National Geographic Society
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Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888
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If you want to be a designer or art director, master Pictionary. Seriously, play it ALL THE TIME. Even if you don't own the board game, draw stuff on scraps of paper and make your friends guess what it is. That's what I do every day. Ideas have to start somewhere, and for me, the process begins with a fat, black marker.
For example, our November issue featured a page on homemade solar ovens (above). We had the boxes, the glass, the crumpled newspaper. The photographer wanted to know how to shoot them. Sketch, sketch, scribble. Done.
In the same issue, we had a story on acorns and why more fall in some years than others. "Let's shoot falling acorns," I said, without actually speaking.
Rapid sketching helps with graphics, too. In our December issue, Nigel Holmes depicted the Earth's carbon situation as a filling bathtub. I wanted to extend the metaphor on the third page. But how? Sketch, sketch, scribble...
Get the idea? Okay, let's play. I sketch, you guess. 30 seconds on the timer. Ready, GO!
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Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
It's you right?
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Pablo Picasso: Editor of Men's Health Magazine
?
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Freedom of expression is not
What Big Brother wants you to do.
Any drawing has got a lot
Of incorrectness in full view.
Sketches that look of innocense
Are seen by the powers that be
To most likely cause some offense
To some with sensitivity.
In 30 seconds I do feel
Your sketch has bias overtones.
Maybe I'm making a big deal.
But I'm offended to my bones.
Better think twice before you draw.
Soon it will be against the law.
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Ima Ryma, I admire your sonnet. Thank you for commenting. Can you explain what you mean by "bias overtones?"
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Body image around the world?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
Popular plastic surgeries?
Computers determine most perfect human?
Best physical characteristics worldwide?
How much more time do I have?
BTW, I loved the bathtub analogy and graphic. I guess that was the point of that piece, but still. It's a visual metaphor that can be applied to far more than carbon emissions.
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Thank you Oliver for feedback.
I did take poetic license
To voice concern over attack
By bureaucrats due to offense
Taken to some artistic work.
The "bias overtones" I charge -
Personal perceptions that irk.
Bias defined as slanting line.
Overtone defined as a hint.
Such meaningless complaints of mine,
Deem me victim by government.
I used the sample of your sketch
To take perceptions to a stretch.
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Yes, Ben. You came closest with "Popular Plastic Surgeries" and "Body Image Around the World." We were hoping to show the popularity of procedures in different parts of the world. Still trying to track down reliable data—and willing models!
Thanks for playing.
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Smoke stacks.
State signs.
Winding roads.
Reason doesn't apply.
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Hi Oliver. My question is not directly related to this posting... but I couldn't find your email address so I decided to post it here.
I've always been impressed by the nice data charts in NGM. Your chart "The Cost of Care" in Jan 2010 issue is one of them. It's amazing how you guys can turn boring numbers into pieces of visual arts!
I was wondering what data visualization/graphing tool you guys use at NGM? I myself work on healthcare data for Canadian government, and I hope we could create some data graphics as nicely those in NGM.
Any pointers? Thanks!
Nov 24, 2009 6PM #
Weiwei,
Thanks for your comment. There is no magic wand for data visualization. We use Adobe Illustrator to design most of our graphics, but the program only does what it's told to do. The real work--the ideas and creative presentations--requires imagination. For inspiration, check out Many Eyes, a visualization site sponsored by IBM: http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/
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