xBlog: The visual thinking weblog
24th July 2000

Visual Dialogue

“An exchange of ideas. I create an image for you, you see and interpret the image (eg how it makes you feel, what it makes you think) and create an image in response.”

posted in Graphic design | Permalink | Comments Off

24th July 2000

Gallery of Data Visualization

“This Gallery of Data Visualization displays some examples of the Best and Worst of Statistical Graphics, with the view that the contrast may be useful, inform current practice and provide some pointers to both historical and current work. We go from what is arguably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, to the current record-holder for the worst.” Read this! Includes these examples as well: Historical milestones, The Lie Factor, Bright ideas, Goosed-Up Graphics, Graphical Excellence, Missed Opportunities, Visual delights and Context: Compared to What?

posted in Information graphics | Permalink | Comments Off

24th July 2000

Gallery of Data Visualization

“This Gallery of Data Visualization displays some examples of the Best and Worst of Statistical Graphics, with the view that the contrast may be useful, inform current practice and provide some pointers to both historical and current work. We go from what is arguably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, to the current record-holder for the worst.” Read this! Includes these examples as well: Historical milestones, The Lie Factor, Bright ideas, Goosed-Up Graphics, Graphical Excellence, Missed Opportunities, Visual delights and Context: Compared to What?

posted in Data visualization, Visual thinking | Permalink | Comments Off

24th July 2000

Translating Big Numbers So Readers Can Understand Them

“Here’s a quick quiz. Try to answer this question immediately, without doing any calculating. If a stack of gold coins worth one billion dollars would stretch from one end of a football field to the other, how far would a stack worth one million dollars stretch? The answer: three and a half inches; one billion is one thousand million, 300 feet divided by one thousand is 3.6 inches.”

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24th July 2000

Designer Minds

“Let me get off the expressional and visual high for a sec. Do designer minds really think alike? You are about to see for yourself. We all know what apps they use, what their favorite sites are, where they get their inspirations, how it all started for them, etc. So what are their views on life? What would they do if they had 3 wishes? What are their views on God? Once again, you will see for yourself.”

posted in Web design | Permalink | Comments Off

24th July 2000

MIT Synthetic Characters Group

“The goal of the Synthetic Characters Group at the MIT Media Laboratory is to understand how to build interactive characters that come alive in the eyes of the people who interact with them. Through this process we hope to tackle hard problems which have broad applicability to the design of intelligent systems and realtime character animation.”

posted in Interface design | Permalink | Comments Off