ALTERNATIVE DATA MAPPING STRATEGIES

The Detroit Collaborative Design Center invited students at Harvard’s Graduate School

of Design (where I was cross-registered) to produce a set of maps for a forthcoming

publication aimed at visualizing undderrecognized geographic patterns in the city’s built

form, history, culture and politics. The publication is to be inexpensively produced

and distributed freely to city residents in an effort to counter an overabundance of

discouraging and incomplete data on population and income loss. My approach began

with Harvard’s 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, a general conclusion

of which was that measures of social capital decreased nationwide with reported income.

Knowing anecdotally that, in the absence of traditional civic structure, many Detroiters

for the Survey’s Detroit sample. Using GIS, I mapped respondents’ group memberships

by reported income and further disaggregated responses to reveal uneven correlations

between the two variables. I produced a series of illustrative diagrams to convey the

differences between responses both quantatitively and qualitatively.

EXPANDING USE OF GIS TO PRODUCE REPRESENTATIONS

OF DETROIT, ITS PATTERNS, ASSETS AND POTENTIALS

BASIC  PRINCIPLES  OF

GRAPHIC  DESIGNPLAN601E VERBAL AND VISUAL: INFORMATION GRAPHICS (SESSION 2)

ACTIVITY ICONS, WATER CONNECTIONS, GREEN CONNECTIONS, TRANSIT STATIONS, TREES, BUILDINGS, PAVEMENT EDGES, WATER

EAST RIVER ESPLANADE PLAN NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION / SHOP ARCHITECTS

LAYERS help you think about what information you want to communicate and what graphic elements you need.

JOURNALISTS USE THE MODEL OF AN “INVERTED PYRAMID” TO ORGANIZE INFORMATION IN NEWS STORIES.

THE INVERTED PYRAMID

HIERARCHY provides a route for the eye to follow and assigns an order of importance to each graphic element.

FONT SIZE

Very ImportantImportant

Less Important

Least Important

COLOR HUE LINE WEIGHT

VISUAL HIERARCHY

THERE ARE MANY GRAPHIC ELEMENTS THAT CREATE VISUAL HIERARCHY.

HIERARCHY provides a route for the eye to follow and assigns an order of importance to each graphic element.

WHERE DOES YOUR EYE GO FIRST?

WHERE DOES IT GO FROM THERE?

WHAT DO YOU NOTICE LAST?

WHAT GRAPHIC ELEMENTS CREATE VISUAL HIERARCHY?

DOES THE HIERARCHY COMMUNITY A CLEAR IDEA?

HIERARCHY provides a route for the eye to follow and assigns an order of importance to each graphic element.

FUTURE OF GREENWICH STREET SOUTH, DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE / ARO

EQUIDISTANT COLORS

ADJACENT COLORS

COMPLEMENTARY COLORS

MONOCHROMATIC COLORS

COLOR helps to create hierarchy by emphasizing graphic elements and associating elements with information.

THE COLOR WHEEL

THERE ARE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO SELECTING A COLOR PALETTE.

COLOR helps to create hierarchy by emphasizing graphic elements and associating elements with information.

“MILLION DOLLAR BLOCKS”, SPATIAL INFORMATION DESIGN LAB

MONOCHROMATIC BACKGROUND WITH HIGHLIGHT COLOR EMPHASIZING A SINGLE ELEMENT.

COLOR helps to create hierarchy by emphasizing graphic elements and associating elements with information.

PLANYC 2030, MAYOR’S OFFICE OF LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY / TWO TWELVE

EQUIDISTANT COLORS LEAD YOUR EYE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT.

COLOR helps to create hierarchy by emphasizing graphic elements and associating elements with information.

NYU PLANS 2031, NYU OFFICE OF STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT, PLANNING, AND DEVELOPMENT / 2 X 4

COMPLEMENTARY COLORS EMPHASIZE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO ELEMENTS.

COLOR helps to create hierarchy by emphasizing graphic elements and associating elements with information.

PLANYC 2030, MAYOR’S OFFICE OF LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY / TWO TWELVE

COMPLEMENTARY COLORS MAKE SOME ELEMENTS “POP” MORE THAN OTHERS.

PANTONE helps to choose a palette of colors that work together and makes printing more predictable.

