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Sea Mines - An Undersea Killer Evolves. WWII Magazine, Feb 2009.

This month's graphic for WWII Magazine is on German sea mines and how the Allies countered them.

This graphic was originally created last year. I reworked it in accordance with my more recent thinking.

The old version shows that I was still in my 'sequential' layout phase - (also see the bocage graphic for an example of this)

Staring top left, one would read this in a traditional manner

Sequential graphics can be read like comics/ books and I like that they are deliberate in their guiding of the information absorption. But - they do presume interest on the reader's part and don't "sell their wares" as best they could. They don't make an offer to a reader, inviting them into the subject.

My current thinking is veering to more traditional graphics - the 'Radial' sort. These are where there is a central object that grabs the attention first and signposts the subject of the piece. Subsequent information is then available, but there is no question of what one should look at first.

I do worry that graphics like this imply that the first thing/ the largest/ most colorful/ prominent thing you see is the most important.

I like the interesting details around the objects - their development, use and history - and the object rendered large for signposting purposes seems to distract from that. I am sure I am being too sensitive there. The magazine folks are always keen to make more of the central object - and I am happy to go with this - it seems there is a lot to investigate in that method.

( I must give credit to Peter Schumacher from the University of Trier who once did a fine talk at the SND-E Malofiej conference about how we read graphics - the Radial and Sequential ideas featured in that talk.)

Below is some of the development work. I know that I should have sketched it out first but sometimes I just want to get stuck in.

I thought it might be fun to move into a more abstract/ diagrammatic style - but it wasn't suitable for this , it is not really authentic for me to be finding a 'style' as such at this moment - their may be a consistency of approach - but that is different.

I thought to unite the page and lead the eye by use of this 'river. It is conceptually sound/ connected to the subject but too dominating of the layout.

Just having a simple single background would lead the eye, but it implied a steady development of one variable - whereas this graphic was about different kinds of mines.

More single-background element here - but too distracting from the foreground elements - and a bit overboard with the 3-d water effect etc.

I eventually went for blocks to show each type of mine - and I used old fashioned perspective guidelines to draw them.

The next few graphics I do for the magazine are going to explore the basics of the 'central object' more. After doing this for a while, I realize that there are some basics I still need to master - drawing, basic composition, labeling, type hierarchy etc. (and even though these graphics are pretty good - they have a way to go before they are faultless). When that happens, then I can get cleverer. (The adage that the more you know, the more you know you don't know is true here.)

It feels like walking before running which must be a good thing.

Talk at IDC2009, 2/3 April. Greenwich, London UK

I'll be doing a talk at the IDC2009 in early April. It's the conference of the Information Design Association.

It'll be on Patterns in Information Graphics.

I'm currently auditing information graphics online, on TV and in print so that I can present patterns I think are useful (and some less so).

I hope to draw on some research we did a while back at BBC News and the rest will be my hunches.

See you there.(or maybe before at the february event)

1960s/70s Japanese Information Graphics from Idea Magazine

I recently saw a copy of Idea magazine in a friend's studio. 

It's a Japanese graphic design magazine - quite expensive - it covers only a couple of subjects per issue.

I had not heard of it but was blown away by this particular issue. All about information graphics from 1960s-70s Japan. It is in Japanese so I couldn't read it - but for once just looking at the pictures was enough.

I have taken lo-res pix of some of the pages.

They marry an attention to detail with a fantastic visual artistry.

They communicate but they do so in a delightful way.

Some patterns I noticed - 

- High resolution of data

- Ground is monotone - figure/data is proudly colourful

- Nice integration with the text

I appreciate that these graphics may not be typical of Japanese Information Design

- they are old

- this is a design magazine with a certain take on what to include

It got me wondering about the visual literacy of the Japanese. I have never been there but I had assumptions based on their more figurative text/ manga-reading-salarymen etc - but tonight's talk at the Sign Design Society suggested no connection. Barry Gray who did the talk said that in his experience no culture found it easier to read signs/ pictures than any other.

The main learning for me was the use of colour - bright and primary. 

These are timeless because of this primal use of colour - as opposed to the muted pastel respectability us NYT/Tufte-philes hanker after. Don't get me wrong - I'm not going to be changing my work too soon.

Those of you who saw some of the work at Interesting2008 will see that colour is more a part of the non-WWII magazine work. But for now there I am more interested in the basics of composition - and colour really is not something to trifle with in information design until you are ready.

This looks to be a magazine keeping in touch with - the next issue is about Herb Lubalin - one of my favourite designers/ visual thinkers. 

Here is some of his type work (some think he is obvious - I think he is great)

 

NOTE-(I've been trying to track a copy of the Japan issue down but even magma cannot get any for the while so I you have one that you do not want, get in touch and I will marry you.)