Are we still feeling fine?

Murray GM January 27, 2019

It’s been well over a decade since Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar created the We Feel Fine project. This book of the project is from 2009 but the work started way back in 2005 when they first built the system and started to collect the images and statements from personal blogs. Remember this was pre Twitter, it was all personal blog sites, MySpace, early Facebook. We were in the ‘golden age’ of social broadcasting when we still talked about the ‘blogosphere’. Back then it was about personal content creation and publishing more than conversion and social response.

We Feel Fine, like all great ideas, was a simple one. Crawl the blogosphere and collect any sentence that contained “I am feeling“ or “I feel” in the post. If there was an image in the post overlay the sentence on the image (yep, it was pre Instagram too). You end up with a dataset that captured how (those who felt they could post it online) were feeling. So simple, it’s beautiful.

The site they created to explore the data was one of the first truly wonderful pieces of social analytics. The mix of deeply personal content with a very rich dimensionality made it fascinating to delve into, but it was the scale that was most surprising. They captured almost 13 million feeling statements from over 2 million individuals and they had a wealth of metadata attached to each of these. This is a long time before you could easily access large social media datasets by API or find a dump of one to download. It’s still online at http://wefeelfine.org/ but needs Java to run (which dates it almost as much as needing Flash), but you can look at the summary data without it here: http://wefeelfine.org/findings.html. It’s a great example of designing data to engage the user and drive exploration.

The book (which has been on my shelf for almost 10 years), is a loverly piece of design. It chronicles the project, the design decisions and explores the data. I have a feeling this is one of those pieces that will be looked back upon in years to come as a catalyst for the genre - should definitely be on design curriculums by now. For me it kickstarted the social analytics and data visualisation trend, and reflected that particular need to surface and explore the data around our actions and activities take take place in the digital realm.

Also, It really was a catalyst for me. I’d been in digital media for a long time at that point, mostly web design and marketing and was getting very disillusioned with what the commercial web had become. This project opened my eyes to the beauty of data and how the fluidity and variance of it opened up amazing creative possibilities. Since then I’ve been working almost exclusively in or around data and analytics projects and software.

Here are some spreads from the book.

As for whether we still feel fine, I’m not so sure. The social media platforms have morphed into something way beyond what was anticipated 15 years ago. What was then a broadcast model has become a global and instant feedback loop. Every feeling posted is up for immediate scrutiny and instant debate. Every post is plundered, analysed, aggregated and fed back to us. Wrapped in new messages and agendas by those who wish to influence our actions. There was something honest about the We Feel Fine project that I don’t think anyone would say about a single social analytics project created in the last 5 years.

But enough of that.

I’ll leave you with the wonderful final page from the book:

The Glorious Data Visualisations of Kohei Sugiura

Murray GM March 17, 2018

It's taken me a while to post this and I know a few people have been eager to see the contents, so here it is:

『時間のヒダ、空間のシワ … [時間地図]の試み：杉浦康平ダイアグラムコレクション』
or
Experiments in "Time Distance Map": Diagram Collection by Kohei Sugiura

I saw this on the brilliant Instagram account: Collectible from HongKong (a must for any lovers of rare and interesting design books). And even though my Japanese is non existent I couldn't resist its blend of amazing data visualisations and beautiful book design. Here's a few words from the Editor's site, Mariko Yokogi about the book:

"Kohei Sugiura, a Japanese graphic designer leading its industry since 1950s, has published the book compiling his diagram works so far since 1960s. I joined this book project as an editor in the chapter of his talking with Seigo Matsuoka, a Japanese prolific author and director, and in other featuring chapters as well. Many designers of the same period had focused on the visualization working in the commercial field. On the other hand, Sugiura chose the cultural field like a book design, public projects and so on as the stage of his design activity. He is also a pioneer of infographics design in Japan. You can see his design philosophy in many diagram works including "Time Distance Map" he named as a general term. About spaces, cities, people's lives and the world of classical literature, he has been showing graphically by handling a enormous amount of data for years. This book introduces them and also try to analyze them using the latest digital technique by young architect and creators. It is written in Japanese only but so much images are appeared in it, then you can enjoy his design and get to know the history or one of aspects on graphic design in Japan."

It's a wonderfully visually indulgent item. From the spot foil on the jacket (repeated underneath on the cover!) to the fold outs and end pages. Some of the visualisation work is truly amazing, utilizing 3D both diagrammatically and anaglyphic (for 3D glasses). Here are some of the spreads:

But it's the diverse approaches and details that really make the book stand out.

And then there are these two wonderful fold pieces. Firstly the projection based one featured on the cover.

Then this incredible timeline. In fact it was too big for the fold out and continued overleaf for another spread.

It's an incredible look at a master practitioner's work exploring the visualisation of distance and time.

Aaron Marcus and Letraset

Murray GM February 25, 2018

Reading Aaron Marcus' interview in Letraset The DIY Typography Revolution reminded me that a while back I took a few pictures of his work when on a visit to the Letterform Archive. They have a large amount of his work, which includes plenty of his Letraset based compositions. Also he recently gave them his complete reference library, which is a fabulous insight into the ideas behind his creative process.

If you join the Letterform Archive you can get access to beautifully shot (much better than my iphone pics) high res versions of this work and a tonne of other amazing pieces by him and 1000s more items.

Whether you call them art, concrete poetry or typographic experiment I can't help but love these compositions. The energy and flow of them is outstanding - totally my bag.

