Animated Wind Patterns across the U.S.

Hint.fm does a daily map charting the wind patterns across the U.S. 

Take a look!

Avoid Useless Innovation

Here is a great response from Simon Sinek about innovation and technology:

Aesthetic Principles of Design: Quick Tips

Here are list of tips on Aesthetic Principles of design
from the Information design Handbook:

Structure: 

Grid Systems
- Use the Golden Ratio to determine page margins - the ratio of the longer part to the whole should be the same as the ratio of the shorter part to the longer part. The Golden ratio is present in nature, art and architecture, and is therefore immediately familar to the viewer.
- In addition to vertical columns, horizontal flowlines and a baseline grid create a more consistent viewing experience.

Hierarchy
- To continually engage your viewer, explore different ways to create hierarchy. Employ color, spacing, position, or other graphic devices to create that initial focal point.

Legibility:

Color
- When designing in color, dramatic contrasts in hue and value, saturation, and brightness make for the most legible message. This simple rule addresses a great many vision problems, from aging to color blindness. The Americans with Disabilities act (ADA) best practice suggests a 70 percent contrast between an object and its background.
- Physically we all have different numbers of rods and cones in our eyes that may affect color recognition. Psychologically, we know best what we use most, so an audience  of fashion designers or artists may immediately differentiate between subtle color differences like plum, violet and indigo, where a group of bankers will only see purple.
- Avoid Simultaneous contrast color pairings that create a visual vibration when viewed together, and also combine to distort hue.

Contrast
- Do a quick check of value contrast by turning your design to grayscale or printing in grayscale. If graphic elements and Type blend together, adjust the color to create more contrast.
- Pick a single contrast pair and maximize the concept.
- The Hierarchical effects created by contrast lose their value if there is no place for the viewers eye to rest.

Type
- Pairing a serif font with a sans-serif font creates clear typographic contrast. Avoid pairing two different sans serifs or two different serifs, as the average reader doesn't see the difference.
- Serif fonts with extreme thick/thin stroke contrast (Bodini) may be beautiful but can be difficult for some viewers to process because hairline strokes may  blur or disappear.
- To enhance hierarchy, try using two steps of differentiation in your type choices.

Vischeck: Visually Impaired image tester

You can upload images to this website to see how someone with visual impairment may see it. It is great way to test signage and graphics to make sure everyone can read them properly!

International Picture Language

This BOOK is a great example of a very easy to use, early example use of semiotics in everyday life.

Otto Neurath created this book as presented as part of the Imaginary Museum 

Kurt Perschkes Red-ball-project

This is a great public art project by Kurt Perschkes. I love how inherantly interactive it is and how approachable it is for all the people that see it. What does it say about the environments it is placed in? How do people benefit from this? What do people do with it?

Week 4: Inverted Pyramid and Familiarity

InfoUrban: Week4 inverted pyramid_familiarity

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History Pin

History Pin of Reading, UK. The community contributed to this interactive google map of the town and its history. 

Reading Museum tells stories of the local historic and natural environment as well as displaying and caring for objects from around the world. Reading was at the centre of early developments in photography and was one of the first places to be recorded by photography. William Henry Fox Talbot, a pioneer of photography, set up one of the world’s first commercial photographic studios in Reading in 1844. The Museum's photo collections include the archives of the Reading Chronicle and Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory. A selection of our images have been uploaded here - see our website for more information.

Mid Term

Mid Term due Wed. March 27. 
Critiques will follow.

Objective: Apply at least 3 design principles to a current or past project of yours. Understand and be able to articulate how the design principles are included in the project, what changes you made and why you made them.

Process: You should explore several different variations while as you incorporate Design principles. All mediums and forms are acceptable. Try new methods of visualizing information that may be unfamiliar to you.

Deliverable: Revised project with all iterations that came before it. Consider the process as important as the outcome. Everyone will present their project in a formal critique to the class. You will present the project in Pecha Kucha style.

