Monday 24 June 2013
Sunday 14 April 2013
Critical Hit
Since the last posting we've completed the penultimate and final crits. Heartfelt thanks to guests Roger Connah, Lorenzo Imbesi, Tom Leung, David Pantalony, Inderbir Riar, Jaime Salazar, H. Masud Taj and Johan Voordouw for their time, enthusiasm and expertise.
And congratulations to the seminar participants for stepping up with such an admirable range of original projects.
The next step is to finalize the results and consolidate them on the web. Stay tuned!
Thursday 28 February 2013
Good show!
Thanks to all for a great first crit. Special thanks to guest critic David Craib of Parable Communications for his timely wisdom.
Tuesday 26 February 2013
Beavering Away
There's a range of exciting projects shaping up in this seminar, which is turning into a studio with regular crits. Stay tuned for the results, and in the meantime enjoy the page that you can reach by clicking here:
Thursday 14 February 2013
.JPG)
Monday 4 February 2013
Thanks!
Thanks to Monica Ferguson and Joel Rivard for their gracious introductions to the Maps, Data and Government Information Centre (MADGIC) at the soon-to-be-renovated MacOdrum Library. Monica, thanks also for assembling the maps and books, which have already served us well.
We're also grateful to Carleton architecture school alum and PrototypeD co-director Camille Mendoza for showing us her incredibly smart and enchanting Priscilla project; to prof Johan Voordouw for showing a radically new kind of architectural book; and to Carleton archivist Lloyd Keane for the intro to the CU archives.
Stay tuned!
G
Tuesday 22 January 2013
Tips for Assignment #2
Good evening AMD students,
On Thursday I will hand back Assignment #1 and pick up Assignment #2. I have developed the following guidelines to help you avoid some common pitfalls in selection, citation description and layout.
Selection
For the three good examples and the counter-example, select truly exemplary models from a variety of sources.
Citation of the Source
Trace each examples to its source (publication, author, date) wherever possible. Whether working from paper or digital images be sure to find the highest quality image you can. (For digital images you can go to Google Images and use advanced search tools to limit the search to very large files.) In some cases you may discover that a graphic you reproduced is just a fragment of the original. For instance this map of Toronto language groups has its origins in this more extensive cluster of graphics with accompanying text. If you can’t at least find the publication and date (ideally with any accompanying text) then you should find another example.
Like all images, data graphics in the digital age tend to take on lives of their own, unmoored from the accompanying explanation. Both as a critic and a producer, be sure to sure to follow Minard in including such information as the author or explanatory text indicating the sources and the mechanics of your diagram, including any interactive features or accompanying didactics. The best data visualizations will already contain a lot of explanation in the form of a precise title, clear labels, and indication of such things as the data set, author and publisher.
If you refer to EI or other published sources beyond the source for your graphic then it may help to indicate the page number.
Description
Use precise terminology, indicating up front whether your image is a scatterplot, bar graph, line graph, &c. In the second assignment much of the material will be more vague (e.g. data graphic, diagram, thematic map) but it is still good to begin with a concise overview of what you’re showing. See what language Tufte uses to describe similar images.
Layout
Do whatever it takes to serve the content. As a rule assignments should be on letter size paper or larger in which large, clear colour images take up most of the space. The remaining space should consist of concise analysis plus enough margins on the sides and bottom for the instructor to write comments.
Here's an example of some layout and citation ideas worth emulating. The landscape format establishes a good parity between examples and commentary.
Hoping this helps,
GL
On Thursday I will hand back Assignment #1 and pick up Assignment #2. I have developed the following guidelines to help you avoid some common pitfalls in selection, citation description and layout.
Selection
For the three good examples and the counter-example, select truly exemplary models from a variety of sources.
Citation of the Source
Trace each examples to its source (publication, author, date) wherever possible. Whether working from paper or digital images be sure to find the highest quality image you can. (For digital images you can go to Google Images and use advanced search tools to limit the search to very large files.) In some cases you may discover that a graphic you reproduced is just a fragment of the original. For instance this map of Toronto language groups has its origins in this more extensive cluster of graphics with accompanying text. If you can’t at least find the publication and date (ideally with any accompanying text) then you should find another example.
