Digital data is ubiquitous in contemporary culture: it documents environment, health, communication, government, arts, professional and private realms. For designers and practitioners data offers a profound opportunity to investigate, reveal and creatively represent this increasingly significant layer of our society.
This practical course grounds students in data as a key element in contemporary design practice, and in the design and production of data visualisations. Through a series of hands-on exercises students will develop static, dynamic and interactive representations of data for screen-based and tangible forms, and come to understand the functional and poetic dimensions of visualisation as a creative practice. The course introduces students to the cultures and contexts of data visualisation and design, and the analysis and interpretation of visualisations. It also introduces critical perspectives on the questions of representation and interpretation that are central to the field. This course will be of interest to students from a wide range of fields including design, fine arts, digital humanities and information technology, where the visual representation of data offers both immediate challenges and creative opportunities.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Source, handle and manage data for applications in visualisation.
- Create static, dynamic and interactive data visualisations using established techniques.
- Research and analyse data visualisation artefacts and cultures of practice.
- Respond to the cultural and technological contexts of data and visualisation design.
- Critically reflect on practice and substantiate design outcomes with research and rationale.
Indicative Assessment
Visualisation Techniques: Sketches and Exercises (30%) Learning Outcomes 1, 2Visualisation Design Project (50%) Learning Outcomes 1-4
Research and Rationale, 1500 words (20%) Learning Outcomes 1-5
Assessment includes periodic critique and review sessions that provide formative feedback on work in progress.
In response to COVID-19: Please note that Semester 2 Class Summary information (available under the classes tab) is as up to date as possible. Changes to Class Summaries not captured by this publication will be available to enrolled students via Wattle.
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Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:a) 36 hours of contact comprising lectures, tutorials / workshops.
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Preliminary Reading
Ben Fry, Visualizing Data: Exploring and Explaining Data with the Processing Environment. O’Reilly Media, 2008.
Scott Murray, Interactive Data Visualization for the Web. O’Reilly Media, 2013.
Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd Ed. Graphics Press, 2008.
Toby Segaran, Jeff Hammerbacher. Beautiful Data: The Stories Behind Elegant Data Solutions. O’Reilly Media, 2009.
Assumed Knowledge
Familiarity with basic computer programming techniques for graphics and design.Majors
Minors
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $3120 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $4800 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9455 | 27 Jul 2020 | 03 Aug 2020 | 31 Aug 2020 | 30 Oct 2020 | In Person | N/A |