We chose to use typography as the primary formal element to be used at this level of visualisation. How can we use type to represent a legible environment?
Few ideas were pursued in this iteration:
- person's representation visually moving towards the centre of the group:
If you see a crowd at a park, usually within a crowd the direction of attention flows towards the centre. Taking this idea of the natural flow we find in the physical world, we found it important to represent; this flow also shows the intuitive sense of the people around that particular discussion.
- content posted by users represented by streaming and showering effects:
The inspiration came from both the idea of cars driving on highways as well as rain pouring. Both aspects have this concept in common: streaming movement conveying that (new and old) people/ideas are continously coming through. There is some discussion and knowledge continuously being built over time.
- clustering of type:
By carefully tailoring type to be reactive and expressive, how does the clustering effect represent and form the identity of that person?
- expressive, reactive, dynamic typography:
How do we visually free the letter form? How does this help to represent the content found at all levels of the intuitive Usenet we envision?
Note: take a look at the computational sketches which take the idea of freeing letter form to the next level.