In this post I look at visual media and how information and data is conveyed through these diagrams. This topic was very interesting and informative. I always believed that data and information was to be represented through stereotypical graphs and charts. After browsing and looking at numerous diagrams, I realized that this was not the case. The visuals I looked at were an almost perfect combination of creativity, visual appeal and information. Here are the two that stood out to me the most.
To be one hundred percent honest this visual stood out to me due to its elegant shapes and popping colors. I wanted to know what information the creator of this visual wished to share with the viewer. I was surprised to learn that the work was actually a visual representation of Ikigai, a self development concept from Japan. The direct translation of Ikigai is “the happiness of being busy”.
The creator of the visual realized that the original diagram created by Marc Winn in 2014 was broken, some of the intersections between circles do not make any sense. I assume the diagram not actually being accurate had something to do with the simplicity of it. Meaning that Winn simplified a complex concept to the point where information was both lost and misrepresented. Understanding the failures of the diagram the author of the new diagram created a more elaborate and complex visual. Both diagrams are an overlap of four round shapes. The overlap results in a symmetric and appealing visual. The four circles represent a general description of what one’s purpose is in life. .The four round shapes are labeled “what the world needs”, “what you are good at”, “what you love” and “what earns you money”. When one of the shapes overlaps another a new shape and color is created. Within each new shape that is created a person’s purpose is listed their. The idea is that since the new shapes created could be considered a combination of those two shapes. Thus with each shape comes a purpose in one’s life that is a combination of the general descriptions labeled on the four main shapes. As they all overlap and intersect there is a space in the very middle that is created. That space says “Ikigai: Purpose, Dream Job, True Vocation”. After analyzing the graph I realized that a person’s true Ikigai is achieving a purpose in life that is a logically seamless combination of all the four general descriptions. What stood out to me was the description within each overlap was completely logical. Any person could look at this visual and relate it to their current occupation. The improved visual has a more complex design allowing for more overlaps. With their being more overlaps there was no loss of information unlike the older diagram. Also every overlap in the new diagram makes logical sense. This is unlike the older one where some of the overlaps displayed information that did not logically make sense. I chose this visual for multiple reasons. It brings an element of visual appeal to presenting information. It displays a concept that is useful for many in an easily understood way. The diagram also shows that visual media is changing and constantly evolving. An older representation of the concept Ikigai had its flaws. But the idea in how to represent the concept was there. By noticing mistakes we as designers can fix these mistakes. I suppose the biggest lesson I learned in analyzing the diagram wasn’t necessarily what was interesting about the diagram. Instead it was that as I continue into the world of digital media, with the creation of such media follows refinement and improvement.
https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/best-albums-of-2017-the-consensus-infographic/
This is a visual representation of the top albums of 2017. It condenses rating lists from the Rolling Stones magazine and Pitchfork a trusted music review site. It is a well made design combining text with size in a visual representation that displays the more popular albums with the less popular ones. You can clearly see that Damn by Kendrick Lamar and Melodrama by Lorde are both of the top albums due to the size of their names. Less popular albums being Sleep Well Beast by The National or Capacity by Big Thief. All the most popular albums are typically displayed in the middle of the visual. By using relative size of the names to represent popularity the visual piece is both aesthetically pleasing and easily understood. To me the data that is being represented doesn’t need to be complicated by adding numbers. By doing so would unnecessarily complicate the information. Another aspect is the color of the text which adds even more depth to the visual. Near the bottom of the “word cloud” there are different genres written each in a different color. If you look at the word cloud, all the album names are a certain color pertaining to the genre. If you analyze the visual by also bringing color into context and not just focusing on size, you can see that certain genres are more popular than others. That is why this visual stood out to me. If one spends the time to analyze both the color of the text along with size, you can compare the popularity of both the genre as well as the most popular albums of 2017. This visual is simple yet it conveys useful information in a manner that is easily understood. The simplicity of the visual and how effectively it displayed information is what made it stand out to me.
https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/best-albums-of-2017-the-consensus-infographic/c/