Information Visualization
- by Shekhar Parkhi
Displays that exploit the visual potential of appearance
How do the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries look?
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In these two displays, I am trying to show the viewer the appearance of the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries on the University of Washington - Seattle campus. The first display uses photographic images to show how they appear from the front. The second one shows how they both appear from the top. This is actually a silhouette of the floor plan of these two libraries. It also does show the viewer that the two libraries are potentially connected from the inside or at least share one common wall and could possibly be a part of one and the same big building or architectural structure.
The colors used are same as the ones used in the model inforgraphic (purple and gold majorly). The major two colors (purple and gold) are used to differentiate between the outlines of the floor plans of the two libraries (Purple is Suzzallo and Gold is Allen). The colors used in the two photographic images are the original colors as the two buildings are seen in the real world.
The text used inside the silhouette of the combined floor plan is white in color. The remaining text is purple in color, as in the model to be emulated. emulated. Moreover, the titles are written on a gold ribbon-like strip as in the model inforgraphic.
The entire display as a whole is layed out just as the model infographic, with the UW logo, title, subtitle, purple background and distinct columns in white, inside which the actual content is put.
The only place where I feel that I departed from my model inforgraphic was that I had used real photographic images in my display, whereas my model inforgraphic did not have any. However, I felt the need to do so as I felt that an infographic on the Suzzallo and Allen libraries without an actual image of the two, showing their artistic and architecturally amazing picture, would remain incomplete, as they are of historic importance to the University of Washington and the vision behind building the Suzzallo library was for it to be the "soul of the university".
Critique Feedback
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The first person said that even though she loved the images of the Suzzallo and Allen libraries in the first display, she pointed out that using photographic images wansn't necessarily a good idea due to the fact that the model I was emulating did not have any real-life photographic elements in it. On the other hand, she really liked the second display showing the shape of the floor plan of the Suzzallo and Allen libraries and the fact that they were connected.
The second person too pointed out that using photographic elements in the first display was a departure from my emulation model. He preferred the second display. However, he said that the font of the labels looked different, possibly because they were stretched. He liked the color choices (purple and gold) for showing the silhouette of the floor plans of the two libraries, as the two colors looked good side by side and this was seen in the model which was being emulated as well.
The third person recommended that some how combining the two displays and tying them together would look better. He also said that the labels in the second display looked squeezed and should rather be in the center.
Considering this feedback, I decided to do away with the photographic images in my first display. I replaced them with the exact internal floor plans of the Suzzallo and Allen Libraries. I also, changed the font size of the labels in the second display and decided to place them side by side at the top.