Introduction
Undertaking high level research and gaining an MA in Creative Practice will support and facilitate the achievement of both personal and professional aspirations. Since gaining a HND in Graphic Design 1989, extensive work experience as a graphic designer for 12 years in the Leeds area, owning my own design business since 2007 and gaining a Certificate in Education in 2003, I have supported others to explore their artistic potential, recognise their natural talents and develop previously uncultivated skills. However I now have the need and opportunity to develop my own design practice.
As an experience lecturer in the Further Education sector, I have gained a valuable range of research skills, which I know will support me effectively throughout the progression of the MA programme.
Our society is increasingly driven by data from league tables, statistics, social habits, social interaction and shopping. Marketing companies collect data on all of us everyday but to what means and how can we visualise the fundamental important rules; such as health & lifestyle in society to actually connect with the intended specific target audience.
Stefan Sagmeister, who is one of the world’s most important graphic designers, recognises how our world is driven by data which is inextricably entwined in our lives and the importance that scientific data will play in our future.
“From a design field perspective, I think there’s going to be an incredible amount of communication that will need to be done in the world of science. If you look at a field of communication like entertainment, it is pretty much recognisable from where it was 20 years ago, but the field of science is not. There are so many new things going on, so many directions and I feel like many of them are going on without anybody noticing. So I think that there is an incredible amount of communication opportunities that need to be filled and I think that the people that fill them have fantastic chances of going very far.”
Liss A., Design Indaba 2014: Interview with Stefan Sagmeister [online] http://blog.artsthread. com/2014/03/design-indaba-2014-interview-stephan-sagmeister/
Research Question
“There can be no words without images” Aristotle
We have many problems in our society and the information and guidelines we are given to keep us healthy are mostly overlooked, science and the data, as commented on by Sagmeister, is a field where this especially needs to be addressed, promoted, understood and acted upon, to enable the audience to make better decisions in their life.
How can we communicate more effectively this data to inform the audience to take action?
I think information graphics and data visualisation should be at the forefront of effectively communicating this to its intended audience and want to explore audience reaction, understanding, appreciation, exploring different cultures, age groups, socio economic factors that can become barriers.
I aim to research creative avenues such as pattern generation, typography, colour theory and audience perception/appreciation through practical exploration into information graphics and data visualization and storytelling.
Theoretical Perspectives
I want to explore visual communication theories;
– Sensual theories; Gestalt, constructivism, ecological
– Perceptual theories; semiotics & cognitive
– Symbolic Interactionism – George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer, Carolyn Bloomer
Research Methodologies
“A psychologist, Jerome Bruner (as cited in Paul Martin Lester, 1994-1996) reveals that people remember a good 80% of things they see as compared to 20% to that they read and 10% of what they hear.
Jerome goes on to reveal that “training materials used by the federal government cite studies indicating that the retention of information is six times greater when presented in visual than oral and spoken means. The same materials also cite studies by educational researchers suggesting that 83% of human learning occurs visually” (as cited in Paul Martin Lester, 1994-1996).”
Collection of data about my presentation of data will be face-to-face surveys, on-line survey, interviews, social media, details of audience reaction and understanding as well as collecting their data. This will then inform further visualisation similar to the results of Emoto’s Olympic Games interaction.
Creative Practice
How can we present the information and statistics to engage our audience to take action.
I want to explore and analyse audience interaction with how data is presented, barriers to communication, viewed and used, social interaction and their expectations of how they perceive data/ statistics.
My creative design practice will be informed through practical exploration into information graphics, data visualisation and storytelling and influences by science and design practitioners.
I will need to creatively explore and present existing data in different ways (possibly focussing on medical statistics (stress, alcoholism/binge drinking and obesity) to present to different audience and collect my own data from this experience to further explore visual communication, barriers and ways to present information to aid understanding.
To bring a story to life in a way(s) that help improve decision making and ultimately helps the audience(s) make better decisions in their life and business.
“John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple Computers, Inc. is not afraid of the world’s dependence on images for communication. “We live in a visually intensive society,” he asserts and this directly links to information graphics and the emerging generation of data visualisation and story telling.”
Lester P. M., Ph.D. (2006) Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication [online] http://commfaculty.fullerton. edu/lester/writings/viscomtheory.html (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Future Everything – Data Arts looks at artworks and social innovations which use real time data. Future Everything worked with Emoto who captured and visualised the social media responses around the Olympic games on Twitter and produced an online visualisation they also produced a data sculpture which had individual heat maps projected onto it of the most interesting themes identified during the Games. The use of the technology and graphics produced as a result of this research is inspirational.
http://emoto2012.org (retrieved 28 June 2014)
As was the work of Mark Lombardi, whose produced the most interesting data visualisation that were beautiful and complelety contradicted the content, conspiracies, relationships, his data uncovered.
“Lombardi’s drawings outlining connections between people and organizations, which he called ‘Narrative Structures’ were the result of meticulous research and careful draftsmanship. He collected mentions of individuals, corporations, and government bodies from newspapers, indexes of books, and magazines, and catalogued this data on index cards – at one time he had more than 14,000 cards on file. He began using diagrams as a way to makes sense of this huge store of data, intending to put his discoveries together into writing; but the diagrams themselves quickly became his central form of output. These charts and maps are often extremely complex and typically focus on conspiracies.”
http://blog.blprnt.com/blog/blprnt/data-consipiracy-and-concept-mark-lombardi (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Field Work
Research and findings will be contextualised through field studies and studio based practice using various creative mediums, photography, printing, typography, vector based illustrations and possibly data visualisation programming.
