infomancer» graphic design

Gorgeous Graphics

infomancer — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:01:40 +0000

I’m a sucker for good packaging. In grad school, I would take trips to my local high-end grocer and spend hours perusing the aisles, trying to convince myself I didn’t really need the expensive walnut oil.

If this hot sauce had been there, I would have undoubtedly found a reason to purchase it. I love the simple glass containers, letting the color and texture of the sauce come through and essentially be the identity of the sauce. The wood veneer labels and wood stoppers finish it off nicely, reinforcing a kind of earthy feeling.

The numbers are the spice level (the Scoville Scale, which I had never heard of, but sounds quite useful), and there’s a book that talks more about the sauces and their uses.

I love that the bookmark has an itty bitty container of sauce. I imagine my girlfriend (a sauce addict) sitting and reading the book, sneaking little nips from her sauce flask. Wincing a bit as it goes down, and saying in her best western impersonation, “That’s good stuff.”

The designer is Stephanie Hughes, and the rest of her portfolio is worth a look. I particularly like this project for the Pacific Science Center. Icons that appeal to kids (and geeks) in clean lines that appeal to adults. I want to see the Megatron exhibit first.

I also think this redesign for MySpace is great. Goodness knows they need it. Sure, it’s been tweaked lately, but I think an overhaul might be warranted.

[ via designvagabond | all images via Stephanie Hughes ]

Obsession

Understanding Haiti

infomancer — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:38:01 +0000

GOOD magazine recently teamed up with Design for Haiti and held an infographic contest focused on the Haiti earthquake. They announced the winner last week: Emily Schwartzman, with this informative design.

It’s easy to read, aesthetically pleasing, and shares some interesting information. The comparison of Haiti’s and the United State’s GDPs is pretty astounding. The population of the U.S. is 30 times larger than that of Haiti, but our GDP is 2,043 times greater!

GOOD also featured another graphic, by Claire Kohler, which doesn’t solely focus on Haiti, but explores some interesting information. It correlates the depth and magnitude of the ten deadliest earthquakes over the past 15 years with the number of casualties caused.

The bottom portion of the graphic focuses on the money donated to Haiti, but I find the upper portion more interesting. Of course, there are other factors that affect loss of life, such as proximity of the epicenter to metropolitan areas, etc. But it’s amazing that the Haiti earthquake falls in the middle of the pack in terms of magnitude, but killed more than all but the 2004 tsunami.

You can check out the other submissions here. And, if you’re feeling ambitious, submit one of your own here.

[via GOOD]

Obsession

infomancer — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:15:10 +0000

Nicholas Felton is a man after my own heart. He is a designer of information graphics, with a keen aesthetic and a penchant for numbers. His designs are witty and easy to read.

But what I really find noteworthy is the visual appeal of his obsessions. For the past five years, he’s been producing an annual report of his life.

He even has an Annual Report Report. But for 2009, he took his data collection to a new level. He asked everyone with whom he had a meaningful interaction to fill out a survey. So this year’s report not only has data, but more context.

Apart from loving design and numbers, we apparently have other things in common, according to the report. We both carry backpacks. We both make puns about Juneau. We both eat a lot.

And we can all become even more like him by tracking the data of our own lives at Daytum. You can track whatever you like, however you like.

This is going to be so fun…

[images via Feltron]

Replace oil?