Like
many of my classmates this week, I found the materials we covered in class a
bit challenging to absorb. I usually have no trouble gravitating towards a
particular portion of our lesson to write about in my field journal, and I
enjoy doing research and thinking about subjects I either already know about
and can share my opinion on, or others that I know little about but take time
to research and share. This week I hit a
bit of writer’s block however.
I
spent time going over the chapters again, and the one image that resonated the
most was image 17-58 on page 367 in Megg’s
History of Graphic Design– it is the image shown above, an infographic
designed by Herbert Bayer in 1953 for the World
Geo-Graphic Atlas. I think the
reason this image was the most interesting to me as opposed to the dozens of
others in our reading this week is because of the colors used, the organization
of information and symbols and diagrams that Bayer incorporated. I love reading all the sidebars of bits of
information and I enjoy the color coding and details these designs incorporate. Bayer's new map / infographic was pioneering a new method of delivering information by combining diagrams and assembled information into a new, innovative design that moved away from the traditional maps found in atlases for years.
Steven Heller wrote a great article for PRINT Mag about Bayer and had this wonderful summary of his work :
"The 1953 World Geo-Graphic Atlas, published by Walter
Paepcke’s Container Corporation of America (CCA), is a monument to
Bayer’s singular vision, a precursor to current trends in information
design, and an example of how complex data can be made accessible."
Modern
use of these infographics is alive and well – especially online and in print (newspapers
and magazines in particular). After all, we live in a digital era where being able to have instant access to information in a way that is organized and visually appealing is far more interesting than tedious reading and gathering of information. This blog offers insight on the appeal of infographics and how to create a balance between design and data. and I found some infographics that are quite a bit more recent
than Bayer’s that I found both interesting and entertaining and included some samples above. This website has a great list of popular and award winning infographics from a couple of years ago.
I really enjoy
this type of graphic design. In fact, my husband and I recently got married and
incorporated an infographic as our save the date card. The one shown below isn't ours, but you get the idea. It's found here on the Wedding Paper Divas wedding invitation website. They have quite a few new designs that are also infographics, so the idea must be popular and appealing to their customer base, and as Steven Heller pointed out in Herbert Bayer's work, infographics like these make information much more accessible (and more fun in my opinion).
This choice was made well before
taking this course, and I had no idea what I was looking at at the time – just that
we were both drawn to the design, images and symbols and we both thought it was
an informative and fun option – and one that I found very visually appealing. I would love to go
forward in my career as a graphic designer and have people find the same qualities
in my work. After all, graphic design is about communicating and sharing
information, so why not make it fun, enjoyable and memorable? I think if a project can incorporate all of those elements it must be considered a successful graphic design.
Sources:
http://nowsourcing.com/2011/12/29/best-infographics-of-2011/ - Images of infographics (wedding, new year and google)
http://blog.crazyegg.com/2012/02/22/infographics-how-to-strike-the-elusive-balance-between-data-and-visualization/ - Information about modern use of infographics
http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/shop/magnets--save-the-date-cards.htm - Images of save the date cards
http://www.printmag.com/imprint/herbert-bayer-world-geo-graphic-atla/ - article about Herbert Bayer
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