maxgadney.com

Image Quality housekeeping note

Hi folks - this is just a note to acknowledge concerns about the image quality (resolution/compression) of some of the WWII magazine graphics on historynet.com.

We are looking to get these sorted asap - thanks for your patience and happy holidays.

The Norden Bombsight and US Precision Bombing - WWII Magazine Dec 2008

This graphic for WW2 Magazine looked at the US Norden Bombsight – it’s operation and effectiveness.

Designing for the spread

The first iterations looked too much like unrelated pages.

An ongoing issue is designing for the double spread. I'm aware that people will need to orientate themselves in the Whole to begin with - and then look at the Parts in a measured, instructional way if they are interested. They will scan the graphic looking to see how it is to be read and then they will start.

The overall structure of the spread should also make clear what to look at first. This was a bit of an issue with the circular bomb data – it’s place on the right of the composition seems to say ‘read this second’ but it’s shape and compositional strength provide a pull that is arguably stronger that that of the elements on the left of the page. 

I am working on a sketching/prototyping style to discuss early ideas around - not too specific - not too vague.

Bill (editor) suggested a good fix of the blue background behind the left page - this united the two pages. It turns out that this is a rule of diagramming - a tinted background brings out the illustration more too. It means that this is more a linked spread rather than two separate pages - but linked by nuanced background colour rather than strength of composition?

How do you introduce a series of steps that pave the way for the grander conclusion without people rushing to that conclusion? 

This is a big issue for me as many of these graphics are about the development of the technology as a solution to a need. Ideally I want people to read the introductory context before the analysis of the object/ solution - but if the solution is the focus (larger, noticeable element), they may look there first.

That is why some of the first graphics were many joined, small elements - more like a comic - readable panel by panel. I still think there is mileage in that sequential approach - but it does presuppose that all readers are in it for the long haul rather than flipping through the magazine, choosing what to read based on the overview we give them at the 'start' of the graphic.

Colour mapping

The main challenge of the left side was to link the three related groups of information:

1) the Bombsight and its key parts

2) the principles of Bombing

3) the operations of bombardier and bombsight

I first considered spatial mapping to match these elements - this was tricky as the bombsight has a lot of its manual inputs on the right and so there wasn't an obvious mapping. This was despite the operations and principles matching quite nicely across the page. 

(this is one of the reasons that Minard's Napoleon graphic is so good - it is very fortunate in how the variables of data map to each other - e.g. the march was east - the same way we read time - left to right etc - more on that another day)

I decided to do this using colour – to match the three factors of Parts, Principles and Operation. 

Colour is excellent at categorising scattered variables that have something in common, but not compositional proximity. This way I could infer linkages between the three above factors without them lining up nicely on the page.

Caitlin and the magazine staff were really valuable here – especially in the wrangling of the 'Operation' details. The sketches below show my working out in reducing and reorganising the data while hopefully keeping the (heavily edited and relevant) facts in there.

It took a while to edit each of these categories so that they were not too simplistic.

It was tricky to get the Operation text (colored - at the bottom) to spatially map with the process diagrams - middle - see how the colours nearly line up - but not quite  - and not at all with the Parts Diagram at the top.

This one boiled down the Operation text (bottom) as little too far  - but I liked how it read across the page.

This way gave me more room for Operation text - but relegated the Sight diagram and segregated the two pages too much.

Drawing Style

The render of the bombsight shows some progress in the my draughtsmanship of these Weapons Manual pieces. 

A month or two ago, a friend and I were considering working on a  comic together and we both had some beers to chat about plots, characters etc – we even met up to do some drawing to test the waters.

I decided that my WW2 Magazine commitments were enough to be getting on with but in exploring some character sketches, I looked further at a Black Line and Fill render that I was happy with. (that is the style of comic illustration I most like – with Brian Bolland is an obvious hero here:

 – buy his book for Christmas if you are needing any present-inspiration for the comics fan in your life).

Although Geoff Darrow, Hergé and Frank Quitely are fantastic too.

Anyway . . . (and I am by No means about to compare myself with them -haha)

It was during this sketching that I thought that the style of line drawing was pretty suitable to certain parts of my graphics work – the thicker defining edges and thinner inside lines etc. 

Done using a mixture of Illustrator straight line and variable-pressure-brush-tool with a Wacom tablet and pen

I want to explore this further and am collecting examples of line work (mail me if you have any).

Icons

Am I right to use these realistic icons? They are certainly accurate – these are the B17-G planes, used at this time later in the war. But do they convey ‘bomberness’ as much as they might?

