Computer Arts

spring 2017 giOrgiA LUpi

our community through its very

nature of not quite fitting.

So I believe the questions here

rather than setting boundaries and

definitions should be: ‘How we can

keep exploring guessing imagining

‘hunching’ trying to inspire feelings

as visual communicators who use

images and symbols rather than

words and numbers?’ and ‘How can

we be faithful to scientific accuracy

while allowing space for exceptions

to flourish and bring a range of new

possibilities to the table?’

Do you have any advice for fellow

data visualisation designers to give

their work a more human touch?

I would say remember that data is

a tool that we use to describe reality.

It’s a placeholder for something else

and never the real thing. I believe

working with data means designing

ways to transform the abstract the

uncountable into something that

can be seen felt and reconnected

to our lives and our behaviours.

Although not everyone can do

a project that’s as hyper-personal

as Dear Data for example data

visualisation designers can make

their interpretations more personal

simply by spending time with any

type of data. This is the only way we

can unlock its profound nature and

shed light on its real meaning.

emotional investment produces

attention rather than distraction. It

creates worlds that are evocative and

nameless at the same time as long

as we respect the data and don’t

manipulate the information.

Successful designs can balance

convention – forms that our minds

are familiar with – with novelty:

new features that engage and delight

people. There isn’t a unique truth

in data visualisation.

As Stefanie [Posavec Lupi’s

collaborator on Dear Data] and I

wrote in a Medium post after the

Dear Data acquisition from MoMA

there have been various debates in

the data-visualisation community

that seek to define what exactly the

discipline is – what is data art and

what is data design? – and whether

to ‘enjoy’ a visualisation you should

know if it was meant to be an artistic

exploration or a design project.

When we hold Dear Data up to

these definitions it doesn’t quite

fit. It might be art it might be

communication design it might

be data visualisation. It is probably

all three but its interdisciplinary

qualities are an asset not a failing.

By working in the fuzziness and

the in-between spaces revelling

in being truly interdisciplinary

we made a project that stood out

and made an impact outside of

01

PUT THE DATA

IN CONTEXT

“Dig deep into the context

of the data” advises Lupi.

“Where and how was it taken

and what does it represent?”

Next immerse yourself in the

numbers to understand why

they’re unique: “What are the

patterns the stories hidden

in these numbers?”

02

FIND VISUAL

INSPIRATION

Lupi draws inspiration from

many sources such as music

notations abstract artwork

architectural drawings and

shapes found in nature.

03

CONSIDER THE BIG

PICTURE FIRST

Next organise the data on a

macro level. “I rarely use real

data here” says Lupi. “Just

plan the overall architecture

of the visualisation with

the data in mind.”

04

DEVELOP KEY

ELEMENTS

Now focus on individual

data points to decide how

to represent them through

shapes colours or other

features according to the

variables you have.

05

TEST AND REFINE

YOUR SOLUTION

the final phase involves

running various digital tests

on the actual data before

prototyping and tweaking

the final visualisation either

on paper or digitally.

GIVE DATA THE

HUMAN TOUCH

Giorgia lupi reveals

her five-stage process

above: another
visualisation
from Dear Data
showing doors
passed through
in a week. “Data is
often considered
impersonal but
this project aims
to highlight the
opposite using
something ‘cold’
to communicate
messy emotional
human lives”
explains lupi.

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