The Surprising Complex Art of Urban Wayfinding

Here is a great article on Urban Wayfinding Excerpt: " Enter the urban wayfinding expert. This field – also known as environmental graphic design – fits a unique niche somewhere in between two- and three-dimensional design, between building and landscape architecture, between the small scale (street signs) and really large systems (whole cities). “Architectural signage and wayfinding isn’t about building a nicely designed sign,” says Sue Labouvie, one such expert whom we tapped to explain the science of helping us find our way in the city. “It’s about the information content and the analysis of the space or place that you’re trying to move people through, and coming up with a strategy of how you make this big complex thing simple and understandable to the user.” How do you clarify to people what a city is about, how they should move through it and where they can find all the really important stuff? Or, put another way: How does a city do this, all on its own, so that I don’t have to ask a knowledgeable-seeming stranger on the street for directions?" The Atlantic Cities

Better Metro North

This designer found the Metro North train schedule too difficult to navigate. So...he redesigned it!

BetterMetroNorth.com

Guerilla Public Service_ Freeway signs

A great project by Guerilla Public Service in California. If urban wayfinding doesn't work why not fix it yourself!?

Read more here

Guerrilla Wayfinding in Raleigh

Read Full article here

Lecture from Week 1, 2 and 3

Info design Urban week1-3

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YASIV product mapping

http://www.yasiv.com/

Yasiv is a “visual recommendation service” that illustrates the relationships between items in Amazon’s marketplace. Type the name of any given book, CD, or film into the search box. Yasiv will chart the connections to items other customers have purchased.

Artist: Farhad Moshiri

Plenty of Colour featured a great installation by Farhad Moshiri

His installation ‘Life is Beautiful’ showcases a beautiful cursive treatment of the titular expression. Step closer and we realize the typeface is created by hundreds of knives with colourful handles stabbed into the wall atPalazzo Grassi, Italy. I love the juxtaposition of such a romantic type treatment and phrase created out of a violent, dramatic material. So many layers of meaning in this piece…


This is a great example of innovative visualization and alternative ways of communicating information.

AMT Lecture Series

Every Wednesday, AMT hosts a lecture for free at Parsons. Coco Fusco, director of Intermedia Initiatives at AMT organizes these events and gets a great variety of visiting artists to lecture.


Stay tuned....we may be going to one or two....


AMT Lecture Series: February 8

Chart Junk

Chartjunk refers to all visual elements in charts and graphs that are not necessary to comprehend the information represented on the graph, or that distract the viewer from this information.


The term was coined by Edward Tufte in his 1983 book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. He states: 


"The interior decoration of graphics generates a lot of ink that does not tell the viewer anything new. The purpose of decoration varies — to make the graphic appear more scientific and precise, to enliven the display, to give the designer an opportunity to exercise artistic skills. Regardless of its cause, it is all non-data-ink or redundant data-ink, and it is often chartjunk." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartjunk


Here is an article from Business Week about Tufte and his contributions to Information Design.


Remember these tips for avoiding information overload: From the Information design Handbook

- Don't Decorate, design: Keep the design simple so the user feels comfortable. Achieve clarity through minimalism by avoiding anything that does not serve as a function. 

- Provide Options: Structure information in ways that allow the reader to attain multiple levels of understanding, from overview to expert. 

- Use Structure to create meaning: Awareness of the emotional and cognitive effects of information overload should influence decisions. Use tools, like Millers Magic number to make information more digestible

Week 1 Homework: Brief History of ID

Please read the following document from "The Information Design Handbook" by Jenn and Ken Visocky O'Grady

Id history

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Hyperakt

Deroy Peraza and Julia Vakser Zeltser are two Parsons Alumni that started an innovative design firm called Hyperakt. "Hyperakt is an independent NYC design firm with a passion for creating work that effects change in the world around us: meaningful design for the common good."

