Graphic Analysis of a Process

The Graphic(s)
Using Photoshop, produce a graphic (or set of graphics) that interprets, explains or illustrates a process, change, development or disintegration and reveals the dynamic relations of its factors, causes, techniques and elements. Whether the narrative you're visualizing and interpreting is a small domestic chore ("How to Build a Set of Book Shelves") or an international event ("From 9/11 to the Invasion of Iraq?"), it should be a process that requires some explanation or speaks to the needs of a actual audience.

All graphics should be your original work.

Examples
Examples of such narratives include a magic trick, Napoleon's March on Moscow, executing the hammer throw, brewing beer, the development and decline of 1970s Disco, daily Duluth bus routes, etc.

A Sense of Purpose
Purposes might include

• giving directions,
• revealing causes,
• showing the relationship of elements for improved understanding or use.

Layers, Variables, Data Points
Graphics should include multiple variables or layers: for example, a bus route graphic could simultaneously show locations, times, routes, daily repetitions; on page 56 of his book, Tufte discusses a single magic-trick illustration with ten layers of information. Combined, the variables on your graphic(s) should include 20 data points.

Quantities
These graphics should be quantified--that is, should include numbers, distances, times, etc. as appropriate--using Tufte's three techniques of direct labels, encodings and self representing scales (13).

Parallelism
Depending on the subject matter, audience, purpose and intended medium, you should decide whether your graphics will appear on successive pages, or as part of the same eye span. If you use multiple images or pages, keep in mind the importance of parallelism. For instance, if you're teaching us how to wax a ski, having the orientation and distance to the ski give us a sense of continuity. On the other hand, if your various images change angles or distance, we may get lost. Be sure you visually and verbally reorient us if you

Text
You may also write textual captions to accompany the graphics or include text within the graphics themselves.

Sources
You should cite the sources for all the information you include in a foot note or on a Works Cited section/page.

Submission Directions for the Presenting Evidence for Decision Makers project

You'll mount your images on a Web page or set of Web pages pages posted to your "www/5230/process" folder . This is not, however, an assignment about Web design.

Annotation

Resources for Presenting Evidence for Decision Makers

• MLA guidelines for in-text citations
• Gallery of Data Visualization at York University
• Geovisualization and Minard's Map (what can be done with Minard's map).