CHOOSE COLORS FROM PANTONE SOLID UNCOATED – AVOID RANDOMLY SELECTING COLORS WITH THE COLOR PICKER.

COLOR PICKING

SCALE helps to create hierarchy using size to distinguish one element from its surroundings.

SCALE

SCALE helps to create hierarchy using size to distinguish one element from its surroundings.

“MAPPING ISTANBUL,” PROJECT PROJECTS

SCALE CAN LEAD YOUR EYE ACROSS THE IMAGE AND HELP TO MAKE COMPARISONS.

SCALE helps to create hierarchy using size to distinguish one element from its surroundings.

NYU PLANS 2031, NYU OFFICE OF STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT, PLANNING, AND DEVELOPMENT / 2 X 4

SCALING FONTS DRAWS ATTENTION TO THE MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER.

REPETITION holds together the composition of a graphic and can help to communicate a narrative.

HOLDING BACKGROUND ELEMENTS CONSTANT IS A GOOD WAY TO SHOW CHANGE OVER TIME.

EAST RIVER ESPLANADE PLAN NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION / SHOP ARCHITECTS

REPETITION holds together the composition of a graphic and can help to communicate a narrative.

REPETITION CAN BE USED TO MAKE COMPARISONS – EDWARD TUFTE CALLS THESE “SMALL MULTIPLES”.

“PUBLIC HOUSING: A NEW CONVERSATION”, BUELL CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE, MTWTF

REPETITION holds together the composition of a graphic and can help to communicate a narrative.

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO TAKE MUCH REPETITION TO COMMUNICATE A COMPELLING IDEA...

SPONGE PARK, DLAND STUDIO

BALANCE happens when there is a hierarchy, but no one graphic element has more “visual weight” than another.

IN A CAT’S CRADLE, EACH LINE SEGMENT IS HELD IN TENSION WITH THE REST...

THE RULE OF THIRDS SAYS THAT THE EYE LIKES TO SEE IMAGES AND LAYOUTS BROKEN INTO A GRID 3 X 3 GRID AND ITS NATURAL FOCAL POINT IS OFF-CENTER.

GRIDS are important for laying-out boards or arranging elements in a supergraphic.

LAYOUT AND GRIDS

1) PAGE MARGINS

2) VERTICAL COLUMNS

3) HORIZONTAL ROWS

4) SPACE BETWEEN TYPE OR IMAGES (GUTTER)

GRIDS are important for laying-out boards or arranging elements in a supergraphic.

LAYOUT AND GRIDS

4

1

2

3

4

1

3

GRIDS are important for laying-out boards or arranging elements in a supergraphic.

1) PAGE MARGINS

2) VERTICAL COLUMNS

3) HORIZONTAL ROWS

4) SPACE BETWEEN TYPE OR IMAGES (GUTTER)

“VENDOR POWER”, CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGY

2

4

1

2

3

1) PAGE MARGINS

2) VERTICAL COLUMNS

3) HORIZONTAL ROWS

4) SPACE BETWEEN TYPE OR IMAGES (GUTTER)

“VENDOR POWER”, CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGY

GRIDS are important for laying-out boards or arranging elements in a supergraphic.

Sabon Rockwell

Helvetica  NeueCooper

Garamond Myriad Pro

GOOD SERIF FONTS GOOD SANS-SERIF FONTS

TYPOGRAPHY is important for establishing hierarchy and making presentations legible.

TYPOGRAPHY

HELVETICA   NEUESabon luptat ra qui numquo eari

dolore etur sandae nonsequo

mint. Genit ipsam fugitectem

doluptam es si id ut velicim aciur,

simusandis enet audae dessinc

tatiuntotat moluptur, solupis

essimag niendam autem fuga.

HELVETICA  NEUE

Helvetica  Neue

Helvetica  Neue

HELVETICA  NEW

HEADER  AND  TEXT LABELS

TYPOGRAPHY is important for establishing hierarchy and making presentations legible.

TYPOGRAPHY

CHOOSE ONE SERIF FONT FOR RUNNING TEXT AND ONE SANS-SERIF FONT FOR HEADERS AND LABELS; A VARIETY OF SIZES, DISPLAY TYPES, AND TINTS ADDS VISUAL INTEREST TO THE PRESENTATION.