A short journey in Density design

FRANCESCO FAGGIANO

“A SHORT JOURNEY IN

DENSITYDESIGN” UNIVERSITY INTERNSHIP PORTFOLIO [APRIL - JUNE 2010]

index [projects]

1. Densitydesign press 2. expo 2015 3. project name? boh 4. environmental wired 5. outside project 6. visual eyes

[info]

FRancesco faggiano

[data]

knowledge improvements

densitydesign

PAOLO CIUCCARELLI

[about]

[about]

DensityDesign is a Research Lab in the design department (INDACO) of the Politecnico di Milano. It focuses on the visual representation of complex social, organizational and urban phenomena. Although producing, collecting, and sharing information has become much easier, robust methods and effective visual tools are still needed to observe and explore the nature of complex issues.

Associate Professor at Politecnico di Milano, he teaches at the Faculty of Design in the Communication Design master degree. He has been visiting lecturer at Universidad de Malaga and The Royal Institute of Art (KKH – Stockholm) and participated to several postgraduate courses in other universities.

A DESIGN RESEARCH LAB

Our research aim is to exploit the potential of information visualization and information design and provide innovative and engaging visual artifacts to enable researchers and scholars to build solid arguments. By rearranging numeric data, reinterpreting qualitative information, locating information geographically, and building visual taxonomies, we can develop a diagrammatic visualization—a sort of graphic shortcut—to describe and unveil the hidden connections of complex systems. Our visualizations are open, inclusive, and preserve multiple interpretations of complex phenomena.

densitydesign tutor

Since 2000 he represents the Faculty of Design in the European program “MEDes” (Master in European Design). Head of the Communication Design Research group and member of the Design PhD board, both at Politecnico di Milano – Design Department. His research and publishing activities focus on the development of data, information and knowledge visualization tools and methods to support decision making processes in complex systems.

He’s founder and scientific coordinator of POLIteca, the Design Knowledge Centre of Politecnico di Milano.

[semantic research through web]

densitydesign press the first research on the web [ABSTRACT]

Density Design press is a collection of websites that have been interested in Densitydesign and in its projects. The visualization produced represents the spread of these projects in the internet’s world, showing its country and its dates of publication.

This was our first project as trainee. We entered the world of research and data organization and, of course, viusalization. Using research tools and data tools we analyzed and represented the Densitydesign presence on the web, trying to understand how it evolved.

[CREDITS] author: francesco faggiano, gabriella piffer customer: densitydesign objectives: learning data research output: paper document

[semantic research by pictures]

[research network]

At first we studied the net between Densitydesign and the web research tools we had. In this way we could prioritize the most effective networks, choosing in the end a research basin, from where we started to search and collect data from the web.

[data ANALYSIS]

[excel data]

The single web page was split in 5 most important parameters, related to the web page itself and to the Densitydesign project. So we started to search on all these networks, reaching 257 unique results (web pages) that sometimes had more than one project mentioned.

[parameters selected]

We selected only the most important and reliable parameters, as the other ones were too ambiguous to be classified. We chose to focus on this three parameters, trying to give them a meaning.

[parameters organization]

Each parameter express a single kind of data.

If related to another one, it can express information and knowledge. We chose a point of view, the project’s one because we noticed the project parameter was strictly related to date and geografical origin, thus showing who and when mentioned Densitydesign all over the world. Little by little we completed the final visualization trying different solutions.

[illustrator previews]

[main visualization]

[paper screenshots]

The final output was a paper, containings the visualizations and the most influent sites wo mentioned Densitydesign Lab and its information-visualization projects.

summary [instruments]

[instruments]

Ex Ai

LEGEND

ID

[knowledge]

web

Ai

ID

Ex

illustrator

indesign

excel

photo

print

video

analysis

illustration

Pr premiere

[knowledge]

research visualization [links]

www.densitydesign.org www.flickr.com/photos/densitydesign twitter.com/densitydesign

customer work group DATa relationship organization

[STYLOBOARD]

expo 2015

a semiotic odissey [ABSTRACT]

In 2015 Milan will host the Universal Exposition for the second time in its history, on the theme of Food with the title “Feeding the planet, energy for life�. But food is a very complex theme, being much more than mere feeding. In fact it has influenced history, environment, industrial economical and social development as much as tastes and art. Expo 2015 S.p.A. asked Densitydesign to work on the Expo themes and generate a visualization able to communicate the complexity stemming from the relationship between food production and consumption; social and environmental concerns; technological and sustainability issues.

[CREDITS] author: francesco faggiano customer: EXPO 2015 S.P.A. objectives: understanding iconic values output: concept presentation

[concept presentation]

FOOD VARIETY FOOD SECURITY CULTURE AND TRADITIONS

FOOD CHAIN

I FOOD VALUES FOOD SAFETY

FOOD DEMAND

summary [instruments]

Ai [knowledge]

[links]

www.expo2015.org

[MOCKup previewS]

VISUAL SOCCER What heatmap means [ABSTRACT]

Visualsport.com is the new service from VISup where you can access and analyse football statistics, visualize trends or compare player’s performance. VISup asked us to design the interface of this service, visualizing data about soccer matches. I personally designed the heatmap template about ball possession.

