Ebook: Data-Driven Graphic Design: Creative Coding for Visual Communication

Digital technology has not only revolutionized the way designers work, but also the kinds of designs they produce. The development of the computer as a design environment has encouraged a new breed of digital designer; keen to explore the unique creative potential of the computer as an input/output device.

Data-driven Graphic Design introduces the creative potential of computational data and how it can be used to inform and create everything from typography, print and moving graphics to interactive design and physical installations. Using code as a creative environment allows designers to step outside the boundaries of commercial software tools, and create a set of unique, digitally informed pieces of work. The use of code offers a new way of thinking about and creating design for the digital environment.

Each chapter outlines key concepts and techniques, before exploring a range of innovative projects through case studies and interviews with the artists and designers who created them. These provide an inspirational, real-world context for every technique. Finally each chapter concludes with a Code section, guiding you through the process of experimenting with each technique yourself (with sample projects and code examples using the popular Processing language supplied online to get you started).

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Review

It is rare to find a book that adeptly addresses the creative, conceptual, and technical aspects of programming. For those who work and teach in the space between the technical and the creative, this book will be a valued resource. -- Joel Swanson, Director Technology, Arts & Media Program University of Colorado, Boulder, USA This is an amazing work capable of addressing the most important concepts of algorithmic and process oriented design/art. No other text I have read so comprehensively guides the reader through the visual output and the internal programming motivations for creating such beautiful data-driven work. -- Wayne Madsen, Assistant Professor of New Media Art and Technology, Indiana University, Kokomo, USA This title describes the changes that have taken place in graphic design and visual communication from traditional ink and paper to the power of computer processing...To demonstrate the power of this digital technology, the book is illustrated with 200 color images as examples of the new data-driven design...Summing up: Recommended. * CHOICE * Data-driven Design is a clearly written, comprehensive overview of the fruitful meeting point of computer programming and visual output that will be particularly useful for newcomers to the practice of code-based art and design. * ARLIS/NA Reviews *

About the Author

Andrew Richardson is a senior lecturer at The University of Sunderland (UK), where he teaches interactive media. His background combines both academic and practical work and he has exhibited and presented digital interactive artwork in exhibitions and festivals both nationally and internationally.