about

infosthetics

inspired by Manovich's definition of information aesthetics, this weblog explores the symbiotic relationship between creative design and the field of information visualization, in an emergent multidisciplinary field what could be coined as 'creative information visualization'.

symbiosis
designers often employ information visualization as a creative concept capable of significantly determining the design outcome, and vice versa, some information visualizations are enhanced by incorporating insights from interdisciplinary fields, such as human cognition, user engagement, aesthetics and art.

goal
this weblog is based on the assertion that information visualization can be enriched with the principles of creative design and art, to develop valuable data representations that address the emotional experience of users, instead of solely focusing on typical task effectiveness metrics. as information access enters the everyday life of users and becomes increasingly ubiquitous and pervasive, novel approaches are required that take into account considerations of user engagement and visual aesthetics. instead of evaluating such information applications by measuring task performance and comprehension effectiveness, one should consider to determine user interest, attention, focus, enjoyment and curiousity.

form follows data
digital information can be considered a raw material that lives in a 'virtual' reality, hereby turning the computer into an instrument, infrastructure and design environment. following Louis Henry Sullivan’s design concept of ‘form follows function’, one can thus imagine a similar concept of ‘form follows data’, or the architectural use of data bits as virtual bricks, not only in the context of exploring formalistic data-mapping principles, but also to detect and aesthetically translate inherent structures hidden inside datasets, while exploring the qualities of novel visual languages that represent these.

your input
are these provokative statements or just very obvious ones? please don't hesitate to contact me, make suggestions or leave comments!

want even more?
read this: Form Follows Data - The Symbiosis between Design & Information Visualization (PDF).