The Design of Nothing (2017)

The Design of NothingAndy Kirk

[email protected]

@visualisingdata

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What IS NOT happening is just as relevant as what IS

The defiance of August Landmesser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Landmesser

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Visualisation by New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/upshot/what-good-marathons-and-bad-investments-have-in-common.html

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Statistics: Describe what’s there

Visualisation: Shows what’s there & what’s not there


Paraphrasing Ben Schneiderman

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The challenge of designing different types of ‘nothingness’

Visualisation by FT Data https://www.ft.com/election-results-2017

Data representation

Annotation

Colour

Composition

{Interactivity}

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Mapping America, by New York Times GraphicsThe challenge of designing different types of ‘nothingness’

Mapping Immigrant America, by Kyle Walker http://personal.tcu.edu/kylewalker/immigrant-america/#

What are the gaps? No data, no land, no immigrants, no people?

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Measurements of Car Speeds in the Netherlands, by Erik Boertjes http://erikboertjes.com/

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Zero cars

Zero speed

No data?


Measurements of Car Speeds in the Netherlands, by Erik Boertjes http://erikboertjes.com/

Empty space

NULL ZERO EMPTY INVISIBLE

NULLNo data: When nothing means something

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Data darkness: We are now not used to not knowing

Image from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26659951

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Data darkness: We are now not used to not knowing

Billionaires, by Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/

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Data darkness: Deficiency to drive action

Image from http://i-remember.fr/en

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Image from http://hungerreport.org/missingdata/

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Lost Mothers, by ProPublica https://www.propublica.org/article/lost-mothers-maternal-health-died-childbirth-pregnancy

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Metadata of Australian prints and printmaking, by Mitchell Whitelaw http://printsandprintmaking.gov.au/explore/decade-summary/

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State of the Polar Bear, by Periscopic http://pbsg.npolar.no/en/dynamic/app/

“A statement to Russia to release the data”

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Embrace the gaps, don’t be derailed

Rising Prices at the Pump, by New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/20070524_REFINERY_GRAPHIC.html

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Holiday chill?, by South China Morning Post Graphics https://officeofjane.com/projects/holidaychill/

“No data recorded between 1940 & 1946”

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West-Wide Economic Atlas, by Headwaters Economics http://headwaterseconomics.org/interactive/west-wide-atlas

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https://twitter.com/leethommo/status/844825118106800132

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Challenges of colour classifications for nothing

The Lowest-Profile State Department in 45 Years, by TheUpshothttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/01/upshot/lowest-profile-state-department-in-decades.html

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America’s Growing News Deserts, by CJR https://www.cjr.org/local_news/american-news-deserts-donuts-local.php

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Gay Rights by Type, by The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2012/may/08/gay-rights-united-states

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‘Where is it Illegal to be Gay?’ by BBC News Graphics http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25927595

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How the 'Avengers' Line-up Has Changed Over the Years, by Jon Keegan http://graphics.wsj.com/avengers-team/

Yet to appear vs. not

appearing?

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‘Something’ becoming ‘nothing’

101 Yellow Jerseys of Paris, by SCMP http://www.scmp.com/infographics/article/1561132/101-yellow-jerseys-paris

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Image from https://mobile.twitter.com/jonbir90/status/893947320554881024

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Image from The Slot https://theslot.jezebel.com/we-redacted-everything-thats-not-a-verifiably-true-stat-1793571837

“In the transcript, we have redacted everything that is not verifiably true. What remains is everything the

president said that is definitely true”

ZERONo value: Something to represent nothing

Image from http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2014/03/banksy-vancouver-nobody-likes-me/

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Lots to learn from nothing

Nobody Lives Here, by Nik Freeman http://mapsbynik.tumblr.com/post/82791188950/nobody-lives-here-the-nearly-5-million-census

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From Pyramid to Kite, by The EconomistLots to learn from nothing

From Pyramid to Kite, by The Economist http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/japans_population

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RFID Tags Track Possible Outbreak Pathways in the Hospital, by Jan Willem Tulphttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=rfid-tags-track-possible-outbreak-pathways-in-hospital

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Visualisation by BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38762034

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Interpretations of zero often formed by knowledge

