Last week on Eye's blog (nothing this week really piqued my interest, sadly), they discussed the combination of infographics and music. These are not typical interactive web infographics, but moving infographics (video infographics, essentially) that use sound creatively. In their first example, the designer created a New York subway map in which the trains create cello string noises as they cross paths with other trains. (My words don't do it justice, so you should check it out here)
This relates to my post last week in which I discussed the expanded dimensions (and senses!) in which we as designers must think as we move our skills to the tablet format. Both examples Eye gives are brilliantly creative ways to express frequency of occurrence in a way that is more easily understood than a visual with many moving parts.
In other news, I'm a sucker for movie art. That's the last time I'll say that, I think. You all know by now. As such, I can't pass up a great opportunity to spread the movie love. This week, IFC.com created their list of the 50 Greatest Opening Title Sequences of All Time. The sheer volume of great options allows us the ability to compare the varied visual storytelling styles exhibited in each. Just for kicks, let's look at #41 Snatch and #40 The Shining.
The Snatch titles are energetic and playful, which parallels the frenetic pace of the movie and the humor of the script. Furthermore, the bold colorizations of each characters, and the interweaving scenes foreground the plot machinations of the movie and the cartoonishness of the characters.
On the other hand, the titles for The Shining are much more subdued. They're beautiful, and the score tells us we should be worried, yes, but they are not as frenzied as the Snatch titles. The storytelling and general insanity in The Shining makes a much more subtle entrance. Don't get me wrong, The Shining is not a subtle movie, but the progression is. For as much terror as we are led to expect, Jack doesn't exhibit anything more than a foul temper until his final rampage.
Incidentally, I do feel they left off the Rosemary's Baby titles, which are just as brilliant for their use of sound as they are for their visuals. Unfortunately, YouTube is coming up bare, so you'll just have to borrow it from me or rent it and see for yourself.
Non-traditional infographics seems to be a theme right now. I'm working on Census graphics for a special section that the Missourian puts out, and I had an e-mail yesterday about doing the motion graphics to get at some of the census data. For example, http://wimp.com/facebookfacts. I think it's fun to see how to incorporate some of these graphics into more of a news setting, but you have to be really careful how it's done.
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