Data Visualisation, Infographics, and Art

I spent this week looking up various articles and websites in an attempt to discern the differences and similarities between these different formats.  The amount of information available is quite large, and so I have tried to condense these down so that we all have a decent understanding of the formats.  

There is much less information available on data art as it is quite subjective, but previous blog posts have actually covered some different installations and exhibitions of data art.

Data visualisation is viewed by many disciplines as a modern equivalent of visual communication, and is concerned with the visualisation of quantitative data in a way that it can be more easily understood.  It is not owned by any one field, but instead finds different interpretations across mulitple different fields.  It is extremely useful when trying to convey and make sense of large quantities of data.

"Data visualization is both an art and a science. The rate at which data is generated has increased, driven by an increasingly information-based economy. Data created by internet activity and an expanding number of sensors in the environment, such as satellites and traffic cameras, are referred to as "Big Data". Processing, analyzing and communicating this data present a variety of ethical and analytical challenges for data visualization"

This visualisation can be done in various ways across these different fields, from simple bar graphs, to intricate artistic interpretations, whilst still being considered to be under the umbrella of data visualisation. 

This leaves one to try and make the distinction between data art,  visualisation, and simple infographics.

"Infographics are generally created for the purpose of telling or explaining a specific story, and will usually be intended for a specific audience, thus Infographics are subjective. They are self contained and discrete: it is information presented with context; sensitivity designed and presented in a way that is accessible for an audience. The graphic design of an Infographic will be obvious; as it will be designed for that audience, or to fit in with a website or off-line publication's pre-existing style."

Last FM Top Artist Visualisation

Above is a visualisation/infographics of top artist plays from the music streaming website last.fm, from March 2008 to March 2014.  Both top artists and genres are displayed in a creative yet informative fashion.

Mouse Tracking Visualisation

Above is a representation of mouse movements on a screen across a day. Lines trace the path of the mouse across the screen, while circles represent idling time. The images reveal differences in each user's mousing behavior.  

- Popular Science Magazine, January 2015

Data Visualisations are far more likely to be generated automatically through the use of algorithms or computer programs. The process that is used to create them could be applied to another data set. 

They are likely to be presented without context.  The system of organising the data will perhaps be proprietary, and it is this system itself that becomes the interface that the data is accessed through. The data itself becomes its own architecture. The graphic design of it (in the sense of the look and the feel) will likely be deliberately less obvious, and take a back seat to the data itself.