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Quote of the Week:

All solitary dreamers know that they hear differently when they close their eyes.
-Gaston Bachelard

Notes from Notchcode

3.06.2008

Behind the Scenes at the NYT Graphics Department

The New York Times' Graphic Director, Steve Duenes, took reader questions last week. The interview is filled with insights into how the NYT's crack graphic staff creates the award-winning work that appears both online and in print.

And in case you still don't believe that graphic design can change lives, just check out this quote, from Nicholas Kristof, who was relating a story about the impact graphics that were designed to accompany his article on the state of public health in Africa had on one particular individual: Bill Gates. Gates was telling him how, initially, he and his wife were planning on essentially wiring the continent, thinking that this would do the most good in bringing Africa out of poverty. Then he read Kristof's article, and decided funding public health initiatives for clean drinking water, malaria prevention, and the like would have a far greater impact. He continues:

Great! I was really proud of this impact that my worldwide reporting and 3,500-word article had had. But then bill confessed that actually it wasn't the article itself that had grabbed him so much -- it was the graphic. It was just a two column, inside graphic, very simple, listing third world health problems and how many people they kill. but he remembered it after all those years and said that it was the single thing that got him redirected toward public health.

No graphic in human history has saved so many lives in africa and asia.

[emphasis added]



So, what moves the richest couple in the universe to make Africa a healthier place to live? Good graphic design. It doesn't need to be flashy, it doesn't need to be hip. It needs to work: deliver information effectively. This is what I tell my clients, and I swear by it. Effective information delivery--whether it's for marketing, advocacy, or journalism--isn't about clever, hip, new, etc.... It's about presenting everything you need to present, and nothing extra, in a succinct, direct way. It's that simple.

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11.24.2007

Musical Artist of the Week: DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid


I have featured DJ Spooky here previously, but BoingBoing brought yet another great mix of his to my attention yesterday. Spooky is a thinking-man's DJ, with a deep understanding of history, both arthistorical and musicological (well, it seems like a real word...). I saw him speak at the AIGA conference in NYC in 2001, and he's one smart cookie, especially when it comes to looking at art and culture. Interestingly, most of what he discussed related to visual art, but after his presentation I could see how he has extended his sense of aesthetics into the aural world as well.

I would wager a lot of the best DJs have a hand or arm in the visual art world as well. One of my friends from SCAD is now a great DJ down in Atlanta, and I am sure she is not the only one to make the transition from visual to musical imagery. DJ Spooky has long brought cultural, social and political issues to bear on his mixes, and the latest effort, Ghostworld (Africa Pavillion Mix) is no exception. Check out what he has to say about it, and then download the eighty-nine minutes of soundscape and listen. If it doesn't move you, you aren't alive.

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