 To B-17G or not to B-17G?

The question needs to be are they good enough to communicate the idea of ‘Plane Dropping Bombs’ and I think they are  - luckily the B-17G has a very pronounced tail that survives this reduction in size -  whilst maintaining their role as readable symbols.

But - I think some of the readership will appreciate these details. I bet a few notice and are glad that I have taken care - or they may just be sticklers for detail.

The Data

I am happy with this arrangement on the right page but it was not without it's issues.

'Bubble charts' (area-defining circles instead of bars) are much the vogue but I think mine are justified here

I am happy that it is efficient in using the basic pie-chart device for multiple layers of data.

It defines the proportion of a whole bombs dropped nicely -  with the pie chart.

It uses the overlaid radial scale to show tonnage in each mile segment. 

It uses increasingly opaque-cloud pie-sections to actually obscure the map below – conceptually sound - to show proportions of bad weather.

I had to combine the amounts that fell within a mile (three different amount: 1 mile, .5 miles, 300 yards) as it wouldn’t be possible to show them on this diagram - as the amount of space in the middle for all those variables inside one mile is very small. There is always a tension between the suitability of the display construct/metaphor and the portrayal of data and this time the metaphor won out. Some would argue that the display construct should be the servant of the data. I think that the main idea of this graphic sis to show the inaccuracy of bombing in the outer ranges - rather than the accuracy of the areas close to the target so in that way I am OK with leaving out the data from the very middle.

I would have rather showed this detail but I don't think it obscures or distorts the basic story. It is just another case of design/ communication being about what you leave out. (Galling when you have been in the Imperial War Museum writing it all down on tracing paper - but hey.)

Easter Eggs in Graphics

Easter eggs are hidden messages or items in media/computer games/software (anywhere).

When dealing with a specialist magazine,(as well as providing the normal levels of data – both simple and complex) one should provide a level hidden to 99% of people apart from the experts. 

They are the people who will be more likely to spend time poring over these graphics and so to reward their attention it might be nice to make sure that there are some surprises.

In this graphic, those who know about the USAAF Bomber War will know that Regensburg was a significant target throughout the war, so they might notice that the map underneath the data is one of those much-bombed rail yards, rather than something non-specific - and this map is not published anywhere else. I found it in the USBSS (United States Strategic Bombing Survey). 

I think people who know about stuff like such knowing references. I would just need to make sure that it didn’t steer attention from the main thrust of the data/ story.

I’ll try to include these deep lying surprises in future ones too.

Thanks Alice

My sister is a cartographer and she gave me some excellent advice on this. She mentioned that the weather labels needed to be always the same way up as readers didn’t like moving the publication around in order to read it (obvious now I think about it). She also helped get the labeling sorted. ----- So thanks Alice x.

Labeling

We had to work hard on the labeling and location of the labeling – I was worried that it needed to work too hard and that the graphic should be more self explanatory. 

I think that labels and sign posting are generally welcomed by the readers. This graphic saw us play a little more with Wendy's design style guide - testing out what some of the smaller fonts and different sub-heads could do. 

I think they can really help future graphics in their readability - but much of the way to a readable graphic is having one that sticks to a central theme across one spread - and that is what we will be doing more of in the coming year.

Three Best Information Information Graphics/ Visualisations of 2008

The sphere of Information Visualisation is in excellent shape heading into 2009. 

Many blogs cover the subject. High profile companies specialise in it. Even a renaissance in UK newspapers and coffee table books seem to point at a new boom time for anyone organising visual information.

But this all seems a little insular.

To expand the audience of this specialist arena, practitioners need to focus their work on the mass audience. The values of the industry need to shift from the closed-shop craft and complexity to putting the needs of the user/audience first.

Three examples that typify this approach are as follows :

The first is from TV- from the BBC US election broadcast - and has Jeremy Vine speaking to a nice sequence/density of information. There have been some other sound Video Visualisations (see this post from a recent talk) , but I like this because instead of treating the graphical segment like the 'funnies' they are obviously taking this seriously. 

One could say that this is a known territory - maps, data, elections. I still think it is excellent that they are putting this much content in this short a segment. They are providing high resolution data graphics for TV, and not just for entertainment. 

I would like to see them do more of these 'explainers' of big subjects - I didn't see one about the financial crisis for instance. The storyboarding process would allow designers and journalists to collaborate properly as every second needs planning.

I really believe that the short explainer video is extremely important to many media companies and that this short-form fact-imparting is an area they should look to grow in. I am still suspicious about the mass market's want to get involved with various data-vis stuff and so this can provide stories and facts to those excluded by some of our more technical experimentation.

