Yes we Canberra

Patrick Clair's satirical animation of Canberra as composed entirely of infographics was made for the recent Australian election. Great timing and animation.

New York Times graphics

An article with a long list of interactive New York Times infographics for use in teaching social studies, history, and economics.

Matters of Principle

Not an infographic or an animation, but simply an elegant Flash interface to Gary Hart's blog Matters of Principle.

Rock, paper, scissors

A simple, entertaining Rock Paper Scissors infographic which illustrates many of the points of a good instructional diagram: intuitively accessible images classified by color and shape, simple wording, a clear course (yet with the option for the leisured reader to pursue sidebars), a strong implied story, and logical development through the course of reading. Ending with the left field "Spock move" introduces humor and surprise - and helps retention - without taking away from the value of the piece. The equivalent of a page of text but faster - and probably more effective. Don't overlook the Download Full Size option to print it out for fledging RPS players in your circle.

Siggraph 2010

This three minute trailer for last month's 2010 Siggraph Animation Festival gives an idea of what's possible in animation today. Siggraph, for those not familiar with it, is the the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques, and its annual conference is the leading US forum for animation professionals and researchers. A dozen of the short, stunning pieces in the Animation Theater are also shown here.

Well formed data

This intelligent post on well-formed-data.net neatly paraphrases a longer article on acm.interactions.org, and in an engaging and concise fashion describes the useful concept of propositional density in information design. Most graphic and information designers are aware of the field-ground duality in the FedEx logo (the arrow defined by the E and the x), but this draws on that example to propose a general classification of design quality. I have long been an advocate of elegance in design, but seldom able to describe it as well as in this post. The links, if you have time, are also worth following. A recommended 120 second (minimum) read.

Illustrated Guide to a PhD

Computer science professor Matthew Might's Illustrated Guide to a PhD. A perfect visualization of a non-intuitive concept. But read right to the end to get the real, really poignant, point of it all.

Invest in Girls

Not so much an information graphic as a well done visualization of a powerful and true message. So much can be done so simply in just over two minutes. The Girl Effect.

BP infographic animation

A video from BP showing how the relief wells for the leaking pipe in the Gulf are being drilled. This is similar in some ways to what Studio Cruz created for Potter Drilling (which can be seen here) but shows an actual rather than an idealized case. The technology is amazing: drilling a hole a mile underwater through three miles of solid rock to intersect a ten inch diameter pipe. The video is a good example of how informative animation can be used to explain concepts, not only to the public but also to the drilling crews themselves. About six minutes in all.

New York Times graphics

A podcast documentary on the development of the award winning interactive graphics at the New York Times on the publishing site Gestalten.tv.

KickMap

A fascinating article from O'Reilly Radar on the development of KickMap, an innovative map of the NY subway system. In it, the designer, Eddie Jabbour, writes a personal and engaging history of the NY subway system map and his self-imposed project to redesign it. Much of what he writes is applicable to any kind of visualization of topography and location based information, but he admits to designing from the political perspective of wanting people to take public transport rather than their cars. Jabbour is painstaking in following the experiences of potential users of his map; something of a classic story about information design with a purpose.

Everybody Loves Sketch

Everybody Loves Sketch, a more polished 3D computer sketching concept than Rhonda, has a development video online here. But still no word if or when it will be available after a year online. In its six minutes it makes clear, if only by implication, how difficult it is to create an intuitive 3D sketching interface based on a 2D interface.

Previsualization

A well produced nine minute documentary video about the art of previsualization from the Previsualization Society. Previz, as it's commonly called, helps directors and the creative team optimize story, scenes, camera angles, lighting, and effects for movies and short features. Previz animations are a part of the creative process that is seldom seen by the public, but one where individual animators have a significant impact on the final result.

Rhonda

Still on the subject of sketching, Rhonda offers one of the best options for 3D ideation on the screen. Finding an efficient and intuitive interface is key: on the one hand the program can't make so many assumptions that it gets in the way of what the user wants to do, on the other requiring them to make too many choices is equally distracting. Perhaps a continual gradation between the two, changing naturally as one racks up hours in the program.

Extracts of Local Distance

A four minute video about a curiously fascinating German project that deconstructs architectural photographs and reassembles the pieces in new perspectives. Extracts of Local Distance, with its suggestive assemblies of elements, offers a glimpse of a future ideation tool as powerful as sketching.

Street Slide

Street Slide, being developed by Microsoft Research, is a next generation immersive cityscape viewer with potential for both commercial and social linkages. Note in the video the seamless way the interface combines the best features of existing static image bubbles with the new paradigm of the sliding viewer.

John Maeda

John Maeda's web site. Maeda studied at MIT and is currently President of the Rhode Island School of Design. The Java calendars he created for Shiseido in 1997 are some of the most elegant software timepieces ever made. Try Umiaki Calendar, Hanabi Calendar (hint: light the numbers with the match - hanabi is Japanese for fireworks), and Line Calendar.

Crime as elevation maps

A simple but effective idea: to show various types of crime in San Francisco as elevations. Because there are multiple independent variables influencing reporting (actual crimes committed; intensity of police presence; local tendency to report crimes) this is more decorative than useful. How could one add the other relevant variables in a distinctive dataspace? Color? Luminosity? Texture? An animation showing patterns in space over a normalized 24 hour duration would be interesting.