Today, while driving in my car i heard an advert on the radio for the urgent need for Blood Donors during the cold weather.

So, when i got back to the studio i tried to find some data on issue. To my surprise i couldn't find anything. This to me either means two things... Its not a huge issue, or nobody has chosen to show the data anywhere.

On the give blood website, you are however shown a pathetic graph, apparently showing the blood supply levels.

Stock Levels on December 3rd.

This is all the information supplied with the graph.

From this graph i understand that we have a lot of O+ and A+, and that we have little B- and AB-. However i don't understand if these levels are sufficient. Also, what do the number refer too?

What blood donors need to know is, how many more people are needed to fulfil this months blood donations quota, and can I be one of them.

So i propose this as a replacement...

In this graph, you are able to understand how many appointments are needed this month. If you know your blood type or not, you are able to realise the need, and sign up for an appointment.

This would be the monthly graph:

----------------------------------------------

Now I will try and do the same graph, using photography.

So today i've managed to change my design process.

Up until yesterday i've been thinking that i've needed to find an interesting piece of information and represent it in an interesting fashion. However now i've realised that my design process has been all wrong.

Instead of choosing the information to study myself, i've decided to put the question out to other people. "what would you like me to help you learn about?"

So i've sent an email out to people who might like to help me. I tried to include a mixture of people I would consider as 'creatives' and people that i would consider as 'uncreative'.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The emails really long but here it is anyway....

Hi All,

First of all i would like to say that this isn't just a viral message that i've sent to my whole address book, but each person has been carefully selected as i feel you may be able to contribute in different ways.

So as many of you know I am fast approach the end of my time at Goldsmiths. My final year evaluation will consist of one project, which will be displayed at the Final Year Show.

As I’ve brainstormed ideas for this project, I’ve found myself becoming increasingly interested in how human beings interpret data and how the visualization of data can impact that interpretation. You will all have come across data visualization, either in newspapers or on the internet. It is often used to represent large amounts of data in order to aide the understanding of the data’s relevance and meaning. An example of Data Visualization can be found at the link below. This is a diagram of the Irish Bailout package and how various countries have contributed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/datablog/2010/nov/22/ireland-bailout-bank-exposure

Have you clicked on the link? Good. My immediate observation was that although this diagram may be interesting and well conceived, it doesn’t provide you with any knowledge of how it impacts your personal situation. It doesn’t enable the reader to emotionally engage with the topic at hand.

For my project I would like to visualize data that is local and very personal. Elements of every day life that, although not life changing, impact the way you go about your day. Relationships such as how many adverts you pass on the way to the supermarket and how they impact your buying behavior OR maybe something more personal such as what you eat in the evening and what time you poo in the morning.

Last week I produced a piece of Data Visualization to represent the number of people that displayed work in accordance with a deadline. I wanted the graphic to represent the class at the very moment of being viewed, meaning the data would be live and therefore more emotionally engaging for the students. I also chose to use a rather strange way of displaying the data, and as, I really did not know the results until the deadline had passed, I had to create 20 different versions to ensure that the correct one would be available. (please see attached image).

Now to the important part! I would like to ask for your help. More specifically I’d like you to task me to collect some form of data about your life. Have you ever wanted to find something out, but would never have the time to actually do it. Well this is your chance to ask me to do it for you.

I would design the process of collecting the information and then go about vizualisation the data. The possibilities for the end product are ENDLESS. It could be a 2D graphic, a 3D kinetic sculpture or even a piece of interactive software.

So please send your ideas to me and I can get to work selecting those I could best work with. I understand if your too busy to respond or cant think of anything for the time being.

I hope you are all well.

Love Danny. x

--------------------------------------------------------------------

So the other day we had to go away and find an image that we thought showed an idea well. It wasnt about the quality of the image but how it put its point across.

Matt did a little 5 minutes presentation to show us some of his findings that really helped me along with my project. He showed us an artist/designer/information designer who photographer images of multiple object that represented a certain fact of figure.

So for example, here is a piece that he did about prison. This image depicts 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, equal to the number of Americans incarcerated in 2005.

BOOOM, i found this really interesting. It was also a huge relief, as I've been looking for a way to incorporate photography into my project for some time. This helped me to realise that i really need to stop locking myself into corners and stop thinking i cant do things. I really need to broaden the way and collect and represent data.

Oh and you know your doing something right when you have a TED talk... so heres Chris Jordan's TED talk.

So this week we had to develop our projects through photography.

At first i found it pretty hard to conceptualise my thoughts into an image. I didn't just want to show my ideas through a constant representation of the same object. I wanted to represent a solid percentage about the people who will be viewing it. I also want to make the data more personal, find someway of involving the people who view it into the data.

So when we are asked to do a project like this, we always hang our work on the wall.

So i decided that i would do a chart about how many people presented work that day.

As i wouldn't be able to guess how many people would do the work, i would have to print of loads of chart amounts and mount the appropriate image that day.

So the left image is a diagram of the amount of people who handed in the work for today.

37 people turned up for class out of a possible 51, totalling 74 percent.

I wanted to say that, if this class was this man (well harry boy)'s chest hair then we would look ridiculous.

Click on the images to look a little closer.

So the other day i spent an afternoon riding the bus, my aim was to count the number of white people riding the 21 bus from New Cross Gate to Old Street compared to the black people.

So i did a few trips, and each time counted the number people getting on and off the bus. What i found was really interesting, click on the map to read the data i found.

I think there can be a fine line between comedy and design. Both try to elaborate on the ordinary and make something new from it. Dimitri Martine does a great job in visualising funny pieces of information, and its the simplicity that makes it so effective.

So this is a video I watched a little while ago, i found it allot more interesting when i first watched it then now.

Today in college we did our first workshop on our ideas for our projects. I talked about how i wanted to base my project on different ways of understanding data. I think it would be fascinating to transform data in to a form that is easier for visually impaired people to read. Maybe something physical that can be touched or heard.

I read an article today about how blind people precept beauty and how even tho they cant appreciate somebodies appearance, they still ask their friends if the person is good looking before considering dating them. One girl explained that "beauty to her is when you can experience something with all senses." So even tho this lady had lost her sight, her appreciation for an attribute only recognised with something she didn't have, is still really important to her.

The article was from a beglian magazine called THE WORD. Find the article on their online magazine by clicking here, its on page 65.

So after a good day of research and thinking about possible paths to take my project, i've decided to change it a little.

I now think that i would like to base my project on unusual links between two completely different types of information or data.

I posted about this earlier on, but i think it would be fascinating to find really awkward correlations between two completely abstract pieces of data. I also fancy adding a bit of humour to the project... Im working on it!