04 March 2014

The form of Data



TUFTE – “Sparklines: Intense, Simple, Word-Sized Graphics”
Ben Otten
  1. What is so successful about the Baseball sparkline example?
  2. Sparklines are datawords: Data ______ , Design ______  and ______ - sized graphics.
  3. Tufte describes sparklines as small, high-resolution graphics usually embedded in a full context of words, numbers and images. What are some examples of what sparklines can be used for both in the book and from your own experience?
  4. What is the rule of thumb for sizing a statistical graphic sparkline?
  5. What are the three programs required to produce a successful sparkline?
  6. What should always be the focus of a sparkline?
TUFTE – “Parallelism”
Jesse Duchon
  1. Tufte provides examples of parallelism in space and in time. We see an architectural example using before and after photos of a Humphry Repton remodel. Is parallelism still used today? How is it used in today’s architectural realm?
  2. Can parallelism be used in any other aspect besides photography or imagery? Such as real life or first person interactions.
  3. Here’s one possible example of a Computer companion graphic. Can you think of any others? Cell phones?  Signage in your daily life?

  1. In “Rock and Roll is here to Pay: The History and Politics of  the Music Industry,” What else besides overlaying multiple flows of music and artist make the image so successful? Think about “Divergent Perspective”as mentioned in the text.

  1. What is successful about the Salyut 6 Space Flight diagram? What is unsuccessful? How did the use of the diagram change from its original purpose?

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