•n.e nature of form in the dlgtt1I age is trapped in the invisible realm of code. Form+Code makes that world visible to the community that stands to gain the most from it: artists and designers." -John Maeda •At tong last. here is a publication that looks comprehensively at the contemporary digital medium with clarity, at its recent past and into the future." -Greg Lynn "Elegant as an algorithm, clear as a program, and as enthralling as a video game, Form+Code is a powerful tool, both as a tutorial and as an in-depth analysis of the aesthetics of the information age." -Domenico Quaranta "This incredibly rich study of the history and possibilities of creating media through code is a must-have reference collection." -Karsten Schmidt www.formandcode.com : n : C ; C - l"1 www.papress.com - - '. ·_ ~· - •. Once the exclusive domain of programmers, Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture fields of graphic design, typography, data code is now being used by a new generation of offers an in-depth look at the use of software mapping, art, digital fabrication, interactive designers, artists, and architects eager to in all creative disciplines. This stunning visual media, gaming, artificial intelligence, artificial explore how software can enable innovative survey introduces readers to more than 300 life, and all forms of new media and expression. ways of generating form and translating ideas. significant works of the past 60 years in the DESIGN BRIEFS --- RM . gN, ,. , -E Di -- ...\ ·• I 0 :.: . :: , '. ~ ; J.!T.S ' LUST 111 · '· ',:;'.1PUTATION AL AESTHETICS [N DESIGN, ~Rili, ~ND ~RCHlliliECili · E l -1 I I ! I --- 'i :-~, .,=·"'." .., - "i_ :.a:r:-\ Letlenng and Type, by Bruce WiliTn, ' 'asey Reas, Chandler McWilliams, Nolen Strals, and Ellen Lupton Th,nkmg with Type, by Ellen Lupton Typographic Systems, by Kimberly Elam v,sual Grammar, by Christian Leborg G·bson 1 The Waylonding Handbook, by David , ,.< ~ (';, -*~-i ..;.;."!,,. ~~~, ~ ?.::.;,,,,"· .. ~;;..;--,,; . ·~;~~~J?"j ! ,J~,.,;"1.:; .. 1~ · ....~ff,JJ4, ,_r,,,r r.i/1'.if;?, ',,' '1p~!:f/1~,;, t:: ·•, 'i' I .+1 J.'. 11\1\l , ,I LllnnrvotConoroH N,, 111111 ,,, 1111 ■ h11ok 111iw lu1 tmnl or ,011101turod 01wcllll 1hnnk1101N olUo Al/ton, Omo Anno 1\11110 Calnlooino ,111-Puhltonllon Onto Roa11Co1•y. ,. Compute, aohwt.~wtopment. m ""t 111,m11('1 w1thuu1 w1111 .. n 1murnnton frnm I MO Ondo,, Nlcoln Ondntttok, Jonol Dohnlno, 01 Fo,m•code In do1tgn, ctrt, and an:hltectu,. / 2, Computff.akt.cl daSlgl\. 3. Art and "'" 1 ,.,1,1, ■ hP• ~u PJII m lh\J ro11hnt uf ,ov1ow1 . 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Form and In design. 1 1 ISletJHllllilll, Jonnlfor lt111111JIIDII, 1nul Wnonor, Jo f and Index. and an:hltectu,._ ~•.: ·:•: ,t, ''.;'.; ::, i".~,•.: ,r't:';::~, ,, :::~"~•:;~:,~~bL~i> •,,::'t:,::;::::,~!~" A1 chlloctmO ISDN 010-1-acmoo.03,.a (olk. pope,) 111,ol 0 •O 0 • . -• • ,) 0 . ~o o o 00" °ci o o • . o •.• • ,, 0. • • 0 0 • 0 ""'0 •• i •. 0 • 0 0 ~ o.. :·ey . o• 9• "c, • •• oo. o 0 . 0 o . o•• . • • • o • • 0 0 Q ~ 0 q.O 0 0o 0o .. • O O O O o0 0,.. O - ~ ,, c, cc ~ 8 o oo Ocr . o. o ..... .-0] • ' "!- ·... 0 0 f -I Nffi R.OD _U_GiliI. N -~< . """"- r, ! ■ 1](!) FO -~ RUffi ERS ~ ~ REPEAT. -: ·•, - 12 TRANSF-OR- . ..,,. ~ 66 PARAME-TERlZE- •. - - • ·1 'AW •;.':- 92 VISUALIZE). \~¥-.. ~.. _: _ nn.a r :' , - -· ,;· ·•· .SIMULATE: _I~ . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ) fi ~ IMAGE .CRED ~TS) l .. ·\:~ BIBLIOGRAP~ _/ · :, .· .. ,. :·- {I DESIGNER/ ~R~ ST / A~CH_~:T:~C~t ~NDEX Uil] ------·----------------------. 0 fl -H9 Consider New York City's elaborate subway system. The New York City subway map organizes the com­ plexity of this transit system to help passengers navigate from one loca- °o tion to another. The visualization removes unnecessary geographic information ancTadtfs information related to train schedules and trans­ fers. The system is still difficult to traverse, but the map's visual clarity makes it manageable. Maps are an early form of visualization—maps of the stars were created before recorded history—but they are only one among a myriad of techniques available to designers. Visualization also helps communicate abstract LU information and complex processes. N < CO These letters were created using a particle system. The particles are attracted to a unique position within a set of interrelated points and, over time, they move toward a single point. This software demonstrates the potential for data visualization to bring clarity to an otherwise chaotic system. tsualize Visualize -iSQ DATA