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The
New Arts of Persuasion: Contemporary
Media, Communications, and Rhetoric
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Visualizing Information:
Using Graphic Design Principles
to Present Complex Data
Seeing is our standard metaphor for
understanding. ("I see your point," we often say in conversation
when a concept we have been struggling to grasp finally crystallizes in
our mind.) Clarity, insight, illumination, ken,
the
mind's eye are just a few of the figures of speech we use to relate
the sudden comprehension of an abstract or complicated idea to a moment
of vision. (In this respect, note that metaphor itself is essentially a
device for presenting difficult material in more concrete, visualizable
terms--which is why Aristotle considered it a vital tool for effective
verbal communication.)
Today, when the sheer bulk of technical data seems
overwhelming and its degree of complexity head-spinning, the need for ways
of presenting abstract or quantitative information in comparatively easy-to-grasp
visual formats has never been greater. This need is particularly urgent
in innovative and highly technical areas of science and engineering (e.g.,
biomedical research, theories of chaos and complexity, computer science,
higher math and physics) where it is often hard for experts--let alone
novices--to latch onto theoretical concepts and hold them clearly in mind.
Fortunately, at a time when the visual representation
of complex data (via charts, diagrams, graphs, etc.) has become a practical
necessity, the good news is: many effective tools are already available,
and new and exciting improvements are being introduced every day. The bad
news is: these same tools are frequently abused, handled clumsily, or misapplied.
All too often, for example, graphic illustrations are used merely for appearance's
sake--i.e., thrown in like so much specious "eye-candy," "chartjunk," and
window dressing simply to add a look of professionalism and high-tech sophistication
to an otherwise plain document. Even professional communicators, seduced
by the eye-grabbing, razzle-dazzle effects of electronic multimedia,
often end up using graphic elements for show instead of substance. Perversely,
they wind up sacrificing accuracy of information and true functional beauy
to fashion and vanity.
Principles of Visual Data Presentation
The principles of effective information design are
as old as classical rhetoric. Indeed, in the words of Edward Tufte,
the great sage and prophet of visual data presentation, "they are universal--like
mathematics--and are not tied to unique features of a particular language
or culture." In essence, they are the very principles that underlie all
successful communication, namely:
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Clarity
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Emphasis
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Economy
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Order
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Harmony, Balance, Rhythm, and Proportion
Design Techniques and Strategies
No matter what the visual format or medium--from
simple black-and-white schematics, organization charts, and flow diagrams
to richly detailed and colorful electronic maps, graphics, and animated
simulators--optimal communication designs will usually be found to embody
a few tried-and-true design strategies and themes. In Edward Tufte's terms,
these include:
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Micro/Macro compositions: Many of the most successful information
designs exploit basic mechanisms of human perception--such as our ability
to form minute details into larger patterns, discrete data into composite
gestalts. Typical applications of this technique include high-resolution
aerial photographs and axonometric city maps, such as the one (shown below)
of Chicago's downtown and lake shore. (Note: To learn more about
axonometric
maps--from the Greek words for "measurement" and "axis"--and to see further
examples go to http://www.gcmci.com/posters.html
.)
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Hierarchical Tierings and Layerings. A basic principle of organization
and classification--breaking down and ranking large concentrations of data
into smaller classes and sub-clusters--is also a basic principle of information
design. The guiding maxim in this respect is: To reduce confusion and
clutter, highight the important data; de-emphasize or subordinate
everything else.
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Small Multiples. From side-by-side pictures of car models or before
and after photographs to successive maps showing migration patterns, reproductions
of a data display (with variation) have proven to be a very effective way
of demonstrating both diffferences of kind and comparative changes over
time.
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Color. Few design tools are more powerful
or versatile than color. As Tufte points out, colors can be used to
label (via color codes and
keys), to measure (e.g., the
use of hue and saturation to signify degree or intensity), to
represent reality (e.g., using blue, green, and brown on
a terrain map) or simply to add beautyto
a design.
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Space-Time Narratives. Includes basic variations of maps and time-series
such as timetables and route maps.
For further reading on information design, students
are referred to the following outstanding texts by the principle theorist
on the subject, Edward R. Tufte:
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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics
Press, 1983.
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Envisioning Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 1990.
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Visual Explanations. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 1997.
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For further examples and discussion of this topic, click
here.
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For additional commercial and academic sites relating to the visual display
of information, visit http://www.ixacta.com/
and http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigchi/chi95/proceedings/papers/il_bdy.htm
.
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