact Steps 1. Define focus/story to tell 2. Gather information 3. Choose best graphic form 4. Research 5. Think about style 6. Sketch You should not proceed to developing a graphic on the computer before you have outlined the graphic elements and how they relate to each other. Quick Tip: Limit the amounts of color and diff in your graphics and it will help you create a sense of unity in the composition. Stick to 2 or 3 colors/fonts and play w shades Visualize layouts as a set of rectangles

Chapter 9. Interactive Graphics & Visualizations This chapter deals with graphics/visualizations that are more about exploration Essentially talks about interaction design Principles: 1. Visibility More visible functionality easier to create a mental model of what they can obtain from something. a. Shape must suggest what it affords. b. If you want reader to pull/push/spin vertical objects. Design something to suggest they are pushable. 2. Feedback/Reaction For every action a reader should perceive a reaction that indicates operations they are trying to achieve. a. Example would be a button looking like it has been clicked on. 3. Constraints a. Think about what you will offer your readers b. Think about how you will orient their navigation c. Constraints help users avoid confusion 4. Consistency a. Place buttons in same position. Structuring Interactive & Animated Infographics Process: 1. Overview First a. Put the most important figures or relevant points first. 2. Zoom & Filter + Details on Demand a. Let users dig into information to uncover insights Format: 1. Linear Each step depends on understanding the prior one 2. Non linear Navigate information using buttons Techniques For Interaction 1. Scroll and Pan 2. Zoom 3. Open and Close 4. Sort and Rearrange 5. Search and Filter Diff Kinds of Interaction 4 Styles: 1. instruction user tells infographic to do something 2. conversation have dialogue with presentation 3. manipulation allows reader to change structure/appearance to achieve certain goals 4. exploration Overview of things to remember both for graphic presentations and interactive visualizations 1. Do Research 2. Plan 3. Correct 4. Execute 5. Deliver

Part 4: Profiles (of information visualizers)


Profile 1: John Grimwade Include an annotation layer tell people what they can do with data Use pencils and sketches to help draft structure Make sure you facilitate learning: Do the graphics help you understand important matters. Profile 2: Juan Velasco & Fernando Baptista Key Components of a Project Team Photo Editor Copy Editor Art Director Cartographer Researcher Profile 3: Steve Duenes & Xaquin Gonzalez As a team you want a serious group which is capable of high level reporting and has a journalistic impulse Ideal Team: o Good Traditional Reporter o Good Designer o High End CGI Artist & Animator o One or two Excellent Programmers and UI Designers There is a right mix between specialists (cartographers) & generalists (comprehensive graphics guy) Profile 4: Hannah Fairfield Often times Infographic developers are seen as second class citizens on newspaper teams. Profile 5: Jan Schwochow Learn The following o Illustrator o 3d Design o Reporting o After Effects o GIS Always ask when can a story be better told through visuals Sometimes photos and videos can be useful to research a topic before making an infographic Profile 6: Geoff McGhee All Infographic Designers are jack of all trades Learn everything Go deeper into something Focus on multimedia journalism Online graphics are labor intensive because they are database driven

Profile 7: Hans Rosling Motivated to help people have Fact Based WorldViews Micro Data Prices of Houses This data can be put on a server and create an interface This type of data a user knows what to ask of database How we filter data is more important than actual data The key is to think about how we filter data and how do we transform it into information Often Hans uses tricks from other fields to help make information intelligible Example would be using sports broadcasting tricks to talk through data Recommends the following people on a team: 1. Statistician 2. Engineer 3. Designer Profile 8. Moritz Stefaner Study: Cognitive Sciences Interface Design User interface design literature

Work Flow Tips: Focus on early sketches Computer Programming tips D3 Raphael Processing Study Statistics Programming Arts Graphic Design History Visual Language Profile 9: Jan Willem Tulp and Gregor Aisch Recommend studying interaction design Profile 10: Stefanie Posavec Recommended following: John Maeda and Mat Wattenberg

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