• ba graphic communication
    uca farnham
  • project: research visualization
    generate data and organize informations

    10 A4, 10 planes, 10 launches each plane, a big place indoor to have no wind condintion, 2 video cameras, tape measure and loads of fun. and this will give you something really complex. but is the complexity complicated? the aim and the message of this project was to show how analyzing complexity in depth can lead us to simpler and simpler solutions. then 10 planes where built from the same stock of paper, all with the same weight value.


  • after building the paper planes, a field of 10x4 metres was designed on the floor and two cameras were set: camera A from the side and camera B from the top. camera A was useful for the trajectory and to record how long the plane stayed on flight; while camera B was mounted to record the point where the plane landed.

  • camera A
  • camera B
  • as the book shows the videos were decomposed into frames to calculate the perfect timing of each plane.

  • each plane was launched 10 times each from the same person: male, 1.80 height, 76 kilos.
    this allowed to work with a consistent variable. also no wind condition as the experiment was taken indoor.
    here an example of how the data has been recorded for 2 of the 10 planes

  • every plane then needed a vector pictogram, a color, and a name.

  • everything has been re-transferred digitally following the proportions of the real measurement.
    the trajectory was re-traced according to the videos and to the real measures calculated.

  • the example shows how two planes could be compared easily by overlapping their trajectories.

  • the landing area was mapped as well to create a graphic representation of the actual planes.

  • the trick was to create a simple and understandable way to read the whole diagram but also plane by plane so a grid was created and the artwork were laid out singularly, and printed on a transparent film.

  • the final piece is a small object, handmade from laser cut plexiglas, and the 10th different planes diagrams 
    printed on transparent film, that you can easily pull them out singularly and compare one each other.

    the final outcome shows clearly how we can break down the complicated complexity and how information design can be used in a way where the informations are first understandable, clear, and as last, beautiful.

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