INTO FORM lai People have a remarkable ability to under­ In his book Semiology of Graphics: stand data when it's presented as an image. Diagrams, Networks, Maps, Bertin presents As researcher Stuart K. Card says, "To under­ another clear example of the communica­ stand something is called 'seeing' it. We try to tive power of visual representation. make our ideas 'clear,' to bring them into 1 Stuart K. Card, Jock 'focus,' to 'arrange' our thoughts."1 Like written Mackinlay, and Ben words, visual language is composed to con­ • l:: Shneiderman, Readings in Information Visualization: Using struct meaning. Our brains are wired to make "It!:::: Vision to Think (San Francisco: sense of visual images. In contrast, it can take Morgan Kaufmann, 1999), 1. years of education to develop the ability to read even the simplest article in a newspaper. The fundamentals of visual understanding, originally pursued by Gestalt psychologists in the early twentieth century, are now researched at a deeper level within the field The maps of France on the left and right of cognitive psychology. The findings of this both present the same sociographic data, research have been communicated within the divided by canton (a French territorial sub­ visual arts by educators including Gyorgy division). The representation on the right Kepes, Donis A. Dondis, and Rudolf Arnheim, replaces each number with a circle sized to as well as through the work of visualization correspond to the numerical value. We can pioneers such as William Playfair, John Tukey, spend time analyzing the left map to see and Jacques Bertin. Data presentation tech­ where there are concentrations of larger N niques that combine our innate knowledge numbers, but on the right map we instantly l-H with learned skills make data easier to under­ comprehend the increased density in the —I stand. In The Visual Display of Quantitative upper left. < Information, Edward Tufte presents a data set In the same book, Bertin introduces CO and representation that supports this claim. a series of variables that can be used to t-H Compare the tabular data to the scatterplot visually distinguish data elements: size, > representation to see how the patterns value, texture, color, orientation, and shape. become immediately clear when presented in For example, a bar chart distinguishes the second format. data through the height of each bar, and different train routes on a transit map are typically distinguished with color. For 10.0 8.04 8.0 6.95 visualizations using only one variable, each 13.0 7.58 9.0 8.81 element can be used in isolation. For multi­ 11.0 8.33 14.0 9.96 variate visualizations (containing more than 6.0 7.24 4.0 4.26 one variable) elements are combined. 12.0 10.84 7.0 4.82 When applying form to data, there are 5.0 5.68 always questions about goodness of fit, meaning how well the representation fits 10.0 the data. Visualizations can mislead as 8.0 13.0 8.74 well as enlighten. As Tufte warns in Visual 9.0 8.77 11 .0 9.26 Explanations: Images and Quantities, 14.0 8.10 6.0 6.13 Evidence and Narrative, "There are right 4.0 3.10 Edward R. Tufte, Visual 12.0 9.13 ways and wrong ways to show data; Ijxplanations: Images and 7.0 7.26 5.0 4.74 there are displays that reveal the truth |Quantities. Evidence and 2 Narrative (Cheshire, CT: and displays that do not." In Bertin's Graphics Press, 1997), 45. maps of France, the goodness of fit of the isometricblocks, this visualization of people. It transitions relationship between by Ben Fry, 2003 human genome data. It fluidly between com­ each technique. Fry worked closely with visualizes single let­ mon representations for researchers at the ter changes (SNPs) of viewing the same data, Broad Institute of MIT the genome data for therefore revealing the and Harvard to create approximately 100 13 J ^|Sl| ^is;!?5?bP®. •EglSjSg: 1 5f!«i «g& A i 1 LJUlllUl 1—1LJ_ £i K £.*?rat ^'r S ' ' ^ I JULLllll-l 1 JJi JLUUL 1 I -- ? tTT; ua- •1 ,, Zjf*,, xJUUHUl . -<>< • tS Vinec, and Nijmegen in the vehicles and the ver­ blocking Diplomats, This visualization "by Catalogtree, 2005 Netherlands between tical axis shows the Catalogtree, 2008 shows each violation This graphic shows data 07:36 and 09:13 am. difference between the between 1998 and 2005, at its location within for 10,000 cars cross­ The horizontal axis measured speed and the jjipiomats in New York the city, with the ing a bridge between for each unit shows the speed limit. 1ty were responsible United Nations at the the cities of Arnhem distance between the or 143,703 parking epicenter.