Ship Map, by Kiln https://www.shipmap.org/

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Mapping America, by New York Times GraphicsInterpretations of zero often formed by knowledge

NASA space station view of Mount Etna, via Rob Simmon https://twitter.com/rsimmon/status/406433840807165952/photo/1

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Mapping America, by New York Times GraphicsInterpretations of zero often formed by knowledge

Cholera Outbreak Map, by John Snow http://johnsnow.matrix.msu.edu/book_images12.php

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Interpretations of zero often formed by knowledge

Images from https://mauriceabarry.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/the-armour-goes-in-unexpected-places/& http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/09/counterintuitive-world/

“What you really want to do is armor up the areas that don’t have any bullet

holes. Why? Because planes with bullet holes in those places never made it back. That’s why you don’t see any

bullet holes on the ones that do return.”

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The Uniform Distribution, by Dark Horse AnalyticsInterpretations of zero often formed by knowledge

The Uniform Distribution, by Darkhorse Analytics http://darkhorseanalytics.com/blog/the-uniform-distribution/

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Male US Presidents Female US Presidents

Challenge (1): Hierarchical displays

Why do the Supreme Court’s decisions on gay marriage matter to you? By the Washington Posthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/your-own-words/scotus-gay-marriage/

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Challenge (2): Distinguishing between zero and nearly zero

Hewlett Foundation Grants, by Periscopic http://works.periscopic.com/hewlett/

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How Popular is Your Birthday? by Matt Stiles http://thedailyviz.com/2016/09/17/how-common-is-your-birthday-dailyviz/

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Geography of a Recenssion, by New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html

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Wind Map, by Hint FM http://hint.fm/wind/

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Fukushima, by NZZ/Interactive Things http://fukushima.nzz.ch/#die-schulleiterin

This page is left intentionally blank

EMPTYUtilising the nothingness of blank space

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The art of nothing

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUrTRjEXjSM&feature=youtu.be

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The art of nothing

Image from https://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2017/aug/09/running-times-when-to-go-for-a-pee-during-classic-movies

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The art of nothing

Images from http://www.musicstack.com/records-cds/andy+kirk

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The art of nothing

JERRY

GEORGE

ELAINE

KRAMER

Jerry'sfamily

Elaine'sfamily

Loveinterest

Friend/Acquaintance

Neighbour

Workcolleague

Other

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The art of nothing

Video from https://vimeo.com/88077122

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“The single most overlooked element in visual design is emptiness… [but] space must look deliberately used.”

Alex White

Visual punctuation

Quote from ‘The Elements of Graphic Design’ by Alex White, pg 65

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This Page Intentionally Left BlankVisual punctuation

http://www.this-page-intentionally-left-blank.org/whythat.html

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Lunge Feeding, by Jonathan CorumVisual punctuation

Lunge Feeding, by Jonathan Corum http://13pt.com/projects/nyt071211/Iraq’s Bloody Toll, by Simon Scarr http://graphics-info.blogspot.hk/2012/09/malofiej-20-look-at-our-participation.html

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Emptiness for narrative effect

Images from https://twitter.com/jacklang/status/486838697657384960 & https://twitter.com/tomforbesGC/status/480733506826678272

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Emptiness for narrative effect

http://deadspin.com/todays-lebron-cover-of-the-new-york-times-sports-sectio-1603989001

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Nigeria Polio Cases Drop 50 Percent in 2013, by Voice of AmericaEmptiness for narrative effect

Visualisation from VOA News http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-polio-cases-drop-50-percent/1776099.html

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New York Time Op-Ed, Out of Control, by Brian StaufferEmptiness for narrative effect

Illustrations and designs by Brian Stauffer from http://brianstauffer.com/portfolio_page/missing-malaysian-jet/and https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/opinion/out-of-control.html

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TITLEThe Depth of the Problem, by The Washington Post GraphicsEmptiness for scaling effect

The Depth of the Problem, by Washington Post http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/the-depth-of-the-problem/931/How High Can a Missile Reach? by Washington Post http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/world/how-high-can-a-missile-reach/1195/

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Emptiness for scaling effect