Now one of the trickiest things about these pieces is working out which way up they go. So apologies if some of the above are wrong.

This one had me really confused (because of the annotation) so you decide:

If you're looking for a little information and even to get hold of some nicely shot high-res images of his work, then check out this piece on Letterform Archive.

But for now here's a taste of another piece Directions for Genesis 1 and 2:

Celebrating W.A Dwiggins, the first "graphic designer"

Murray GM February 25, 2018

Before you pounce on me for the title, I know he wasn't the first ever person to practice the various crafts that make up graphic design. But William Addison Dwiggins was exceptionally talented in all things graphic design - illustration, typography, book design, calligraphy, layout, advertising, information design. And more importantly he was first to coin the term "graphic designer" back in 1922 to describe what he did. So in my reckoning he gets to be called the first.

I'd heard of Dwiggins but it wasn't until I visited the Letterform Archive that I really got to know his work, and his brilliance. As a graphic design student in the UK, most of the historical design teaching focussed on British graphic designers like Abram Games, F.H.K Henrion etc. Or on graphic designers that influenced the look of Britain like Hans Schleger and then on the truly historical type designers. I don't remember ever hearing about Dwiggins (this is probably just me being a bad student). So for me it's been a wonderful awakening to his work.

When the Letterform Archive announced a kickstarter to publish a new book W.A. Dwiggins: A Life In Design, I had to get a copy. I'd seen his data visualisation artwork and the fabulous book designs for Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde and H.G Well's Time Machine for Random House (1929, 1931) at the archive and I'd fell in love with the work. The illustration, colour work and detailing is incredible, here are a few pics from my visits.

I'd been following the book creation and growing ever more excited about my copy and last week it arrived. It's written and designed by Bruce Kennett and it's a true labour of love. Spanning Dwiggins' career from childhood and at almost 500 pages with 1200 images/illustrations it's incredibly comprehensive. The mostly chronological structure, tied to place is a great way to situate his work historically and supply context. It's wonderfully written and helps get a sense of Dwiggins the man as much as the work. It's the first major publication from Letterform Archive and they've done a fantastic job - I'm eagerly awaiting their future publications.

The book

From the moment you open it you get a sense of the love for the subject. Touches like the digitisation and creation of Dwiggins' type Electra for the project and the fabulous end papers are beautiful additions. Every aspect from credits to section divides has been carefully designed to 'be' Dwiggins, to reflect him. And the more I read the more I begin to understand his engagement with the world through his design.

Once you dive into the book, it's a sumptuous affair. The photography is great and really helps relay the form. The denseness of the content is fantastic and it packs a lot into the pages, but it is designed beautifully so it retains a sense of space, lightness and rhythm. This makes it both readable and browsable. I already know this will be a book I pick up again and again each time discovering something new and wonderful.

Here are a few spreads:

For me one of the most inspiring and beautiful things about Dwiggins is his attention to detail. There's always an elegant use of colour and ornament in everything he created. And it's his blend of skills; typography, calligraphy and illustration that delivers that. It's a good reminder that design (at least great design) comes from a combination of different crafts.

The other thing about Dwiggins that resonates with me was his engagement with information design. His data visualisations and charts are incredible and his explorations and advice around the practice of "graphic design" is brilliant. This piece on using charts to convey ideas and information is fantastic. It's from 1922 and you can see the direct thread from these ideas to today's data visualisation gurus like Tufte and Few.

The user centric nature of the headline is still some of the best advice I've come across for creating charts and data visualisation:

take the shortest route to their understanding

Accompanying that is the underlying idea of how powerful data visualisation can be (Dwiggins knew a thing or two):

Graphs stamp impressions on the brain

Here's some more of Dwiggins' data visualisation.

And I can't not include these 3 items - mostly because I think they are great.

So that's a tiny taste of what W.A. Dwiggins: A Life In Design by Bruce Kennet has to offer.

If you love graphic design, this needs to be on your bookshelf. And if you are in San Francisco then you can get yourself along to the Letterform Archive and take a look at some of the original pieces shown in the book!

Graphis Diagrams - 1974 data visualisation

Murray GM March 21, 2017

I've been after a copy of Graphis Diagrams ed. Walter Herdeg (Graphis, 1974) for years. Always hoped I'd find it in a second hand book store, alas in the end I snagged it on Amazon Marketplace. It's had the edges 'repaired' or at least protected with tape, but overall it's in pretty good condition for a book almost as old as me.

Their are a lot of things to love about this book. First up, the format - it's square. Then of course there is the multi language text; French, English and German. Which somehow reflects the internationalism of the times. Then of course there's the subject matter - information graphics and diagrams, or what would become today's hot ticket of 'dataviz'. The cover itself looks really contemporary, with a nod towards a parallel coordinates chart.

Inside it's full of gems from around the world (as you'd expect in a Graphis annual). From a dataviz point of view it's a mixed bag. Some of the pieces are wonderful, like the use of transparent overlays to show this dataviz on Africa (below). But there's also plenty of what todays visualisation gurus (aka Tufte or Few) would consider criminal.

Here's a sampling of a few more spreads.

I pulled out these few pieces to show some of the other highlights, as well as the crimes and misdemeanours.

Couldn't resist including the pulsar dataviz that Peter Saville used on the Unknown Pleasures album by Joy Division. Have a sneaking suspicion he may well have had a copy of this book on his studio bookshelf, no matter what he says about being given the image by the band.

And finally this one, your guess is as good as mine regarding the meaning...