Edward Tufte
By Sarah Donnelly
“The
Da vinci of
” Data
Statistician &artist
The Tragedy of
Design
“The commonality between science and art is in trying to see profoundly - to develop strategies of seeing and showing.�
Rules on presenting 1
Be substance driven, not method driven.
2 Know what you need to convey, not what you need to include.
3 Every item of information should be communitive and should provide reasons to believe the speaker.
What is analytic design ? Economics Copy Writing Art Direction Data-crunching Historical Research
Information Architecture
The principles of Analytic Design
Show
Comparisons
sHOW
cAUSALITY
Show
Multivariate data
INTEGRATE EVIDENCE
Document EVIDENCE
Good design isn’t about making dull numbers somehow become magically exhilarating. It is about picking the right numbers in the first place.
http://www.sealthreinhold.com/school/tuftes-rules/rule_nine.php
The Impact of Edward Tufte By Sarah Donnelly
Edward Tufte earned his PhD in Political Science from Yale University and then spent the next ten years teaching at Princeton University. During his successful career, Tufte has done consulting work for companies like IBM, The New York Times, NASA and NBC. His presence is made know what he is coming in and improving existing charts of data as well as more efficiently organizing numbers and resources. His work and innovating ideas are the result of his awardwinning book series, which has sold over 1.4 million copies. On top of all that, Tufte holds monthly one-day conferences all around the country selling out entire conference rooms at time to innovating professionals looking to grasp ahold of the mass amounts of information placed before them. It is safe to say that Tufte has pioneered the way into a whole new world of technology, design and science. One reporter called Tufte “the guru of graphics, the high priest of presentation.” In another interview with Times Magazine he was called “The DaVinci of Data.” Tufte doesn’t just talk the talk, but has developed a whole new way to walk. His field contains bits and pieces from art direction, data crumbling, economics, historical research and plain old copy writing. Tufte focuses on information architecture and analytic design. He takes large pieces of information and presents it in a way that is easy to understand. Presentation lies at the heart of what Tufte does and he is passionate about communicating effectively. Through this passion he has thrown out the typical road of PowerPoint and developed a whole new set of rules to follow. According to Tufte a presentation must be substance driven not method driven. It doesn’t matter how you tell something, as long as you are telling it correctly. Content doesn’t care what it is turned into! Ultimately, know what you need to convey and not what you need to include. Every item of information should be communicative and should provide reasons to believe the speaker. It is important in analytic design to show comparisons and causality. To always integrate evidence and to not let the mode of production hinder you. Don’t leave out information for the sake of appeal - but integrate it into the design. Above everything else, focus on content. A viewer should read your graph or chart through once and grasp the concept at hand. No frills. Tufte stresses the concept of the thinking eye - how do you know what you know? It is important to always ask yourself this question and know where you started from to understand where you are. Then, you can focus on where you need to go. He then analyzes the process of the creative thinking eye. The ability to execute and produce all that you see. Tufte encourages inspiring designers to become interested in solved problems. What were the steps to get where you are going? Analyze high and real science. Here, we find where solutions come from and how meaning is conveyed. This field of analytics design, that Tufte is the leading pioneer in, is simply filling the split between designers making graphs for mass consumption and scientists who relied on graphics to communicate their findings. Tufte states, “good design isn’t about making dull numbers somehow become magically exhilarating, it is about picking the right numbers in the first place.” To do good work, your attitude should be doing whatever it takes.
Tufte makes a bold statement by pointing out the growing flaw in the design field. “Graphic Design has become a tragic field. Taken out of the realm of nonfiction and placed into fiction – marketing and propaganda.” Design should develop function, not a facade. Design should be transparent and always point towards a function. On March 5th, 2010 President Obama, an enthusiast of infographics, appointed Tufte to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Panel. His job was to monitor the way that the $787 billion stimulus package was being spent. According to a NYT article, “The board has two missions: to root out waste, fraud and abuse in spending and to inform the American public how the stimulus money is being spent. The board has two missions: to root out waste, fraud and abuse in spending and to inform the American public how the stimulus money is being spent.” However, whenever I try to view the alleged breakdown on Recovery.org, the site shows continuous loading errors, which gives me great peace of mind as to where my tax dollars are going. One of Tufte’s most influential piece of work that still circulates today was his brilliant analysis, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint (2003). He points out the inaccurate use of this program. Tufte showed how NASA engineers used PowerPoint ineffectively in the lead up to the Columbia tragedy. Research findings were left muddled and confused and important findings were left unconsidered. It all lead up to the inability for engineers to realize that a single coil was unable to perform because of the cold weather on launch day. This sadly left to a tragic end for the crew. One could think that all could have been avoided through clear and precise displays of statistical findings. Tufte makes it clear where the values of art support the findings of science. “The commonality between science and art is in trying to see profoundly - to develop strategies of seeing and showing.”
Works Cited Coam, Noham. "Take $787 Billion. Now Show Where It’s Going." New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/business/media/22link.html?_r=1>. Tufte, Edward R. "The Word of Edward Tufte." Edward Tufte. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. <http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index>. "Tufte's Rules." Tufte's Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2016. <http://www.sealthreinhold.com/school/tuftes-rules/rule_nine.php>.