Information Design & Science Illustration Sources

Synonyms: Data Visualisation, Infographic, (Scientific) Diagrams, Information Mapping

Scientific Papers:

• Why a Diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words (Jill H. Larkin; Herbert A. Simon)
  • Abstract: "We distinguish diagrammatic from sentential paper‐and‐pencil representations of information by developing alternative models of information‐processing systems that are informationally equivalent and that can be characterized as sentential or diagrammatic. Sentential representations are sequential, like the propositions in a text. Diagrammatic representations are indexed by location in a plane. Diagrammatic representations also typically display information that is only implicit in sentential representations and that therefore has to be computed, sometimes at great cost, to make it explicit for use. We then contrast the computational efficiency of these representations for solving several illustrative problems in mathematics and physics.
    
    When two representations are informationally equivalent, their computational efficiency depends on the information‐processing operators that act on them. Two sets of operators may differ in their capabilities for recognizing patterns, in the inferences they can carry out directly, and in their control strategies (in particular, the control of search). Diagrammatic and sentential representations support operators that differ in all of these respects. Operators working on one representation may recognize features readily or make inferences directly that are difficult to realize in the other representation. Most important, however, are differences in the efficiency of search for information and in the explicitness of information. In the representations we call diagrammatic, information is organized by location, and often much of the information needed to make an inference is present and explicit at a single location. In addition, cues to the next logical step in the problem may be present at an adjacent location. Therefore problem solving can proceed through a smooth traversal of the diagram, and may require very little search or computation of elements that had been implicit."  Larkin, J.H. and Simon, H.A. (1987), Why a Diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words. Cognitive Science, 11: 65-100. doi:10.1111/j.1551-6708.1987.tb00863.x

BOOKS (About and containing Information Design)

• Edward R. Tufte
  • The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
  • Envisioning Information
  • Visual Explanations: image and quantities, evidence and narrative
  • Beautiful Evidence
  • Visual and Statistical Thinking: Displays of Evidence for making decisions
• Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information (Manuel Lima)
• The Book of Circles: Visualising Spheres of Knowledge (Manuel Lima)
• Atlas of Knowledge: Anyone can Map (Katy Börner, MIT Press)
• Information Visualization: Perception for Design (Colin Ware)
• 100 Diagrams That Changed The World (Scott Christianson)
• An Introduction to Information Design (Kathryn Coates, Andy Ellison)
• A Brief Illustrated History of Machines and Mechanisms (Emilio Bautista Paz, Marco Ceccarelli, Javier Echávarri Otero, José Luis Muñoz Sanz)
• Psychological Atlas (David Katz)
• Dear Data & Observe, Collect, DRAW! 

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EVENTS

• FYI: Konferenz für Informationsdesign

MOOCS

• Information Design (Scott Klemmer) 
• Design and Make Infographics (Project-Centered Course) by Karl Gude
• Data Visualization with Python (Alex Aklson)
• Information Visualization: Foundations (Enrico Bertini, Christian Felix)
• Information Visualization Specialization (Enrico Bertini, Christian Felix)
• Information Design for Curious Readers (A course by Trineo, Graphic design studio)
• Create an Infograph that will Make History (A course by Fernando Gomez Baptista, Illustrator and Infógrafo)
• Creative Infographics: Between Art and Journalism (A course by Jaime Serra Palou, Infographics designer)
• Anti-Yawn Infograph (A course by relajaelcoco, Computer graphics and graphic designers)
• Introduction to data visualisation (A course by Victor Pascual, Specialist in Data Visualization)

LIBRARIES

• Matplotlib: Visualization with Python
• R Graph Gallery

TATTOO ARTISTS

• Michele Volpi @_mfox
• Katy Wiedemann @katy.wiedemann
• Simone Klimmeck @simoneklimmeck

more to be added