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Image Quilts

September 20, 2015  |  Edward Tufte
1 Comment(s)

Our website imagequilts.com shows the new work of ET and Adam Schwartz on quilts (a variety of small multiples) that show 100 to 500 images on a single screen.

There is also a free Chrome app that composes, sorts, and edits the results from Google images.

Video demo:

Georges Vantongerloo

Vantongerloo was a painter and sculptor associated with the DeStijl group.
This quilt places images of his small sculptures in the top row, above an assortment of paintings (with some repeats). The paintings served as design-sketch for stucco cladding of a studio/barn.

Vantongerloo

Subatomic Particles

This quilt shows images of collisions of subatomic particles. Many of the original images were decorated in strong colors, now desaturated to black and white.

subatomic particles

Hillside Vineyards

Description of the Hillside Vineyards quilt.

Hillside Vineyards

Terrace Farming

Description of the Terrace Farming quilt.

terrace farming

Paul Klee

Description of the Paul Klee quilt.

Klee

Paul Klee, High-resolution Elements

Description of the Paul Klee, High-resolution Elements quilt.

Klee, high-resolution elements

Paul Klee Palette

Description of the Paul Klee Palette quilt.

Klee palette

Pablo Picasso

Description of the Pablo Picasso quilt.

Picasso

The Quilts Of Gee’s Bend

Description of the The Quilts Of Gee’s Bend quilt.

Quilts of Gee's Bend

47 Animal Sounds Over And Over

Description of the 47 Animal Sounds Over And Over quilt.

47 animal sounds

Feynman Diagrams

Description of the Feynman Diagrams quilt.

Feynman diagrams

Feynman 32

Description of the Feynman 32 quilt.

Feynman 32

Feynman ET

Eadweard Muybridge

Description of the Eadweard Muybridge quilt.

Eadweard Muybridge

Sorting Algorithms

Description of the Sorting Algorithms quilt.

sorting algorithms

Crime Scene Fingerprints

Description of the Crime Scene Fingerprints quilt.

crime scene fingerprints

Georges Vantongerloo Paintings

Description of the Georges Vantongerloo Paintings quilt.

crime scene fingerprints

Chinese Calligraphy

Description of the Chinese Calligraphy quilt.

crime scene fingerprints

Agnes Martin

Description of the Agnes Martin quilt.

crime scene fingerprints

Syed Haider Raza

Description of the Syed Haider Raza quilt.

crime scene fingerprints

Josef Albers

Description of the Josef Albers quilt.

crime scene fingerprints

Taking a line for a walk / on the margins

Below, original graphic from “Battling Infectious Diseases in the 20th Century: The Impact of Vaccines,” published Feb. 11, 2015 by Tynan DeBold and Dov Friedman for the Wall Street Journal as part of Project Tycho. (article here)

The number of infected people, measured over 70-some years and across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, generally declined after vaccines were introduced.

The heat map shows number of cases per 100,000 people.

Measles original

Here, the graphic re-worked, without active whitespace.

Measles reworked

Topics: E.T.
Comments
  • Tchad says:

    COULD PASSIVE WHITESPACE EXIST ?

    The removal of the active whitespace changes,
    and in many ways, improves the original graphic.

    It would be interesting to know if anyone tried
    to tone down the white lines to something less

    aggressive – such as a 5 to 10% grey hairline

    overlay with the colours touching as shown in

    the reworked image. As display quality improves
    we may not need to design for pixel intervals.

    We may actually be able to approach the quality

    of a hairline ink mark discussed elsewhere in the
    ET notebooks and shown in maps, colour wheels,

    auction catalogues, and other documents from the

    last couple of millennia.

    The eye and brain need a boundary or a visual

    reference point to help decipher the data on
    the axes. The colours do it but it may be able
    to be improved.

    The physical analogue might be the ghost grid
    paper – subtle enough to indicate a consistent
    reference but does not get in the way of the
    message.

    OTHER REFERENCES

    ET Notebooks : Maps moving in time…
    https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0003vq

    ET Notebooks : Book design…
    https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000hB

    Ghost Grid Paper
    https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters

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