Data Comics - 数据漫画
Selected Projects | | Links: Data Comics Website
Click the project website to find a collection of data comics, the workshop plan, and related publications.
Data comics serve as an effective medium for conveying information using data visualizations. Drawing inspiration from the interpretive nature of comic reading, they blend text and images in a 2D space, transforming time into spatial arrangements using panels and sequences. By merging the spatial flexibility of infographics and chart annotations with the sequential narrative found in videos and live presentations, data comics offer a unique avenue for rich and expressive data-driven storytelling.
In 2018, we introduced data comic design patterns, each pattern describing a set of panels with a specific narrative purpose (see examples below or download the full printable pattern cards), that allows for rapid story-boarding of data comics while showcasing their expressive potential. The description of design patterns implies a design space of data comics, which combines a dimension for spatial panel layouts with a dimension for content relation between panels.
The creation of data comics remains a challenging endeavor, due in part to its interdisciplinary demands and the absence of specialized tools to facilitate the process. The manual aspects of crafting data comics can often consume a significant amount of time and effort. My doctoral research delves into the intricacies of this creation process.
I have conducted data comic workshops involving various participants, ranging from students—as exemplified by our workshop in an illustration course—to domain experts. To dissect and understand the efficacy of data comics in relation to other forms of data presentation, we’ve conducted controlled studies that compare the effectiveness of data comics with infographics and traditional text-plus-image formats.
My research extends to developing methodologies for crafting data comics, such as the creation of interactive data comics. Practical tools are also created like cheat sheets for data visualization techniques, and innovative applications, like using Data Comics for Reporting Controlled User Studies in HCI. We strive to consolidate foundational knowledge to encourage the widespread creation and utilization of data comics to promote communication with data.
