Visualizing DataProgramming meets Graphic Design at ITP

12:20~12:30
Load up your presentations and fill out the teacher evaluation forms. I’ll be outside of the classroom showing our guest critics around ITP. Please also write your group’s (or solo act’s) name on the whiteboard so we can establish a presentation order.

12:40
Your teacher evaluation forms should be completed; choose someone among you to deliver these to Gordy in the office. All of your presentations should also be ready to go, either on the classroom’s laptop or on your own machine (configured in such a way that you can quickly switch the projector cable to your machine and go).

I will introduce our critics: Holly Gressley, Renda Morton, and Andy Pressman of Rumors. They’ll describe themselves briefly and we’ll move on to your presentations.

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Hackers and Painters
We’ll begin class by talking a bit about the Paul Graham listening assignment. Let’s take a look at the original homework assignment. How do you feel about the assertion that “painters decide what to paint and then they have to paint it.” Does the metaphor hold up for “great hackers?” If you were put off by the original Paul Graham listening assignment, did this one win you over? Or was it more of the same? (Let’s not argue too long on this, there’s a lot more to get to.)

Twitter Earth
Next up, are there any comments on the Twitter assignment? Did you feel there was a subtle elegance to using the rotate( radians( i )) combo when dealing with actual latitudes and longitudes? Let’s talk about midpoints for a moment; or rather let Chris talk about them.

Final Projects
Ok. So much to do and oh so very little time. Let’s use the remainder of our time for an in-class work session where I’ll meet with each group (or solo act) about the progress of your final projects. I may occasionally ask for everyone’s attention to go over some example or topic that has broader relevance.

Final Class
Obviously you should bring in your final projects and be prepared to present them. Less obvious; bring a pair of plastic safety glasses. No reason. No reason at all.

Today we will look at your group presentations. Behold, your panel of guest critics.

Andrew Shurtz
We Have Photoshop

Benjamin Haynes
Contact Ben Haynes

Rebecca Gimenez
Whitney Museum / We Have Photoshop

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[This was originally scheduled to be Week 3: Text and CSV, but due to time constraints we're bumping that to next week.]

12:30–12:40
Paul Graham’s “Great Hackers.”
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail188.html
Don’t let the Java talk get you down. Main take-away: Source code itself is a medium of expression. This may seem superfluous at first, but there’s a real link between expressing one’s thought process in the code and the visual expression that comes out the other end of the compiler. I expect spirited comments from everyone.

12:40–12:50
Saul Bass and Paul Rand. What’s your favorite image or images from these two pillars of American graphic design? Why? Put your images up on your screens and let’s do a quick walk-around. Do you prefer Bass or Rand? Or is it too difficult a decision? Were you surprised by how much of their work you were already familiar with? How do these pieces hold up today? (And, for example, how do the new AT&T or UPS logos compare?) Did you use any of these works as inspiration for your homework assignment?

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12:30
Updates. Let’s take a quick look at the updated syllabus together. http://itp.nyu.edu/varwiki/Syllabus/VisualizingData-F09 Thank you for sending me your bio blurbs and blog URLs. (And if you have not done so, send them to me immediately.) Also, please use my NYU email address. It will ensure your email won’t get buried.

12:33
Review of “As We May Think” by Vannevar Bush (July 1945 The Atlantic). Bush’s essay is an important text in computing; forecasted hypertext. The overall theme is dealing elegantly with a glut of data. Let’s discuss how that relates to visualizing data. What’s Bush getting at when he compares a class-subclass hierarchy to an association-based network? How does this comparison map onto contemporary discussions of Taxonomy vs. Folksonomy?

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