Nevertheless, EI did provide a solid review of the concepts presented in VDQI, and provided me with more examples of Tufte's principles in action. For the purposes of this thesis, I imagine it will largely serve as a source of information in my visualizations. In learning Tufte's ideas a second time, I do feel like I reached a deeper understanding. Some highlights:
- The utmost importance of multivariable comparisons of data, and the way that a sparse display raises questions about the intentions of the creator. To create the most effective visualizations, I should strive to increase the data density. (I liked that this idea was presented as "escaping flatland," a nice reference to a well-known math book.)
- The role of color within a visualization. Bright colors should be used sparingly, to avoid visually overwhelming the viewer. While this was fairly intuitive, Tufte also recommends against white backgrounds and relying too heavily on black, opting instead for a neutral or grey color scheme. Bright colors, finally, should be used sparingly to provide emphasis on top of this base color scheme. I personally lean towards clean black and white designs, so this is something new that I will have to incorporate into my work. The muted color scheme does strike me as a little outdated, however, so I will also have to find a way to reconcile these two ideas.
- Given the pop nature of this book, I did find several visualizations that completely captivated me. I am intrigued by the idea of movement notation, which is a symbolic representation of dance choreography. My absolute favorite, though, was learning about Oliver Byrne's visual reinterpretation of Euclid's Elements, available online here.
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