Sunday, April 17, 2011

Indexed

This has very little to do with my own capstone project, but it's an interesting site that I wanted to share because I have yet to meet another person who follows it. It's also possibly helpful for the few people doing projects about infographics - as it is a different idea than many. The site is www.thisisindexed.com and it is just index cards (usually daily-ish) with Venn diagrams, charts, etc. pointing out something that is actually pretty obvious, but that we usually haven't thought of in this particular way. Although she writes/graphs about nearly everything, I've noticed that she does comment on design/media quite a bit.


It's interesting, I think, to look at a lot of her work (and sometimes the comments are worth reading also, as they are open and others can suggest their own ideas for the diagram 'labels') from the perspective of a designer. The one at the top of this post, for example, could apply to clients in many areas of work, but I think it points out an interesting problem that designers face; we can't just design however we want, we really have to know our clients. Otherwise, we run the risk of offending them.


This one is interesting to look at from a design student perspective as well:


And I like this one because it relates to my political-minded ideas for the project:

14 comments:

  1. I love that the artist also offers up her simple designs for use on a T-shirt or a poster. I think that, even as simple as they are, they're great for getting messages across directly, especially when used in conjunction with a blog post. They're very easy to share, which means that they're very easy to spread around. As designers, we should consider the "shareability" of the things that we create. (Obviously this will vary with each project that we do, but it's something to keep in mind.)

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  2. As I am someone whose head explodes at the notion of graphing, well...these are pretty cool and easily digested.

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  3. I LOVE these. I especially love how simple they are verses how complex the nature of each topic is. I always try to create work that simplifies a very complex topic. As designers I believe that it is our job to make work that allows complex ideas to be easily "digested" (as Tony said). Very cool. Thanks for sharing this.

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  4. I wonder how many index cards she goes through? Her site is very addicting, and makes you want to read all of them. All the index cards are easy math for me to understand.

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  5. These are pretty clever, and a great way to visualize how things are related yet very separated. Venn diagrams are great, and this post really makes me feel like I should use them more!

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  6. These postcards are straight to the point, but clever. I have never been one to look at a lot of graph, infographics, etc. type design work, but every time someone shows me clip into these niches I am always impressed with the work that can be demonstrated incorporating informational text and pictures. Plus nice way to use mundane materials productively.

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  7. I think I'm in love. This is waaay cuter than graph jam.

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  8. Love these! I always used postcards for studying for tests not for creative purposes!

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  9. I love when projects are simple like this but so creative and unique, these put what seems almost obvious in perspective.

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  10. This site is very witty, I enjoy how the design looks sort of like a notebook to match along with the notecard theme

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  11. This reminds me of being in elementary school/middle school and having to do this for projects. It's crazy thinking what ends up sticking in your mind.

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  12. I love how simple yet informative these are.

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  13. Very funny and witty examples of how design can be effective despite it's primitive appearance.

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  14. cheeky, I love it! Design blogs are so great, makes me always want to start one, but A. don't have the guts or B. don't know if I have the time

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