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Loading...The opening keynote at the Presentation Summit 2011 was kick-started by Nigel Holmes. Nigel came from England 30 years ago and is an amazing graphic designer. He showed his information art from the times when digital graphic design was not the norm.
Nigel spoke about the difference between “simplify” and “clarify”. As an example, he showed the subway map of Tokyo. Apparently, there exists a complicated-looking detailed map for the city residents. On the other hand, there is a much simpler map for tourists created by Richard Saul Wurman. This map only encompasses what travelers need to know. Look at these maps in the slide figures below. You can click on all these slides to view larger representations.
Nigel also talked about the power of a smile. He gave examples of the redesign of US currency and a fantasy party arranged by the folks at National Geographic for the world population. Apparently, humor was not the norm in both examples! Nigel said that it was easier to connect with your audience when you smile. And he made us all smile with an anecdote about a person who could tie 14 cherry knots using just his tongue.
His next topic was hot dogs, and he mentioned eating competitions. Participants gobble huge amounts of every type of food from asparagus to sausages. One of these “eaters” weighs only 105 pounds. Fame came to a Japanese eater who consumed 53 and a half hot dogs in just 12 minutes! So how did he accomplish this feat? He actually trains people on how you can eat faster than you can count! Apparently, someday the Olympics may have an eating competition.
Nigel then discussed helium, and the rift between balloon artists, also known as twisters. He then said how he was more impressed with the lifting power of helium rather than its presentation prowess.
Nigel Holmes moved to America in 1978 to work for Time Magazine. He became graphics director and stayed there for 16 years. Despite academic criticism, he remains committed to the power of pictures and humor to help people understand otherwise abstract numbers and difficult scientific concepts, whether in print or in presentations.
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Note that Wurman's map isn't a subway map at all, and doesn't actually abstract anything aside from making the shapes nicely geometric.
It's actually a map showing the two most important Tokyo city-center surface rail lines—the Yamanote line and the Chuo line—which have roughly the same physical layout as his map, and have exactly the stations he shows.
The actual Tokyo subway lines (and many other surface rail lines) are simply omitted, and there's no indication of any attempt to incorporate them.
I've seen this map in various places on the internet, always with the same claim that it somehow represents an intense abstraction of the Tokyo subway network. Dunno where that idea came from, as it appears to be simply untrue…
[This map isn't even very good for tourists, as it leaves off a huge number of most important tourist destinations. It is pretty though…]