Information Design—Old World Third Street

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I've had a few people look at me funny when I say information design is what I enjoy doing if I get to choose my own project. To most information design is a quagmire of numbers that seems to elude any form of comprehension. But for me, it is a challenge of communicating something very intelligent and in-depth in a simple and attractive way. So for my passion project I documented the movement on a busy street in downtown Milwaukee for 18 different hours of the day, 7am-12am. Each hour I recorded the movement of traffic, taxis, buses, trucks, and bikes, as well as how many people visited each of the 14 establishments lining the street and who they were. What resulted was a series of "dials" representing each hour and a way to visualize and understand the movement and activity of the street at each hour of the day.

Photos of the Week (Or past 6 Months) 10/22

[slideshow] Black and white photos just work for me.

I don't think I can really explain why but ironically that's what the rest of this rant will be about. I think I may be extremely influenced by my first photo class I ever took at Cardinal Stritch U, an intro to black and white film photography. I was, and still am, captivated by the processes of developing film and making prints in the dark room; it's real magic. There is a certain aspect of authenticity in a black and white image that references hours of physical labor, and a long arduous process.

Black and white images also seem to hold a curious aura of significance. Every old image we've been shown in school since we were a kid has referenced an important historical event or character in society, giving black and white images an inherent impression of gravity, influence, and relevance.

Also I find black and white images strange in that they are possibly the most unrealistic images you could make. We see everything in color so why do we still make, or are intrigued by black and white images? My biggest attraction to them is that they strip away everything routine and familiar from objects we see in color and force us to reexamine them in terms of form, value, and composition.

That was a long way of saying I enjoy making black and white photography but here are a few that I've taken recently as part of a class project where we are meticulously studying and analyzing a particular street in Milwaukee. Each photo is a facade from Old World Third Street.