Geek Friendly » Information Architecture

“Bit Literacy” & Good Experience Meet-Up

admin — Thu, 17 May 2007 05:46:38 +0000

Mark Hurst, User Experience expert and author of the new book, Bit Literacy is hosting a seminar and reader meet-up in NYC this coming Wednesday, May 23rd. The seminar is $40, and includes a copy of the book. Unfortunately, I get into the city too late for the seminar, but I’m hoping to make it to the meet-up later in the evening. Let me know (via the spiffy new contact page) if you’re planning to be there, and we can meet-up!

Stranger Than InfoVis

admin — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 10:04:29 +0000

I had the chance last night to see the new Will Ferrell flick, Stranger Than Fiction. In the film, Ferrell plays Harold Crick, a strictly regimented IRS agent living in Chicago whose life is turned upside-down when he discovers that every event in his life is decided by the pen of an omnipotent author.

To illustrate Harold’s almost purely systematic and mathematical thought processes, director Marc Forster (of Monster’s Ball fame) hired (links to video) Kansas City new media firm MK12 to create a series of animated information graphics integrated into much of the first fourth of the film. The graphics conspire with Ferrell’s excellent acting to create a refreshing new take on the way cinema communicates information and plot.

I highly recommend Stranger Than Fiction not only as a case study of innovative information graphics, but as a fantastic film that allows Ferrell to take a break from his comedy typecast and appear in a more serious character study.

FedEx Hub Animation

admin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 02:42:51 +0000

This fantastic animation shows the flight paths of hundreds of FedEx aircraft over the span of two days and elegantly illustrates the brilliance of the hub-processing model of package handling.

[via information aesthetics]