Visualisation by Reuters http://blogs.reuters.com/data-dive/2013/12/10/gms-new-ceo-is-another-small-crack-in-the-glass-ceiling/ Visualisation by Francis Gagnon http://www.chezvoila.com/blog/glass-ceiling

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Emptiness for scaling effect

Image from http://kottke.org/06/07/independent-infographic

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Exploiting empty space

Brisk Job Gains Ease Fed’s Path, by Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-employers-add-271-000-jobs-1446816737

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Rethinking Detroit, by National Geographic http://www.visualisingdata.com/2016/04/little-visualisation-design-part-14/

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Nobels No Degrees, by Accurat Studio for Corriere della Sera https://www.behance.net/gallery/14159439/Nobel-no-degrees

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Visualisation by Die Zeit http://www.zeit.de/mobilitaet/2017-02/bus-bahn-oeffentlicher-nahverkehr-studie-grafiken

INVISIBLEWhat’s not visible and what can we learn from it?

Image from http://cementeclipses.com/

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“This is one of the first questions we should ask about any dataset: what is missing? What can we learn from the gaps?”

Jer Thorp

The invisibility of what is NOT shown/included

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International New York Times (22/23 March 2014)https://twitter.com/AleemMaqbool/status/447306090087452672/photo/1 & https://twitter.com/QasimNauman/status/447277789121495040/photo/1

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Photos taken from http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jul/05/diego-maradona-belgium-famous-photo & http://neilleifer.com/portfolio/

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'Is Terrorism Getting Worse? In the West, Yes. In the World, No, by New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/upshot/is-terrorism-getting-worse-in-the-west-yes-in-the-world-no.html

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https://twitter.com/andreainsunza/status/450806179862548480/photo/1

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Are ALL countries included?

What do the blanks mean?

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Visualisation by New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/09/sports/olympics/2016-08-09-olympics-phelps-vs-phelps.html

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Donald Trump’s Insults, by TheUpshot https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html

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FinViz http://finviz.com/map.ashx

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Baby Names since 1904, by ONS http://visual.ons.gov.uk/baby-names-since-1904-how-has-yours-performed/

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Visualisation by LA Times Graphics http://graphics.latimes.com/kobe-every-shot-ever/

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Invisibility of interpreting: Thinking beyond what you see

Perceiving Interpreting

What does it mean?Is it good or bad?

Meaningful or insignificant?Unusual or expected?

What does it show?Where is big, medium, small?

How do things compare?What relationships exist?

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“For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.”

E. Hemingway


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Advert for Corre Cutia Bookstore, by Lápisraro Comunicação http://www.adeevee.com/2012/03/corre-cutia-bookstore-catchy-stories-print/

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Map produced by Ben Schmidt http://sappingattention.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/reading-digital-sources-case-study-in.html

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https://londonist.com/2016/08/is-it-true-that-only-six-people-died-in-the-great-fire

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“The clearest, most precise graphic in the world communicates nothing if nobody looks at it”

Fernanda Viegas, Martin Wattenberg

Other invisibles! (1) Nothing seen

Quote from http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/19/sexy.data/index.html?_s=PM:OPINION

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Wood Changes, by Luis Carli and Rafael Passarelli

“The best design is invisible; the viewer should not see your design. They should only see your content.”

Edward Tufte

“You know you’ve achieved perfection in design, not when you have nothing more to add,

but when you have nothing more to take away.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Other invisibles! (2) The invisibility of design

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“Guidance to the user is needed most at the moment the statistics are first made public. The news media look to the

statistical release to provide an objective account of the statistics. They may regard the absence of such text as indicative of partisan influence. Saying nothing is not

necessarily politically neutral.”

Richard Alldritt, UK Statistics Authority

Other invisibles! (3) Say something, not nothing

Quote from http://www.statsusernet.org.uk/blogs/richard-alldritt/2012/05/17/a-word-about-numbers

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Where’s Ukraine?, via Washington Post ‘Monkey Cage’Other invisibles! (4) About many things do people know nothing

The less Americans know about Ukraine’s location, the more they want U.S. to intervene, by the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/07/the-less-americans-know-about-ukraines-location-the-more-they-want-u-s-to-intervene/

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There is always something in nothing.

The Design of NothingAndy Kirk

[email protected]

@visualisingdata