A 12-week project documenting a slow down movement in a fast-paced screen-dominated world – by using data as a medium.
INTRODUCTIONS
Every day, we wake up to a bombardment of news about the latest happenings around the world. Beyond news about trends and latest AI development is a constant flow of social media updates across our tiny screens. We live in a hyper-accelerated reality where people are left feeling more behind and anxious than ever.
How much faster do we need to be, to catch up with the world? The relentless chase through our screens can make it increasingly difficult to find peace. For aspiring designers, having that mental capacity to think about what, why and how we want to create is a critical part of the making process. The slow-building of meaning in works is particularly relevant in an industry that’s getting increasingly saturated with fast, generative artworks and designs. Hence, I felt drawn to create data visualizations surrounding the topic of screen overconsumption.
METHODOLOGY
Over the course of seven weeks, individuals were asked to carry out weekly prompts related to various impacts of screen overconsumption on their wellbeing. Underlying these questions were a range of topics such as social connection, sleep deprivation, creativity decline. Participants recorded the contextual information behind these entries, so as to retain the richness of the data. Forms and suggested questions were provided as a guideline during the tracking process.
Upon receiving the responses, I processed the data carefully and created organic drawings that reflect the data stories behind each.
Analog Processing of Data through Writing & Sketching
Dataset from Week 1 - "Time Tracks"
Week 2: Moments of Laughter - How does my data exist within the larger context?
Dataset from Week 2 - "May Flowers 2"
Week 3: Long-Format Content Consumed
Dataset from Week 3 - "Urban Living"
Dataset from Week 3 - "Fiction"
FINAL THOUGHTS
During the data collection process, most participants reported an increase in awareness about digital distractions in their daily activities and reflection on their current digital habits. Such observations has led to a change in behavior such as picking up past interests (reading physical books, exercising) and feeling more energized - hence, inclined to create.
This period of designing became a time where a small community was built through the exchange of weekly data about our lives beyond the screen/ online discussion rooms. The data messaging we sent to each other was personal and meaningful in the creating of a dimensional picture of what our meaningful time looks like in a modern context.
As for the project itself, I found it a challenging, yet thought-provoking experience. Balancing between the role of a data analyst and graphic translator was not an easy feat. It required immense focus to untangle and translate beyond mere numbers, but also careful digestion of a large volume of text-based information. Which is then followed up by a rigorous series of experimentation with forms to express layered datasets in an easily understandable.
At the end of the day, this project did achieve its goal of reshaping data to be human and resulted in the creating of graphic design that builds meaningful connections between people. Although the weekly themed data visualization was an intensive period of designing, it allowed me to slow down my digital consumption habits over 12 week period - an unexpectedly rewarding experience.
As for the project itself, I found it a challenging, yet thought-provoking experience. Balancing between the role of a data analyst and graphic translator was not an easy feat. It required immense focus to untangle and translate beyond mere numbers, but also careful digestion of a large volume of text-based information. Which is then followed up by a rigorous series of experimentation with forms to express layered datasets in an easily understandable.
At the end of the day, this project did achieve its goal of reshaping data to be human and resulted in the creating of graphic design that builds meaningful connections between people. Although the weekly themed data visualization was an intensive period of designing, it allowed me to slow down my digital consumption habits over 12 week period - an unexpectedly rewarding experience.
