Visual variables are “the differences in map elements as perceived by the human eye” (wiki.gis.com). No matter what the type of map, these are the fundamental ways in which graphic symbols can be distinguished.
Visual language
A visual language is a system of communication using visual elements. Speech as a means of communication cannot strictly be separated from the whole of human communicative activity which includes the visual and the term 'language' in relation to vision is an extension of its use to describe the perception, comprehension and production of visible signs.
Datatype — variable font that turns text into charts
An OpenType variable font that turns simple text expressions into inline charts. No JavaScript, no images — just type.
Prof. Judy Fan: Cognitive Tools for Making the Invisible Visible
Prof. Judy Fan: Cognitive Tools for Making the Invisible Visible
On Software, or the Persistence of Visual Knowledge
Wendy Hui Kyong Chun; On Software, or the Persistence of Visual Knowledge. Grey Room 2005; (18): 26–51. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/1526381043320741
Reticulum Network
For the better part of a generation, we have been taught to visualize the digital world through the lens of hierarchy. The mental maps we carry are dominated by a single, misleading image: The Cloud.
ggtime: A Grammar of Temporal Graphics
Visualizing changes over time is fundamental to learning from the past and anticipating the future. However, temporal semantics can be complicated, and existing visualization tools often struggle to accurately represent these complexities. It is common to use bespoke plot helper functions designed to produce specific graphics, due to the absence of flexible general tools that respect temporal semantics. We address this problem by proposing a grammar of temporal graphics, and an associated software implementation, 'ggtime', that encodes temporal semantics into a declarative grammar for visualizing temporal data. The grammar introduces new composable elements that support visualization across linear, cyclical, quasi-cyclical, and other granularities; standardization of irregular durations; and alignment of time points across different granularities and time zones. It is designed for interoperability with other semantic variables, allowing navigation across the space of visualizations while preserving temporal semantics.
Sound & Vision
Explore the future of type with the Re:Vision 2025 typographic playground—an interactive showcase of emerging type trends. Dive in and shape the next wave of visual language.
Visualize Value — Ideas, made visible
An ongoing practice of turning ideas into images. Visual ideas about work, markets, technology, culture, and human behavior by Jack Butcher.
ELI5 : What exactly is Aesthetic Visual Analysis?
I am a designer and I recently read about Netflix using an image discovery tool called AVA to generate frames from the content on their platform…
WRKSHP.tools | Cause-Effect Diagram
A cause-effect diagram is a visual tool designed to help you explore and identify possible causes for a problem or an observed phenomenon. This helps you to come up with possible root causes for the problem you observed, that you can then use to build experiments around.
Windsurf Codemaps: Understand Code, Before You Vibe It | Cognition
Codemaps is meant to offer a shared understanding of a system between humans and AI, enabling your AI to teach you about the code you are looking at quickly and elegantly. A codemap can be generated about any system or snippet to illuminate its code paths, helping users learn and recall. Codemaps allows AI to be a partner that explains code in an accurate and consistent way, rather than generating tons of inscrutable slop.
