Research into infographics

My research for information graphics explores a book called 'Information is Beautiful' by David CcCandless. he designed a map book (see below) which helps a user navigate the seemingly endless amount of information that can be found on the internet. He has used a different way of representing information on each page. The result is a very interesting book indeed and a great source of inspiration for presenting my graphology analysis of Victorian handwriting in a clear, interesting way. 

The use of information in circles really helps to structure information and visually break up the information in an easy to understand way. I like the differing scale of the circles which hold information- it gives the presentation a visual dynamism. Also, text is very clear and simple to understand and read. It have been centered and features a bolder title which is in black and a white main text area. It creates a very easy to follow layout what is actually quite complicated information. 

Colour in the above layout is important. The colour separates the stylised graph sections. I really like the idea of representing all of the information on a time-line style format. I could have my stylised victorian handwriting script running along the bottom of some boards for an exhibition, and then have graphology interpretations of the writing coming from the text (like the information on the chart above). I think that the key to easy understanding of info-graphics is simplicity. The information needs to be presented in its simplest form. Although the colours are bright, the graph has been stylised and the information is very simple, there is still sophistication in the presentation of the information. I think that this is due to the scale of the text. The text is relatively small in comparison to the image. Also, the layout is carefully considered and is really quite sophisticated. 

The above image has really inspired me. I love the simple symbols that are used to illustrate the facts here. A very simple number giving a percentage is displayed in the middle of all of the illustrations. The information is presented in a clear way and is easy to understand because of the consistency in representation of the information. I like the way that these symbols/illustrations dominate the layout and the text is subtle and presented underneath the symbol. The overall asymmetric layout is visually dynamic. I could do something similar with the representation of my information for the graphology analysis of Victorian handwriting. I am wondering if the individual stylised handwriting letters would look interesting if I blew them up on a large scale and presented them in a similar way to the above research, ie asymmetrically and dominating the composition. I think that the stylised letterforms on their own may be interesting enough to do this and for it to be effective. 

Above is another great example of really interesting, successful information graphics.It is a visual representation of selected womens fashion colours from summer 2002 to winter 2010. The semi- circle shapes have no relevance to the representation of fashion, but they are simply interesting forms that are used to present the mass of information. The layout is very consistent and regimented. horizontally the information is broken up into the colours and vertically into years. It is a really clear presentation of information that is easy to follow. Text is a simple rounded sans-serif font that is easy to read. I need to consider colour, structure of layout and presentation of information when coming up with ideas for my pop up exhibition. 

Again, in the above, a time line style of representation of information is used. This time, information is presented both along the top of the composition and the bottom. The use of colour helps break down this information, otherwise it would be far too confusing to follow. Again, it has a sophisticated feel to the presentation of information because of type size which is small and layout of information. I love how visually, the top information balances the bold sylised imagery at the bottom. I am still thinking that a timeline style presentation of my handwriting might be a good way to present the information.

I love the way that information is presented on the above piece of research. The use of a fine line which points out the area of interest in the figure is a really sophisticated, simple and refined way of presenting information. The information has a simple title and a few words. I like this, I think that when presenting information in an info graphics the key is to try and simplify the information as much as possible before you consider the visualisation. The layout of the info graphics aids understanding and also gives the piece a sophisticated appeal. The left section of information is left aligned and the right is right aligned giving a visual structure. I want to explore the use of simple lines when presenting the analysis of the Victorian handwriting.