Complexity and confusion are two contrasting concepts often used in describing information design. Confusion, characterised by clutter describes a chaotic and ineffective display of information. “1+1+3 or more.” Artist, Joseph Albers developed this saying to describe how chaos can easily be created when different elements interact in may more ways than the artist intended. As a simple example, two black, parallel rectangles on a white background create an additional visual of a white stripe.
On the other hand, complexity describes a rich display in which there are different elements working together to convey information clearly and understandably to the viewer. There is a fine line between complexity and chaos, so how can designers achieve the more desirable effect? The answer is layering.
In Envisioning Information, author Edward R. Tufte many techniques for effective layering in information design. He describes design elements such as color, lineweight, value, texture, and shape to create effective complexities. However, the real value is on how designers layer these different techniques. As we know from Albers, it is important to have intention behind not only each individual element, but the relationships among them. For example, a strong border or grid around information or too much color in a composition can take away from what should actually be the focus. It becomes important, then, to create a sort of hierarchy of elements with the most meaningful information being the most prominent.
I viewed this article as almost a “tutorial” in creating effective graphics. I will admit that I have sometimes felt extremely overwhelmed by infographic design and design in general. In the past I have viewed design as a given gift that can’t be taught; you either have “the eye” or you don’t. This article proved to be almost a breakthrough for me in not only my understanding of design, but also how to actually implement that understanding into my work. Although you still have to trust your own gut and have some sort of an eye for design, it is comforting to me that there is almost a sort of science behind design and that it is something that can be learned.. After I read this article, I tried to implement more complexity into my own infographic design. By playing with value, color and sharpness, I attempted to create a hierarchy of different layers to best convey my data visually without relying as much on explanation. However, even given this newfound understanding, my lingering insecurity leaves me with some questions. Where is the line between chaos and clarity, confusion and complexity? Is it a fluid line, having different meanings to everyone? How can you truly know how your design will be perceived by different people?
Graphical Representations Around Rome 