When Numbers Speak
Hey guys, welcome back to my blog!
So, the last 2 weeks have been very exciting as I have started back at University and have commenced my Visual Communication Design subject – Interaction Design Fundamentals.
The subject outlines that interaction design is the interaction between user and system (product, information or artefact) and it is encapsulated in various design types such as:
- Information design
- Data visualisation
- Info graphics
- Interaction design
The lecture pointed out that as I work to achieve such designs, I need to ensure I follow a process, being:
- Show your ideas – don’t talk about possible ideas, show them. Show sketches, thumbnails, doodles, visual research and inspiration and discuss them.
- Show your work – don’t talk about what you intent to do or what you would like to do (there is only make).
- Follow the design process.
This process is crucial to note when commencing any design and I myself will aim to follow this throughout the duration of this course.
The design process itself provides designers with a structure and step by step process to kick start any successful design. However, it is vital that the process is reviewed, analysed and revisited throughout a task to ensure designs are fit for purpose and executed at the highest possible level.
This structure will guide me into the first task, which is to collect a data set and create an info graphic poster as a part of data visualisation and information design. The brief for this task to produce an info graph that clearly communicates a complex set of information, data or statistics to a reader in an elegant and concise manner.
There is an extensive list of data types and methods to represent data, however, designers must note that form must follow function. Representations must act in accordance to what the data is saying. In other terms, designers must turn data into a visual product as though numbers could speak. Designers must make the data easy to understand and interpret by audiences, using visual stimulates and design choices. Here are some methods of data representations in accordance to data types, which I will be referring to when creating my info graph:
- Comparative data sets – bar charts, dot plots, floating bars, histograms, Sankey diagrams… many more
- Assessing hierarchies – pie charts, stacked bar charts… many more
- Changes over time – line chart, area chart, horizon line chart, flow map
- Connections and relationships – scatter plots, bubble plots, heatmaps, network diagram
- Geospatial data – bubble maps, choropleth maps
The first step to starting my info graph poster is to conduct conceptual, theoretical and contextual research. I have researched data sets online and found interesting statistics regarding Australia’s population via the Australian Bureau of Statistics. For now, I am going to continue to research population data in the hope to narrow the topic down to a select information topic. This will create a more direct audience and narrative, going ahead.
Stay tuned for the next update.
By Kayla Mathew
Statistics, c=AU; o=Commonwealth of A. ou=Australian B. of, 2019. Main Features – Estimated resident population [WWW Document]. URL https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0 (accessed 5.8.19).
Capture By Kayla 