WNYC's Studio 360 asked them to create a new visual vocabulary that reflects the multidimensional role of the teacher. Listen to their interview with Kurt Anderson on Studio 360 and check out their full presentation.

Below is an interview they did for the Newschool University's collaborative Changemaker project with Ashoka:

PROFILE

Deroy Peraza and Julia Vakser Zeltser founded Hyperakt, an independent New York City design firm that helps change-makers tell their stories. Their clients are organizations that address the most important social issues of our time and innovative businesses that empower people through social entrepreneurship.The Harvard Business Review recently wrote: "By having a bigger purpose, it just might be that Hyperakt's building a 21st century design studio: the crucible of big, world-changing ideas."

How did you come up with the concept?

Deroy Peraza: It evolved naturally out of our personalities and our experiences. Over the years we've worked on projects of every flavor for all kinds of clients. It's easier to realize what you want to focus your energy on when you've tried lots of different things. We learned that we're much more passionate about projects we genuinely believe in and find meaningful. If we can't get behind what we're communicating, the design doesn't come from a place of truth and as a result the work suffers. We're proud of Hyperakt because we champion ideas that we believe improve the lives of people and we tell stories we're genuinely interested in on a personal level.

Julia Vakser Zeltser: While at The New School, Deroy and I were always inspired by each other's work. Hyperakt was born shortly after we graduated from Parsons in 2001. While still young and inexperienced back then, we welcomed any project and any client. After five years and a variety of jobs, we realized that we're much more excited to help change-makers tell their story. We narrowed down our message to reflect the kind of work we prefer to be getting. Ever since, we've focused on working with innovative organizations that work towards social change.

What inspires you?

DP: Traveling and seeing the world from different perspectives. The multitude of planned and unplanned design decisions that define the physical space and reflect the culture of modern cities. People who are equally passionate about concept, craft, and purpose. Disruptive ideas that change rules and create new possibilities. The incredible entrepreneurship potential that new technologies and social networking tools like twitter have created for new web-based products and services. The rapid increase in open-source data sets that can be visualized to educate and tell rich stories.

JVZ: Our monthly Lunch Talk series where we invite design leaders to speak and we bring a community of 30 people to listen. My family and the thought that as parent I can help my children make their choices. Our team of designers who are constantly searching for new ideas, solutions, and possibilities. Wonderful clients whose passionate work rubs off on us in many more ways beyond a project. And recently, The Moth (podcast), storytelling on stage without notes.

What is the relationship between design and social innovation?

DP: In our world, they hold hands. Design is the language through which social innovation is communicated. It's a crucial factor in getting hearts and minds excited about ideas

JVZ: More than ever before, the general public understands that smart design makes for better products. The line between design and social innovation is increasingly blurred as more designers become social entrepreneurs and fantastic products like Kickstarter, Airbnb, and Etsy are proof that designers can lead great ventures.

How did The New School enable you to become social entrepreneurs?

DP: The New School, Parsons specifically, gave us foundational skills. Majoring in illustration rather than design was very advantageous because of its emphasis on storytelling over technique. Ten years ago, when I graduated, there was little talk of social entrepreneurship, or social consciousness in the university environment unless you were in a liberal arts class, perhaps. It's a focus that has seen tremendous growth over the last 10 years. I'd say the most important aspect of being a student at The New School is the access it provides to the New York community of professionals and to an endless selection of talks, events, and career opportunities.

JVZ: We graduated from the Illustration department while it was led by Barbara Nessim, who believed that students need a variety of experiences in old and new mediums. While the curriculum included painting, drawing, design, typography, and printmaking, we were not aware of social entrepreneurship in or beyond the protected walls of The New School. While it was not taught or talked about in our classrooms, the multicultural diversity of students, teachers, and professionals had an inspiring effect on us. We were empowered with our skills and encouraged by our instructors to purse what we love. Our passion grew into a design company.