Animating Science

How do we communicate ideas of cells that are "smaller than the wavelength of light".

Good question.

Visually communicating these concepts must be a real challenge as it needs to show what is happening in 3 dimensions at molecular level of things we understand, but can't actually see. This video shows neatly how scientists can use drawing, illustration and animation as part of their thinking process. I find that this is where real design communication comes into its own. Design and illustration has always been fundamental to a process of thinking and not 'showing off'. Of course we need to show our thinking and that's where the presentation of our thinking turns into animations or infographics.

Unfortunately many infographics (or infocrapics) get lost in the delivery of their own beauty rather than using relevant information to make clear by way of an illustration. These infographics aren't used to work out complex ideas into simpler, more easier to understand graphics, rather they use information to force an outcome which is purely attractive without substance.

Take for example the following:
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2012/top-21-albums-of-2011/

In an effort to make the Top 21 Albums of 2011 more visually attractive the 'designer' has used different sizes of the name of the album to relate how popular it is. In addition they have used different fonts to differentiate the albums. The trouble is that the names of these albums are of different length so this skews completely the weighting given to each name by increasing its size! Why do this instead of producing a list or a simple bar chart? The creator hasn't used this as a thinking aid or a communication aid rather as a source of self gratification. Amazingly the 'designer' quotes the original source which is a simple list, not much larger in size than the infographic, but which gives more information…

Let's think about how we communicate and communicate what we think.

New identity for Imperial War Museums

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/october/hat-tricks-new-identity-for-imperial-war-museums

Well, I don't get it. I appreciate that the IWM logo has to be versatile across the many sorts of media that the museums deal with but this doesn't do it for me. The idea that the logo needs to be strong to withstand use reversed out on stock photos, videos as well as regular corporate material lends itself to this BBC style design but I think it is left wanting. The proportions of the key stone element are unkind and the step up between the words is just silly. (Low voice) Imperial, (high voice) War,  (Low voice) Museums.

Like the idea of bringing the plural Museums into play to reflect the nationwide aspect and also the great vibrant colours used but overall feels quite unbalanced and Eye Double Ewe Em isn't that much less of a mouthful than Imperial War Museums…

Secrets of the Superbrands: tonight BBC3

Interesting looking documentary on BBC3 tonight regarding 'Superbrands' and how cunning marketing can get us to buy their stuff . How do these companies market their products and tap into our basic needs.

"With the help of marketeers, brain scientists and exclusive access to the world of the superbrands Alex sets out to find out why we buy them, trust them, even idolise them."

Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13416598

Programme page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011fjbp

The Beauty of Diagrams

BBC documentary spotlighting key diagrams through history. But this show about graphic representation isn't narrated by an artist or a designer, but the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy.

In this programme he looks at the visualisation of mathematical data, and in this case how something which may be seen as quite theoretical can give rise to an iconic diagram which fired the imagination of the public. It's not that the science behind the DNA was uninteresting but, as du Sautoy claims, the visualisation of the double helix has immediate appeal ("an attractive, marketable shape"). It was Crick's classically trained artist wife who translated the original diagram into the now famous diagram which first appeared in Nature magazine in 1953 and unwittingly led to a globally recognised and also commercialised diagram. In this process du Sautoy asks: does it enhance the understanding or, with its iconic status does it leave a vague idea of the 'essence' of life on us. Do we know what it really means? Or do we not even see past the structure...this DNA diagram illustrates 'life'. Is it overused? Is it over sold?

Watch it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wltpx

Programme was first shown on BBC Four, 8:30PM Thu, 16 Dec 2010.

It's also worth checking out du Sautoy's visually engaging (if annoyingly noisy) website too:

Corporate identity designs: portfolio

Peter Florjancic

Interesting article here describing some of the hits and misses of this prolific, if little known, inventor: "Peter Florjancic: Slovenian inventor extraordinaire"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13048155

But if you think the profession of inventor is an easy one of sitting in your shed waiting for ideas to pop into your head, think again. Florjancic says "The profession of inventor forced me to spend 25 years in hotels, four years in cars, three years on trains, a year and a half on airplanes and a year on board of ships"...

http://bit.ly/hKg1oH

Geeks R Us.....

The annual Maker Faire in Newcastle showcases whacky and new inventions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12893426

Gerd Arntz-inventor of the icon and the Audi A1 advert

Love the Audi A1 poster advert I've seen around. To me it's a cheeky reference to Gerd Arnts the 'inventor' of the icon. Check out Arntz's website which outlines his life. Note that he developed the ISOTYPE: the International System of Typographic Picture Education which laid the foundations of what we might now call the icon.

Signage at Duxford

With new printing technology comes the ability to make large format, graphics-rich signage and IWM Duxford's new system is a fine example of this.

Below is the welcome sign which greets you at the main entry near the gift shop. This gives an instant overview without being overwhelming, I find. They've used military colours without making it feel drab. Love the air force yellow you see as a highlight colour.

Check out the detail here on one of the triangular sectioned markers which are found dotted around: The screws have been painted so as not to jump out too much. At the top of the photo below you see a photo with 'camouflaged' screw head. Neat.

Next iteration: animated/video screen information points!