Maps and Graphs
I came across this link the other day:
Strange Maps Blog
This is something that is right up my alley. Some of these graphics are incredibly thoughtful, informative and beautiful. Some of them are so calculated and forced, they not only show information in a new and interesting way, but they also show how difficult map making and analysis of information can be. Diagramming is the perfect blend of information and aesthetics and very few people can do it well. Mrs. Architecturefootballandfood is particularly versed at diagramming, and she basically did an entire thesis on it at SCI-Arc.
Obviously the most famous information designer, at least I would say, is Edward Tufte.
This guy is truly brilliant. In many ways, he made diagramming cool. Although probably the coolest thing about him is how hard he's worked, virtually by himself, to put himself where he is. He began as a statistics professor at Princeton, and after collecting material for his lectures, he put out his first book, The Visual Displaly of Quantitative Information out of his garage, completely self-funded AND self produced. He's always been a staunch critic of Powerpoint, which I agree with 99% of the time (the one exception ).
But something about this blog's respect for both sides of the quality spectrum is what gives it its charm. I wish I knew of more websites like this - virtually no immediately usable information on it - but nothing that you come across will be boring. It all not only makes you laugh and think, but typically it looks great - or at least so horrible it's great.
Strange Maps Blog
This is something that is right up my alley. Some of these graphics are incredibly thoughtful, informative and beautiful. Some of them are so calculated and forced, they not only show information in a new and interesting way, but they also show how difficult map making and analysis of information can be. Diagramming is the perfect blend of information and aesthetics and very few people can do it well. Mrs. Architecturefootballandfood is particularly versed at diagramming, and she basically did an entire thesis on it at SCI-Arc.
Obviously the most famous information designer, at least I would say, is Edward Tufte.
This guy is truly brilliant. In many ways, he made diagramming cool. Although probably the coolest thing about him is how hard he's worked, virtually by himself, to put himself where he is. He began as a statistics professor at Princeton, and after collecting material for his lectures, he put out his first book, The Visual Displaly of Quantitative Information out of his garage, completely self-funded AND self produced. He's always been a staunch critic of Powerpoint, which I agree with 99% of the time (the one exception ).
But something about this blog's respect for both sides of the quality spectrum is what gives it its charm. I wish I knew of more websites like this - virtually no immediately usable information on it - but nothing that you come across will be boring. It all not only makes you laugh and think, but typically it looks great - or at least so horrible it's great.
Labels: Architecture
posted by darkred at 10:14 PM
1 Comments:
Well written article.
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