visualising energy use - using data sculpture

Photo credit: Adam Peacock

I've recently become more and more interested in physical objects that encode information - sometimes call "data sculptures". I had the chance to be involved in the creation of one recently.

I was working as a "facilitator" for a two week collaborative project at University of Exeter called Grand Challenges involving undergraduate students from a range of courses. My group were looking at "leading to a well world, and specifically enquiring into the question "how much is enough?". I set them the task of helping to write an infographics brief for 2nd year graphic design students at Falmouth - so that both teams of students could get experience of working in a designer / client relationship.

The idea was to produce "infographics" that could be used to explain data on energy use around the world at two events - a presentation and an exhibition. The Falmouth students had just 3 days to come up with ideas, pitch them, and work up their final solutions.

They came up with many great ideas. Some weren't possible in the time available - they had a brilliant idea involving acetate prints that sadly wouldn't have been ready in time (apparently they take a full 24 hours to dry!) However, one of the things I and the students did manage to put together was this fantastic "data sculpture" made of string:

Photo credit: Sian Rees

To "read" the sculpture, you need to know that the circles on the base represent different countries. The area of the circle represents that country's population, and the colour the score on the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). For example, the two largest circles are india in pink and china in a more purply colour. The US is the 3rd largest - a blue circle at the back.

The really innovative and creative part of the graphic, however, is the strings. The number of strings linked to a country represent that country's use of electrical energy. The differences are striking. For example, india only has 15 strings, whereas China and the US have nearer 80. The other information conveyed by the strings is through their colour. Black strings represent electricity generated using fossil fuels, blue ones are hydroelectric, yellow nuclear and the few green strings are renewables (solar, wind, wave etc).

I think the sculpture makes a brilliant visual statement, and really shows the differences between the countries well. I count myself really lucky to have been involved with the project, and was very inspired by the enthusiasm and creativity of all the students taking part. 

If you're in Exeter and want to see the data sculpture in person, it is currently on display at the main reception desk of Building One at the university's Streatham Campus.

Model creators:
Rachel Chambers
Adam Peacock
Maisie Benson
(BA Graphic Design - Falmouth University)


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