Greetings fellow bloggers!  From the looks of your blogs, it seems that many of you enjoyed our wonderful tour of Midway Contemporary Art and the Karthik Pandian installation last week...

prettymaps (nyc)  Interactive map by Aaron Straup Cope 2010
courtesy Jen Bekman 20 x 200

This week we will be looking at visual information communication, or idea mapping.  This is the mapping of ideas and subjects with a diagrams used to represent word,ideas, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.  This form of information visualization can be very helpful. For example, take a peak at the Flowchart to Lifelong Happiness from Flowing Data, a site that 'explores how designers, statisticians, and computer scientists are using data to understand ourselves better...through data visualization'.  You might enjoy the Strange Maps website, where you can find anything from a photo of the world's largest map (1964 World's Fair) to a map directing you to your next Happy Meal fix anywhere in the US.  

MTV Music Awards Twitter Tracker by Stamen Design
photo courtesy www.infosthetics.com

And don't forget to check out Information Aesthetics, a resource clearinghouse for information mapping where you will find the MTV Music Awards Twitter Tracker, among other pretty amazing visualization projects.

Remember to come to class prepared with your Foundation kits, laptops,  and an open mind, ready to dive into an info-mapping project.  Oh yes, and don't forget to tell me where this globe is located if you want to try and race Fillup to win this week's art junk prize...