Category: Information Graphics

Information Graphics

San Francisco’s Graphic Parking Advice

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Anyone who has ever driven in San Francisco knows how hard it is to find parking, metered or otherwise. San Francisco drivers regularly pray to the “parking gods” and sometimes feel obligated to eat at a certain restaurant — “the food is so-so, but the parking is good” — simply because there’s an open spot nearby. This situation is exacerbated because the hills are so steep that it’s preferable to use a quarter tank of gas looking for parking than having to walk up or down hill. Now the city is trying to guide drivers to open spots by graphically showing them open spaces on their mobile phones. They claim that the parking map is updated every five minutes. Ha! Since when did a parking space stay open for a full five minutes in San Francisco! Many of us are beyond skeptical, but a designer in Kit’s office says that he has tried SFPark and it works.

Information Graphics

Graphically Evoking Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Our musical notation system follows a convention that dates back centuries. By reading it, musicians can get an aural sense of melody, tempo and all the other instructions on how the score should be played. But what if the notations were shown in graphically different colors and dot sizes? This is a study done by graphic designer Laia Clos of Mot Studio in Barcelona. Clos explains that the self-initiated project started with a woman in her studio who has a knowledge of music. From there, they created a new graphic musical notation system called “SisTeMu,” which translates a musical score into simple geometric forms and basic printing colors, exploring the rhythmic and melodic harmonies found in the musical composition. The system somewhat simplifies the complexity and mathematical structure, making it accessible to the viewer through a visual narrative. For their first translation, they used the musical data for the lead violin part of Antonio Vivaldi’s baroque concerto, “The Four Seasons” (or “Lesquartrestacions”). In addition to producing a booklet documenting how to read the SisTeMu system, Mot Studio created limited edition posters of each concerto (or season) and a set of postage stamps, which you can order from Mot’s website http://tomedicions.bigcartel.com/.

Clos presented graphic extracts of her musical notation system on postage stamps, part of a limited print run of 300. The postage value is equivalent to Spain’s regular national charter.

Design Communications

SNS Reaal’s Summary Annual Report… the Movie

By Delphine Hirasuna |

When Dutch financial company SNS Reaal produced an online only annual report, it had its designer Fabrique summarize the salient points in a simple 2 and a half minute film. No fancy computer graphics, no elaborate sets, no fuzzy corporate-speak, just three ordinary-looking people walking viewers through who they are, what they do and how they performed in 2010. The complete annual is presented just as simply, incorporating functions that let readers make a custom pdf of just the pages or paragraphs that they want to keep for reference. The first test of transparent reporting: make it understandable.

Information Graphics

Numbers Are All Relative

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Computers and the Internet have made it possible to crunch data every which way so that we know exactly how much is spent on gift cards, military defense, Medicare and erectile dysfunction. But like so much else on the Internet, it is hard to know what to make of this glut of disparate information. British journalist David McCandless, author of the book “The Visual Miscellaneum” and the blog InformationIsBeautiful.net, is using infographics to help us make sense of it all. His solution to the information overload is to “use our eyes more.” McCandless has managed to use shapes, patterns, colors and space to map information, show relative scale, focus attention on information that is meaningful. Through juxtaposition of colored boxes, viewers can see correlations and connections between numbers that often would not normally be shown on the same spreadsheet. A whole lot of knowledge can be condensed into a very small space, and reviewing it can be effortless, relaxing and fun.


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