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Thanks to a colleague, I knew about Zero Per Zero’s City Railway System project. This project presents a redesign of existing Underground Diagrammatic Maps based on its own aesthetic rules and analytical design principles different from that of diagrammatic maps. Instead of being pure synthetic diagrams, Zero Per Zero (ZPZ) maps are projecting the identity of a city through its transport maps. In general, ZPZ maps retain the same visual structure than their official transport maps, but they based their aesthetic and visual language on iconic elements of the character of each city. As an example, following the well-known Milton Glaser’s design ‘I love New York’, ZPZ-New York map is inspired in that same concept, being visualised following a heart shape. Another difference from official versions is the addition of famous landmark and attraction icons, such as an Empire State Building icon in the NYC map, or a Gaudi’s Cathedral icon in the Barcelona map.
Left to right. Current official NYC underground map. Glaser's iconic logo. ZPZ's NYC map.
The ZPZ City Railway Map series includes several other pieces as a complement for the handy map. There are calendars, posters, pocket maps, mouse pads and tapes.
Image of the ZPZ London exhibition at Kemistry Gallery, May 2010 (©SP)
Although this project could be analysed, explored, examined or described following information design principles, I do think that, in this case, that kind of analysis would be pointless. These diagrammatic maps have been created with a different purpose than that of the official ones, being closer to be defined as artistic maps.
To see the whole map series, you can visit the ‘Zero Per Zero: Station’ exhibition at the Kemistry Gallery, here in London. Definitely, this exhibition is worth to be seen, as it is not often found exhibitions entirely devoted to Underground Diagrammatic Maps.
- Zero Per Zero: Station. Until 19th June. Free entrance. Maps and other design pieces of the series are available to buy.
Last week, I attended to Edward Tufte’s lecture at the Royal Geographical Society. As he has mentioned in one of his books, there was a set of visual material related to the presentation for everyone in the audience, the lecture began on time, and he finished one minute before.
19.05.2010 Edward Tufte. Lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, Ondaatje Theatre.
To explain the analytical design principles, there was a poster-size image of Minard's data-map, about Napoleon's invasion of Russia (created on 1869).
In general, Tufte presented a historical overview of the relationship between images and text in visual representations. He showed a series of ancient images where information (visual and written) was not segregated. Tufte presented Galileo’s image as one of the clearest example where text and images were integrated.
Images of Saturn embedded in a piece of text, showing a complete integration between visual and written information (Tufte, 2006:49)
After this he summarised his six design principles of analytical design that should be considered to obtain effective information design results:
1- Show contrasts and differences: The most important point when diagramming is to make comparisons between the data displayed.
2- Documentation: This indicates the relevance of including credibility information; to inform users/readers where the information displayed in a diagrammatic representation comes from.
3- Complete integration of evidence: Both visual and textual elements should be displayed as a whole unit, where visual segregation should not be perceived. This means that the mode of production of a diagrammatic image should not be identified.
4- Multivariate information: There should be considered and represented at least three or more elements to avoid flat diagrams and emulate the 3D world levels of information and viewing depths.
5- Causality-effect: A diagrammatic representation should display causality, mechanism, explanations, systematic structures.
6- Content: Tufte emphasised content as the core component of a diagrammatic representation (and for visually presenting information). He made a distinction between two important and opposite concepts, that at the same time can be seen as different stages of the design process:
Process-driven: A process-driven design is based on the modes of production (how), instead of what to display. In this case, content moves to a second place, and the techniques and tools to represent it are the core elements.
Related to this, Tufte explained that designers tend to consider most relevant the process of visualisation than the selection, interpretation and organisation of content.
Explanation-driven: While, on the other hand, an explanation-driven process begins with good content analysis, and really understanding of what is going to be displayed. Tufte pinpointed that it should be done ‘what ever it takes to make content understandable’. In a similar vein, Wurman (2001) asserts that organisation is as important as content and that understanding; regrouping, classifying and organising information take priority over creating it.
Moreover, Tufte added that effective information design outcomes should display relevance, quality and integration of content.
To show the importance and applicably of explanation-driven diagrammatic representations, Tufte concluded his lecture introducing the concept of Sparklines, fully described in his book Beautiful Evidence.
Sparklines are small, high-resolution graphics usually embedded in a full context of words, numbers and images. Sparklines are datawords: data-intense, data-simple, word-sized graphics. (Tufte, 2006:47)
Unquestionably, it was a unique opportunity to listen to one of the key information designers ever. Hopefully, he will return soon and present some of the work he is doing for Obama, and the application of his theories into the website world.
- Tufte, E. (2006). Beautiful Evidence. Cheshire, Connecticut, USA: Graphic Press.
- Tufte, E. (1998) Visual Explanations. Cheshire, Connecticut, USA: Graphic Press.
- Wurman, R.S. (2001) Information anxiety 2. Expanded & updated ed. Indianapolis, Ind. : Que
During the recently UK general elections, Information Design made easier to analyse and compare numbers in daily newspapers, and to understand the complex polls results, as can be appreciated in the images below.
This infographic shows how newspaper readers have voted in 2005 UK general elections (TheGuardian DataStore)
This diagram shows the results of the UK elections, in terms of number of seats in the parliament from each party (created by Evan Hensleigh, TheGuardian DataStore)
In a different country, but also related to politics, Information Design is also showing the importance of visualising complex issues. Last March, US President Obama has announced that the information designer Edward Tufte will be part of the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel of the government. Briefly, Tufte has to investigate and suggest ways in which the $787 billion in recovery stimulus funds can be more effectively managed. Appropriate information design decisions could help obtaining higher levels of transparency, preventing and detecting fraud, waste, and mismanagement.
Even though, those tasks would be seen as beyond an information designer’s work, this is actually the core of this discipline: provide different views of a problem, in order to help making more suitable decisions. When information is clearly visualised, it becomes a powerful tool of communication. Historically, whoever had maps had knowledge; currently, whoever has clear visualised information, increases its knowledge. Diagrammatic representations (such as diagrammatic maps, infographics, diagrams, tables) can make a jumble of issues comprehensible. Diagrammatic representations influence how we see the world, what we see and what we do not see of it. The power of these visual representations relies on their ability to make visible or invisible information.
Left. Original layout of an interface. Right. Tufte's layout. His redesign emphasises levels of information and viewings, by purposelly applying colour, and adding levels of reading. (Tufte, E. 1997. Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative)"
Diagrammatic representations work as a ‘purification process’, extracting all irrelevant information and reducing reality to its essential features. However, not all diagrammatic representations clearly communicate complex information. To obtain effective and comprehensible diagrammatic representations, it is fundamental to select and translate the appropriate information. This is referred as the simplification process. In short, the simplification process involves three aspects:
1) Decide what information is better to be included,
2) Decide how to organise it, and
3) Decide the navigation elements (elements that tell readers how to move through a diagram, and indicate what they are looking and what they should be looking for).
Information design departments have already been created in newspapers to improve the communication of complex content, and infographics have also been recognised as having great informational value. However, the fact that an information designer has been required to advise governmental issues means more than recognition. This indicates that diagrammatic representations are being value and acknowledge as serious sources and meaningful pieces of information, and that the discipline, Information Design, has a prominent future in areas beyond art and graphic design.
Related to this, the forthcoming Wednesday19th of May, Edward Tufte is coming to London to give a lecture about his analytical and information design theories. The lecture will take place at the Royal Geographical Society, Ondaatje Theatre.
Looking forward to it!
