Visuals include graphs or charts, diagrams, infographics and illustrations; they often deliver complex information to us in a way that is easy to understand and visually appealing. Although this might seem to be the standard definition of data visualisation, a wide range of designers expanded their creativity to show us alternative approaches to data and its representation; Mona Shalaby and Giorgia Lupi are prime examples.

The latter raised the following compelling statement: “We are ready to question the impersonali- ty of a merely technical approach to data and to begin designing ways to connect numbers to what they really stand for: knowledge, behaviors, people.”That is what we are going to focus on and explore in practice in this workshop.

-Introduction to data visualisation (Alternative approaches including Giorgia Lupi’s “data human- ism”)

-Learn how to find and use data in contexts you wouldn’t expect

-Learn how to use mundane and humanistic data as an observational tool and a creative material

-Draw an abstract representation of yourself/your daily habits through data* -Why is this important?

-Show examples of pioneers in the field and different types of representation

Materials provided :

-Paper
-Pencil and pens
-Colored pencils
_________

Amina is a freelance information designer based in London. She converts societal data sets into meaningful and engaging visualisations.

Amina is a native Arabic and French speaker. She studied and worked as an Architect in Egypt for several years, focusing primarily on research and development for informal settlements.

In 2017, she decided to follow her passion for data visualisation and study graphic design at the University of Arts London. During her postgraduate studies, her research focus revolved around personalised information design.

Amina feels most happy when working on social and environmental issues, hoping to help raise awareness and encourage pro-activeness. She loves crafting, working manually and taking pictures in nature. She also has a lifetime obsession with Sudoko puzzles!

The link to her webpage is the following:

https://aminasalama.myportfolio.com/data-visualisation

A special thanks to The Arab British Centre for hosting this event.

Workshop curator : Yasmeen.El khoudary

AWAN Festival is produced by Arts Canteen and supported by Arts Council England.