Like all images, data graphics in the digital age tend to take on lives of their own, unmoored from the accompanying explanation. Both as a critic and a producer, be sure to sure to follow Minard in including such information as the author or explanatory text indicating the sources and the mechanics of your diagram, including any interactive features or accompanying didactics. The best data visualizations will already contain a lot of explanation in the form of a precise title, clear labels, and indication of such things as the data set, author and publisher.
If you refer to EI or other published sources beyond the source for your graphic then it may help to indicate the page number.
Description
Use precise terminology, indicating up front whether your image is a scatterplot, bar graph, line graph, &c. In the second assignment much of the material will be more vague (e.g. data graphic, diagram, thematic map) but it is still good to begin with a concise overview of what you’re showing. See what language Tufte uses to describe similar images.
Layout
Do whatever it takes to serve the content. As a rule assignments should be on letter size paper or larger in which large, clear colour images take up most of the space. The remaining space should consist of concise analysis plus enough margins on the sides and bottom for the instructor to write comments.
Here's an example of some layout and citation ideas worth emulating. The landscape format establishes a good parity between examples and commentary.
Hoping this helps,
GL
Thursday 17 January 2013
NGC today - Don't buy a ticket !
God morning all,
I hope you're signed onto this blog so are getting this page via email alert. When you arrive at the Gallery do *not* buy a ticket. I have arranged for a group rate, which you can obtain by giving me $4, assuming you get this in time. If any of you can give me exact change or help me make change that would be good, as I will need to pay in a lump.
Alas I learned yesterday that my beloved 'minimalist' gallery has been replaced with a bunch of smaller rooms, but there will still be a lot to talk about in the pre-postwar rooms.
See you soon,
G
I hope you're signed onto this blog so are getting this page via email alert. When you arrive at the Gallery do *not* buy a ticket. I have arranged for a group rate, which you can obtain by giving me $4, assuming you get this in time. If any of you can give me exact change or help me make change that would be good, as I will need to pay in a lump.
Alas I learned yesterday that my beloved 'minimalist' gallery has been replaced with a bunch of smaller rooms, but there will still be a lot to talk about in the pre-postwar rooms.
See you soon,
G
Wednesday 16 January 2013
Welcome
Good morning AMD students, and welcome to the blog for our class. Tomorrow we’ll be meeting at the National Gallery, 380 Sussex Drive, under the watercourt at 11am sharp. Please be sure to buy a ticket ($7 with student card) and to check your coat and any bags, so ideally you will just be carrying a notebook and writing instruments in keeping with NGC library policy.
In the spirit of this class I strongly encourage you to take notes integrating text and image. You can do that with a pen for the first part of the class, which will be a tour of the 20-odd galleries that I reinstalled in my capacity as Curator of European & American Art. Art installation is an example of multimodal design, plus it relates to the Museum as Discursive Space studio taught by Jonathan Hale, which half of you are taking. I am delighted that Jonathan will be joining us on the tour, and I encourage you to check out his exemplary website bodyoftheory.
The second part of the tour will be a visit to the NGC library where you will need to take notes with a pencil as we will be looking at rare materials including riches from the Art Metropole collection.
Looking forward,
G
In the spirit of this class I strongly encourage you to take notes integrating text and image. You can do that with a pen for the first part of the class, which will be a tour of the 20-odd galleries that I reinstalled in my capacity as Curator of European & American Art. Art installation is an example of multimodal design, plus it relates to the Museum as Discursive Space studio taught by Jonathan Hale, which half of you are taking. I am delighted that Jonathan will be joining us on the tour, and I encourage you to check out his exemplary website bodyoftheory.
The second part of the tour will be a visit to the NGC library where you will need to take notes with a pencil as we will be looking at rare materials including riches from the Art Metropole collection.
Looking forward,
G
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)