[CREDITS] author: francesco faggiano, matteo azzi, giorgio caviglia, alessandro dallafina, gabriele zini customer: VISUP objectives: learning mathematic visualization output: heatmap visualization

[heatmap COLOR-based visualization]

Using data properly we are able to show and see hidden relationships between facts and events, as in a soccer match, where players move all over the soccer field, tracing hidden paths, collecting hidden data, such as assists, penalities, kicks and so on. I was asked to show the ball possession using data in relation to the field areas. I chose two different visualization.

The first one is a color-based visualization, split in two as the differences between color tones can be clearly visible. The second one is an areabased visualization where area of a single zone is used as main parameter (in percentage).

[Heatmap area-based visualization]

team a

team b

[other visualizations]

summary [instrument]

Ex [knowledge]

[links]

www.visualsport.com www.visup.it

Ai

[styloboard]

environmental wired the iconic stylization [ABSTRACT]

The 2010 edition of the Report on innovation culture in Italy, deals with issues and questions by taking a cut of gender. The general perception of women’s innovation, technology, work, information and training are placed, in the report, with specific evidence, to assess whether and how these differ, if and how it is possible to define a different look, the look of gender, the topics addressed, and whether and how stereotypes can and can not be confirmed by a direct analysis of the culture of innovation.

Wired Italia asked Densitydesign to represent this report using visualization as the best way to introduce these data. I focused on all the topics drawing some pictograms.

[CREDITS] author: francesco faggiano customer: wired italia magazine objectives: improving iconic stylization output: icons for environmental report

[development and variations]

For each topic I designed different pictograms, trying to stylize its shape, making its meaning the more recognizable as possible. I tried also different transparencies, as asked by collegues during the working session.

[final icons]

nuclear energy

gmo

research & development

high speed trains

incinerators

solar energy

railways requalification

internet

mobile communications

summary [instrument]

Ai [knowledge]

[links]

www.wired.it

[wired issue #24]

outside project

“strada km zero” for wired italia [ABSTRACT]

The image and the idea of ​​same highway as a factor in the production of smog, noise pollution and defacement of the landscape is going to end up permanently on file with the Kmzero ROAD pioneering project presented at the Triennale di Milano on 24th March 24. Designed by Giulio Ceppi, a professor at the Politecnico di Milano and founder of Total Tool Milan, the project is shared by a team of top class companies, interested in developing an approach and a real solution and innovation in road infrastructure.

I was asked to represent the entire project using a good style of illustration.

[CREDITS] author: francesco faggiano customer: wired italia magazine objectives: visualizing the project “strada km 0” output: illustration

[illustration development]

[published illustration]

I started making a quick sketch of the road, drawing all the details little by little. Then I chose a graphic style, designing all the structure of the project, making cars, shadows and landscapes, adding other details such as workers, flowers, a worm and a mole. I took some data about energy and costs of the project, designing a smart visualization, bottom right of the page. After this I designed the pictograms related to the project on antoher artboard, allowing Wired Italia to choose their position in the main artboard with captions.

[details]

summary [instrument]

Ai [knowledge]

[links]

www.wired.it

[cover]

visual eyes

conference about visualization [ABSTRACT]

Data are everywhere. Many disciplines are addressing the issues of giving access and making sense to all these data. What can and should (visual) design do?

The open seminar aims to focus on the role of design in data, information and kbowledge visualization.

[CREDITS] author: francesco faggiano, gabriella piffer customer: densitydesign objectives: recording and post-production output: video

summary [instrument]

Pr [knowledge]

[links]

www.densitydesign.org/2010/05/visualeyes-openconference/

francesco faggiano

knowledge improvements

who AM I?

some data, just for fun

[bio]

I was born on december 23, 1986 in Francavilla Fontana (Br), in a cold winter day. I lived here with my family until I was 19, when I finished my scientific studies at liceo in 2005. Then I moved to Milan to study Industrial Design at Politecnico. Little by little I reached my degree in 2008; however a great passion for graphics and art drove me to continue my studies in the specialized course in Communication Design, revealing my vocation at last: communicating, representing, visualizing. Since my first years in Milan I worked together with some Italian companies as graphic designer. Nowadays I’m still a freelance graphic designer and information designer. I follow my personal works in publishing, illustration and infographics. I love music and playing my guitars, my whistle, my didjeridoo and my electric bass. I like to play almost everything.

research

visualization

analysis

illustration

[network]

behance.net/francescofaggiano tsukidesign.tumblr.com twitter.com/tsukidesign tsukidesigner@gmail.com

customer relationship

work group

DATa organization