Redesigning The Butterfly Ballot

I personally think that the butterfly ballot had an impact in the presidential ellections of 2000. In my redesign, I decided to arrange the candidates in a single line and use light-grey thin lines to separate them according to their parties, and avoid an effect of 1 + 1 = 3 where the main point can lose its focus. I put the party in bigger letters to make easier the location of each candidate using a single word instead of a group of words, which is even easier for partisan voters. I also used a dark-red color for the circles because they are the critical part of the ballot.

The Perspective Machine Competition

During my STS 321 class, we had a competiton in which we had to build a device based in a Durer's Perspective Machine to make the most accurate and proportional drawing of several objects. Our class was separated in two teams, and the professor provided us with enough materials to build the machine. At first sight, building and using this device seems difficult, but it came out to be really easy and fun. In my team, we came up with 5 or 6 different ideas and we decided to use a method in which we were able to plot accurate points in an efficient way by using strings. We spent 15 to 20 minutes trying to figure out how build the machine, and another half hour to make the drawing. When we finish the drawing, we were surprised of what we had accomplished. The final output was a proportional representation of the objects that we were assigned.

I believe that with enough practice, this kind of machines can be used to make very accurate and proportional paintings, and this kind of tools could really made a difference several years ago when computers and cameras did not exist. From this experience I learned to appreciate more the art and hard work of artists who lived hundreds of years ago.

FIRST PROCESSING APP!!

My first processing app is already online.

You can find it HERE.

The Looking Glass

David Hockney is a British artist with a theory about a secret method used by some of the most recognized European artists. Hockney believes that the old masters used a method called camera obscura, which involves the use of light and lenses to make more accurate paintings with an almost photographic quality. If this theory is true, it will not only impact the world of art and history, but also the fields of physics, sciences, and optics.

I have the copy of a painting called "De keukenmeid" or "The Kitchen maid" by Johannes Vermeer(1632-1675) brought from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam by my father several years ago, and I have to confess that every once in a while that I saw the picture, the idea of a secret technique used by Vermeer and other European artists seems rational. Surprisingly, my initial reaction when I read this theory was skepticism due to the apparent lack of evidence, of course followed by the feeling of "what is going on!". After analyzing the article with detail, I started realizing that maybe the theory is not that crazy, but i still believe that a secret like this could not be hiding for hundreds of years, and if it is true, at least more than one written evidence should exists.

I think that if Hockney's theory is true, it will not affect the credibility of the old masters, on the contrary, it would mean that these artists were not only artist, but also scientists and inventors. The outputs are the same: paintings with an enormous quality, but the methods of course, are different. Talking about the use of a camera obscura by these artists means the use of optics since 1420 which is a remarkable use of science and technology for that era.

Micro and Macro Design

It is amazing the way in which little details like colors and contrasts could make a difference in information design. After reading about micro and macro design and layering and separation, I am more aware of the effect of bad representations of data around us. I am also aware that some of the information displays that surround us, involve much more thought than they reflect, for example the maps and the train schedules described by Tufte.

Reading about the important role played by colors in design made me remember several articles that I read over the internet about color theory and the psychological meanings that these involve. For example, black represents elegance and sophistication, red represents passion, and white represents purity. I liked the examples that Tufte gave where he compared diagrams that used 2 colors or more, and diagrams that used 1 color and were confusing and monotonous.

I also like the idea of 1 + 1 = 3 or more, where a sense of 3 or more elements could be achived through geometries, colors, and contrasts, because we can add a meaning to the designs without making them too complex, or saturated of information. In the other hand, sometimes using these methods, and trying to keep visual representations simple, could have a negative effect in the representation of some types of scientifcal information and exact, specific information. An example could be a programmers interface for languages like C++ or Java, which involves some levels of intuition in actions like debugging, but are difficult to learn due to the huge amounts of libraries and fucntions available for the user. I read about a project at MIT in which they are trying to simplify programming interfaces, but I believe that this simplification could involve less flexibility and less control in the design of applications.

CAN WE MEASURE DESIGN?

I once heard that we can control what we can measure. Nowadays we can measure all kind of things like atmospheric contamination, temperature, light, weight, and even things like dizziness, stress, and our interest in a conversation by the tone of our voice. But there are certain intangible and very abstract things that we are still unable to measure.

I got really interested when Tufte gave an example of statistical visualizations where a diagram of the sunspots was generated based on data collected in 380 years. This diagram was very useful for astronomers and scientists because it showed a well defined pattern. This is an example where the visualization of data can really make a difference. Sometimes large amounts of statistical data can only make sense when patterns are detected, and the use of visualizations could be a key factor in discovering these patterns. This example made me wonder if statistical data could be used to uncover patterns of abstract and intangible entities like art or design, and use these patterns to measure if a design or an art piece is pleasant to our eyes. Certainly the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, but there are some designs that are more appealing and eye-catching than others for the majority of people. Can we determine good design or bad design? Maybe good design is based in millions of variables like symmetries, patterns, clarity, and colors, and maybe some of these variables differ from person to person, but I believe that there are some key variables which can determine the difference between good design and bad design. Maybe, with today’s advanced technology, an application could be developed to analyze millions of images based on statistical data of what people consider esthetical and appealing, and uncover a series of patterns that make art and design something more objective and measurable.

Envisioning Information

I am currently reading the book "Envisioning Information" from the renown Yale Professor Edward Tufte. The book contains interesting points of view about the representation of complex information like statistics or three-dimensional visualizations in two-dimensional means, which Edward Tufte calls "Escaping Flatland".

Nowadays we have to deal with huge amounts of information, and the information we obtain, understand, and remember, is directly affected by the way in which data is displayed. It is interesting the way in Which Tufte describes several examples of good and bad design, based on the comprehension of the data being displayed by observing details like color, contrast, and simplicity. I learn that there is an enormous difference when we look at information displayed by lists and arrays of numbers and text, compared to information displayed through 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional visualizations. I was also interested in the idea of designs where 1 + 1 = 3 or more. This idea describes several methods to design visualizations where 2 elements look like 3 or more. These methods can make visualizations more meaningful, and allow a better comprehension of information.