“Generative Typography Experiments” by Reza Ali. 2010
Generative Typography Experiment #5 from Reza on Vimeo.
Reza Ali is an amazingly talented computation designer who shows off some pretty interesting experiments with typography. Reza uses various computational strategies to get his design effects from fluid simulations, spring forces, particle simulations, and audio-input. Although the designs are still images, their effects give a feeling of liveliness and movement. The real interest for me in this project is the complexity of the computation to depict letters, which are quite basic forms. This level of complexity in the image allows for the designer to convey a story within the image such that the word paired with the animation style can work together to create a story or evoke an emotion. Reza seems to avoid doing this, as he uses only his name and does not seem to be controlling the effects beyond basic behaviors, which yields no hierarchy, and thus no story or emotion. This is something I’d like to look into.
“Repository Activity By Language” by Eduarda Mendes Rodrigas. 2012
Eduarda wins third place in a GitHub data challenge with this project, used to lay out a map of all of the languages used in GitHub. The orange text shows languages while the blue shows project repositories on GitHub. This image shows elements of design embedded into the visualization with an applied aesthetic. Using a force directed graph, a hierarchy is made visible so that the reader. This map is actually pretty awesomely packaged in a web app that works with pinch-zooming on my touch screen and responds very smoothly and renders quickly. What lacked was an interface with the actual map, making it truly interactive by making the buttons clickable and opening up a second layer of information.