I am very interested in an up and coming exhibition by artists and designers, concerning the collection, interpretation, manipulation of “Big Data” and the possibilities and restrictions that it presents.
“Big Data as a heterogenous matter, interweaving different strategies from media arts and design with questions of science and technology development as well as socio-cultural values will be explored in the project by the realisation of an extensive exhibition of invited but also commissioned works. It will be accompanied by an interdisciplinary program of events, a publication, and a website.”
The project is funded within the Pro Helvetia initiative “Digital Culture” and carried out in cooperation with the House of Electronic Arts Basel, TA-SWISS (Centre for Technology Assessment) and Opendata.ch (Swiss Chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation).”
[online] http://www.ixdm.ch/portfolio/exploring-data-cultures/ (retrieved 29 June 2014)
Possible Outcomes
My experiences, exploration and findings will be recorded in an on-going journal, sketchbooks, blog other social media. Research and practical exploration into theories, visual communication, information graphics, data visualisation and data storytelling will be explored and skills developed.
Collection of data to use in the creation of a new body of work that will be used as the basis for my initial research into audience and barriers to communication. Further body of work produced that is a result of the research and exploration. This may include print and/or on-line creative outcomes.
Audience data collection
I want to explore and analyse audience interaction with how data is presented, barriers to communication, interpretation and understanding, social interaction and their expectations of how they perceive data/statistics.
After presentation of existing data using different approaches, I will collect the audience responses through interviews, face-to-face surveys, questionnaires, online and social media interaction and this will inform further creative development.
Resource Requirements
Library access (Actioned – College library facilities)
Funding (Materials, Travel, Exhibitions)
Exhibition, Design Consultancies, Marketing Companies visits for research
Studio space (Existing)
Typography, digital and print facilities (College Resource)
Photographic workshop (College Resource and personal camera)
Gallery space (if required – to be researched)
Art materials (Some existing / Purchase as required)
Archival research (need to identify sources)
Indicative Bibliography
Lester P. M., Ph.D. (2006) Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication [online] http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/viscomtheory.html (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Lester P. M., Ph.D. (November 1995) Published in Computer Graphics Digital Literacy: Visual Communication and Computer Images (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Adler R. B., (2005) 13th Edition, Looking out, Looking in
Tierney E., (1998) 101 Ways to Better Communication
Lankow J., Ritchie J., Crooks R., (2012) Infographics; The Power of Visual Storytelling
Friendly M., (August 24 2009) Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization
Ball J., Byrnes F. C., (2004) Research, Principals and Practices in Visual Communication
Evans P., Thomas M., (2013) 3rd Edition, Exploring the Elements of Design
MTSU School of Journalism, Six Theories of Visual Commincaiton [online] http://mtsujournalism.org/vcom_materials/design/vcom.6_theories.pdf (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Williamsen Lisette, (March 7 2012) A journey Within, [online] http://lisettewillemsen.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/visual-communication-theories/ (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Karjaluoto E., (2014) The Design Method: A Philisophy and Process for functional visual communication
Tufte E. R., (2001) The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
Edward R. Tufte 1990, Envisioning Information
Government data hub: [online] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ (retrieved 28 June 2014)
The National Archives, Department of Health: [online] http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Smith C., Seven Barriers to Communication (2013) [online] http://opin.ca/article/seven-barriers-communication (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Linfoot J.S.K., 1996, Vol. 12, No. 4 , Pages 244-256 (doi:10.1080/07434619612331277708 Pictures as communication symbols for students with severe intellectual disability Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07434619612331277708?journalCode=aac Research Article [online] http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07434619612331277708?journalCode=aac (retrieved 30 June 2014)
Symbolic Interactionism Carolyn Bloomer’s
Bird S E., (2003) The Audience in Everyday Life: Living in a Media World
Design
Sagmeister S., Design agency, New York, [online] http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/news/ (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Stefan Sagmeister Communication and Design [online] http://www.nocturnaldesign.com/blog/?p=549 (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Catalogue tree Agency, Netherlands [online] http://www.catalogtree.net/ (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Threestory Studio; [online] http://www.threestory.com (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Ingogr8 – information design, data visualization agency, London [online] http://infogr8.com/ (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Bright North – Data Storytelling; [online] http://www.brightnorth.com (retrieved 28 June 2014)
Lund Jonas, 2013, The Fear of Missing Out [online] http://jonaslund.biz/works/the-fear-of-missing-out/ (retrieved 29 June 2014)
Malilika Rao, (2013) Controversial New Project uses Algorithm to Predict Art [online[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/jonas-lund-art-algorithm_n_4214211.html (retrieved 29 June 2014)
Beth Carruthers
Who To Involve
MA Personal Supervisor ( Advice / Ongoing support )
College Staff (Advice / Technical support / Ongoing support )
Personal Mentor / Friends / Family (Ongoing support / Advice )
Fellow students (Advice / Ongoing support / Collaborations )
Other designers/artists (Advice / Research / Collaborations )
Design agencies (Research support )
Libraries and Archives (Research Support )
Galleries and Museums (Research / Exhibition support )
Data visualisation, marketing agencies (Research Support )
Pitfalls and Assumptions
Time planning and research
Stress Management
Lecture in Design job vs MA commitments vs own business commitments
Technical workshop availability on other days
sarahbatesmablog 