Downloading the Future...Please Wait: Information Graphics: A Vareity of Perspectives

A philosophical introduction: The Society of the Spectacle, by Guy Debord

The idea of the degradation of human life governed much of Guy Debord's writings in, The Society of the Spectacle. According to Wikipedia, Debord argues that social life can be seen as, "the decline of being into having, and having into merely appearing." Although very dense and challenging material to navigate, Debord offers a unique perspective on modern society, and his notion of 'the spectacle':

"The spectacle, like modern society itself, is at once united and divided. The unity of each is based on violent divisions. But when this contradiction emerges in the spectacle, it is itself contradicted by a reversal of its meaning: the division it presents is unitary, while the unity it presents is divided." (Chapter 3, Sec. 54)

Throughout the text, when Debord uses the word 'spectacle', he is referring to the mass media, our consumer economy or sometimes our advanced systems of government (Wikipedia). Debord wrote, about the notion of the spectacle stemming of our consumer oriented "economy of abundance." He claimed that products of the over-abundant economy dominate the market, or the spectacle.

An example of information graphics in publishing:

In the opening of The Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft, by Anne Friedberg, she declares:

"As we spend more of our time staring into the frames of movies, television, computers, hand-held displays--"windows" full of moving images, text, icons, and 3D graphics--how the world is framed may be as important as what is contained within that frame."

The Vectors Journal Editorial Staff praise Friedberg's expansive survey of visual culture over the past 500 years and suggest that her work offers an opportunity to think deeply about the entangled forces that contribute to the evolution of technologies of vision. Friedberg collaborated with Erik Loyer to develop an interactive counterpart for her book called, "The Virtual World Interactive." Friedberg, with the help of Loyer, constructed enactments of the critical concepts she discusses in her work. One of the central tenants of the book is the paradigm of the "split optic" which she defines as a form of parallel vision that views the past and present simultaneously. The Vectors Journal writes, "The Virtual World Interactive' invites us to think critically about the past in light of present sensibilities, while using the past as a vehicle for thinking critically about the present." For instance, at one point, a user can watch excerpts from I Love Lucy in the frame of a Renaissance era stained glass window. And that is only one example of Friedberg's eclectic range of sources and ideas. The Vectors Journal concludes that this kind of constantly-shifting and expanding design technique is arguably the most powerful development of digital publishing.

Big ideas about a small design feature: The dashed line in all its glory

Timo (2006) published his ideas about "The dash line in use" to Touch, a research project that investigates specific technologies, namely the technology that enables connections between mobile phones and physical things. Timo expresses his affinity for the dashed line in information graphics and design. He claims there is no tool more effective to illustrate borders or seams. Although it emerged from the designer's shorthand and from the limitations of printing techniques, the dashed line has "a simple visual magic, the ability to express something three- or four-dimensional in two dimensions." The interactive article incorporates examples from over fifty years of information design history. Timo references the dashed line as a hidden geometry, as an expectation, as border or seams, and as used in instructional design. Colin Ware (1999, as cited in Timo, 2006) defined the dashed, dotted or wavy lines as linking lines. He said that linking lines between things indicate a relationship between them. Adjusting the waviness or colors of the line can represent an attribute or type of relationship. The dash line can be seen as movement, indicating temporal positions of things. Similarly, it can be used to represent the path itself (Timo, 2006).

Information graphics in daily life: A personal reflection

Have graphics and design become more important than simple text itself? The internet itself is one large information graphic. Its one giant graphic design project, an infinite work-in-progress of visualization. We are not simply reading black text on white HTML pages. We are digesting the design of the information as well as the presented ideas themselves. Its all about the presentation.

We are visualizing the information through its design; we do not just read words, we have design-literate as well. In a single skim of a website we see the font, text size, headline, spacing, icons, photographs, and captions. Without it? We would blow it off and move onto the next page. We subconsciously search for information with sophistication. Website credibility is held to a high design standard. In fact, we have become so info-graphic savvy that we respond to icons instantly. We read icons and graphics as if they are words. The iPhone home screen is a platform of icons. We have ascribed names, words and meaning to each app (and thus, icon) downloaded from the Apple AppStore.

What would the Iphone home screen be like if it used words instead of icons or graphics? It wouldn't be half as sleek and appealing. The lack of text adds a level of sophistication to the device. Below is an example of how chaotic my Iphone home screens would appear if they used words rather than information graphics. (Create your own word cloud here!)

Through its use of information graphics, we feel tech savvy by simply using it, navigating the home screen pages and knowing how each icon operates. And that fact that we can personalize these screens to our satisfaction makes us information graphic snobs. And that's not a bad thing. In fact, its respectable.

Click Here for Image Source

That everyone can identify what all of those icons mean? We like that. But no denying that the information graphics/icons that make up the commands of the internet and social media application or website exist because of fundamental words and language. The icon cannot exist without words that give it meaning, otherwise it would just be a "graphic" rather than a graphic with information.

Designing relevant information graphics for future projects:
Marti Trewe contributed an article on the matter to the AGBeat blog, a site centering on business intelligence content. Trewe reviews and summarizes Piktochart and 16 other do-it-yourself information graphic generators online for the busy business professional. Its a fascinating article documenting why some infographics dazzle the audience and others just flop. Check out the list here and consider them for future presentations in the academic or business world: