Layering and Separation

Micro/Macro Wrap-up:
When asked as to how gracefully she is aging,

the Frenchwoman replied:

"I have only one wrinkle in my body –
...and I am sitting on it!"
She was well over one hundred years old at the time of the interview, and

her response draws our attention to the Micro/Macro dichotomy
and its relative nature.

And now, on to Layering and Separation –
Inside The Weldon Library–Imagine A Cut Out:

As a metaphor for Layering and Separation
Question: What’s the tie to L&S?
How is this example also relevant to Micro/Macro Readings?
and to Escaping Flatland?

Announcements
Readings for Next Week:

The "Small Multiples" chapter

Next Week:

The long awaited Mock MidTerm Exam

Questions?
The Structure of Today’s Lecture

Layering and Separation
Preparing Project Proposals

Layering and Separation
Key concepts: Layering and Separation
Among the most powerful devices for reducing noise and enriching the content of displays is the technique of layering and separation,

visually stratifying various aspects of the data.

(p. 53)

Remember the ‘graphics calculus’: 1 + 1 =3 or more (p.61)

Visual activation of negative areas of white space (p.61)
most of the time, that surplus visual activity is non-information, noise, and clutter. (p. 61)
the endlessly contextual and interactive nature of visual elements (p. 61)

The "first rule of color composition" by Eduard Imhof:

Pure, bright, or very strong colors have loud, unbearable effects when they stand unrelieved over large areas adjacent to each other, but extraordinary effects can be achieved when they are used sparingly on or between dull background tones. (p.58)

and the quote goes on to quote (recursively):

"Noise is not music...only on a quiet background can a colorful theme be constructed, "(Windisch) (p.58)

Dark grid lines are chartjunk (p. 59)

grids should be muted (eg. by using few, thin gray lines)
or discard the grid leaving behind an implicit grid (p.55)

Layering of data, often achieved by

felicitous subtraction of weight,
enhances representation of both data dimensionality and density on flatland..." (p. 60)

the effectiveness and elegance of

small spots of intense, saturated color for carrying information
–a design secret of classical cartography. and for that matter of traffic lights. (p. 63)

Discussion
Information consists of differences that make a difference.

A fruitful method for the enforcement of such differences is to layer and separate the data, much as is done on a high-density map. (p. 65).

In every clear concept of the nature of vision...this dynamic unity of figure and background has been clearly understood. (p. 65 quote at bottom)
"A vessel is useful only through its emptyness. It is the space opened in a wall that serves as a window. Thus it is the non-existent in things that makes them serviceable."

Eastern visual culture has a deep understanding of the role of empty space in the image. (p. 65 quote at bottom)

Closure: One-minute paper

What is: "Layering and Separation?" How would you define it?

Any Questions?
Preparing Project Proposals
One to two pages, typed, single spaced, normal size font
Must have:
Header Info

Project Title
Student Name and Date

Body of text. The Proposal should have sentences or short paragraphs for the following:

Objective
The Problem
Background
GeoGraphic/Aviation Narrative Design
Data and its Collection
Methods
Task List/Table
Results Anticipated
References/Sources/Bibliography

Example:

OBJECTIVE. The Objective of the proposed project is to create a GeoGraphic/Aviation Narrative on the subject of "Airfields within an 80km radius of London, Ontario".

Note: Refer and use the information provided in the documents:

G180b Assignment: The GeoGraphic Narrative Final (single/team) Project
Project Proposal Guidelines

The End