(if you are a news site with no web graphics team, get your daily staples from AP/PA/Reuters, get someone who can write code/visualise data, and get someone who can do video. You will be able to do visual reporting that differentiates you from the crowd.)

Second highlight of the year are the Travel Time Maps that Stamen did for MySociety.

They are my favourite example of Interactive Data Vis this year. They tick many boxes.

Clearly labeled. What can I do?

Obvious functions. How can I do it?

Useful data. House prices, distance to work - human scale information rather than the avalanches of academic data-sets that often get thrown at us.

Fun metaphor. Its a map of London - we (Londoners) all understand it at least.

It is surprising how much stuff we see that doesn't really hit any of those bases. 

I especially like the fact that it is Stamen who have done this. They are smart people and have some fascinating and cerebral work in their portfolio. I like the fact that by doing this sort of work so well they send a message to students and newcomers to the field that it is important to do the basics as well. 

Phase one of this boom in online graphics was the Flash explainer typified by Elmundo/ElPais - lots of narrative data told in very slick animation. They were sound graphics and there is still a place for them - but I like them when they are simpler and then I wonder why I need to 'click-here' to keep it going. Turns out that 'the freedom' to look at your own pace might just be a massive hassle - just give them video instead?.

Phase two is this data reporting. I think it is less to do with the data about specific stories - house prices, elections etc - although they are nice when done simply.

I am more interested in the application of the world's free data to the presentation of News - my ex-colleague Dan Hill talked  about Adaptive Design in this way - and another ex-colleague Matt Jones is exploring the effects of the world of data on the user-experience on his (and Matt B's) start-up at Dopplr. Some are doing it already but it is still along way to go before a mass market news product is ready.

So, obviously a online data-vis is a growth area - but I would say keep it simple, useful and permeate it across the whole experience - not just in the 'graphic areas'.

Finally I think this graphic from Publico in Spain is fantastic (2008 Spain Budget).

It signposts the subject really well - the begging hand.

It tells you how to read it - the flowing streams.

It presents and easy to read overall story and then a deeper level of readability for those who are interested.

Is it odd not to have an NYT graphic here?

This recent one on nuclear proliferation is typical of their purist approach and was the initial stimulus for this post, but in considering the best print graphic, I felt that the Publico one symbolised some important ideas for the industry. 

The main reason is the originalty of the approach for such a standard story. Budgets and elections are staples of new design teams and what Publico did with this breathed new life into the subject for the mass market.

It is this catering to the mass market which is a rare and difficult trick to pull off. Many papers have aped the NYT's high resoution approach (and bubble charts) and just end up with impenetrable tableaux of data - a long way from readable and useful information. 

It is the average designer's fault that they play to their peers and not those consuming their product and it is no different here - with graphic displays becoming too complex as these design teams search for respect everywhere but their audience.

Those who create and mediate visual information have a fantastic opportunity in 2009.  

I'd like to see more short video explainers, useful online applications, and accessible graphic design.

It is up to the design community to re-calibrate their value system - to celebrate accessibility rather than complexity and look to serve their users rather than impress them.

Information Design Association Talk Links

Here are some links from my talk - (and thanks for coming if you came)

and here is the IDA site - maybe see at their conference next year if not before

Here are the videos I was discussing - 

These two maybe play to TV's need to entertain

Jeremy Vine Cowboy Election

and Ming's Bling

but these two shows that a decent resolution of data is possible and compelling on TV

US election

and this us election video too

I think there is something to be learned from the vim of these hollywood titles - very tight storytelling

The Kingdom Titles

and Nigel Holmes has a great tone and pace for informative storytelling

Nigel Holmes Vampire Energy graphic

(look for more stuff on the goodmagazine website - their transparency section is graphical monthly)

Here is the Apple Daily 3d stuff

stamen design's transport maps - useful and usable

I should thank Chiqui Esteban, an award winning infografista/ journalist from Publico whose excellent InfographicsNews.com is my favourite blog on news graphics - and many of the images I used came from that site - it is worth a look around.

Anyone looking for NYTimes work should look at Shan Carter's work

Anyone interested in the pencil sketch work can see Javier Zarracina's site here  (compare his El Correo work that originally saw this celebrated style with the more recent work at the Boston Globe)

and 

Archie Tse's Saddam work is featured with other very sound NYT work in this article

and if you haven't had enough - other good graphics blogs are 

Innovation in Newspapers

Junk Charts