MAS 963 Fundamentals: Color, shape, sound and location
readings:
- Tufte, E. 1990. Envisioning Information.
Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
There are several copies in the Lab; it is on reserve in Rotch
- Small, David. 1996. Navigating large
bodies of text. IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 35, No. 3&4.
- Jacobson, N and Bender, W. 1996. Color as a determined communicationIBM Systems Journal, Vol. 35, No. 3&4.
- Arnheim, Rudolph. 1974. Art and Visual
Perception. Berkeley: The University of California Press.
chapter 2 "Shape".
assignment:
- Color: Take a posting and put it in a rectangle. Now color it. What are you highlighting with the color? Why did you choose those particular colors? Do this for 2 or 3 postings (using either the same or different schemas). (Bender, Tufte)
- Shape: Sketch a conversation in which postings are depicted as different shapes (focus on shape only - no color). What do the different shapes mean (eg. emotional tone, indicators of addressee, etc.)? How do the shapes fit together to form a larger whole? (Arnheim)
- Text: Imagine a large-scale interactive textual interface to all of Usenet. What would it look like? How would you navigate through it? Is it a 2D space (such as a projection wall) or a 3D space (such as a VR or sensed-room environment)? Make a detailed sketch of your idea for this interface. (Small)
- Using the ideas in Tufte's "Narratives of Time and Space" chapter, make a sketch of the progression of a conversation. What constitutes "space" in this situation? (Tufte)
Please make each sketch on a separate page and make a top level page that has a link to your 4 sketches (and your name). Enter the URL of this top level page by Tuesday Sept 21 at 5:00 p.m.