BRIEF:COLLECTIONS/IDN/volume 15 number 4/infographics issue

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IDN INFOGRAPHICS ISSUE ISSUE

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"A lot of designers regard the practice of infographics as dull and boring — but this is almost certainly because they've never tried it. The 10 we spoke to, and whose work we've used to illustrate this feature, love what they do and believe it offers as big a challenge and as great a satisfaction as any other kind of design."

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Interview with jonathan harris( selected questions and answers)

IDn:Would you briefly describe the creative working process of one of your works?

Jh:"MY process is always the same .I start with a topic, a theme an idea i want to explore.then i find out a way to gather data about this topic (either from the web, from other people, or from my own personal experience). Then i process, classify, analyse and store that data. Then i imagine an appropriate way to present that data (trying to make sure it's simple, universal and playful), working out my ideas on paper. I do almost all my design on paper. I only take to the computer at the last moment, to execute my ideas. There is invariably iteration in this process. Sometimes, i will throw out several months worth of work if i get a better idea. You have to be true to the idea"


interview with peter Crnokrak

IDn:YOu said that you "you do not present solutions;instead you pose solutions;instead you pose questions". can you expand on that a little?

"Information graphics' primary purpose is to inform. In many cases, the goal is to simplify complex data into understandable visual representations using symbols that can be universally interpreted. But in the process of informing, one's interest in the presentation must be piqued - this can be done strictly through visual means(what forms are chosen and what are not), but it can be done through structuring of the data in a careful manner that leads one to explore. Exploration is best facilitated by encouraging or even forcing the viewer to ask questions: why this versus that? This is what i mean by 'pose questions' - sometimes the most effective design is one that is not direct or simple as much approaches can be so bland that they are dismissed by the viewer entirely"