In the late 20th Century, the advent of the internet and other rapidly emerging technologies translated into an explosion of information accessibility. The data had always existed, but now it streamed in exponential amounts from all directions. From email to the live running headlines on televisions, we live in a world that is surrounded by the promise of information.
But how does the birth of the Information Age actually play out in our daily lives? What am I, as the average person, meant to make of it all? How am I, as a designer, going to translate this inundation of data into meaningful information?
I decided that my map would track how designers, and individual projects, process data. The x-axis represents how many different types of data are presented in a design piece – for instance, a logo displays simply one message, or often even just a word, while a news magazine analyses numerous types of data from entertainment to stock quotes. The y-axis represents how far into the data you can reach, from a poster where you can only go as far as the name of the band, to a fansite where you can download songs, bio or press releases. Each project also indicates how many entry points exist for the project - a book cover really has only one way for a reader to access the information, while a blog has an infinite number.
From this map, I began to realize that most current and traditional graphic design processes data on a very superficial level, offering only a small set of information that does not reach very deeply. Some of the most common forms of design, such as broadcast motion or annual reports, hardly touched the middle of the chart. I began to realize that I myself was fascinated by this density of information that seemed to have few people charting it. Or if these projects existed, designing textbooks or GPS systems, they are getting little recognition in AIGA annuals and the like.
This version of the map has attempted to correct problems that have occurred with previous iterations - making the read of the map clearer, and adding enough data points to make the map meaningful. There are still many issues with really being able to quantify these ideas, and I still have not addressed how information is used - is it a meta site? Is the information connotative or denotative? But I hope that it contributes to understanding the current state of graphic design.
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