Non-linear Storytelling: Journalism through “Info-spatial” Compositions

Information Design is playing an increasingly critical role in everyday journalism. The movement from word and picture to “words within diagrams” is building a new form of truth telling and storytelling—and with it, a new journalistic aesthetic. This article, “Non-linear Storytelling: Journalism through Spatial Compositions” presents a series of controlled case studies for the “column” entitled “Visual Data” that appears on a weekly basis within the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “Visual Data” is published every week within La Lettura, the Sunday cultural supplement within Corriere della Sera. A fundamental shift in how text is “supported” distinguishes the Visual Data column from others within the publication. The traditional aesthetic of pictures coupled with text is instead interpreted through revealing, diagrammatically, the underlying “data” itself. In the traditional instance pictures or images (which may be said to be spatial in nature) are captioned or elucidated through text. In the examples presented under Visual Data the arrangement is “info-spatial.” Text still plays a critical role, but it is nearly always in identification, captioning, or labeling roles; it is the last mile of the cognitive equation. The end results: the info-spatial diagram supported by the traditional approach of photojournalist and reporter versus the info-spatial non-linear storytelling requires a different approach to content building. Aspects of aesthetics—whether these be visually compelling through “emotive beauty” or “functional beauty” are requirements for either approach. However, the “beauties” of powerful photography and writing within traditional great journalism are matched are to be compared to a new kind of “structural beauty” and “intellectual beauty” for data visualization. Again, the approach to creating effective outcomes requires a different kind constructor. If we are to catch, and retain readers’ attention the goal must be to create Non-linear Storytelling: Journalism through “Info-spatial” Compositions giORgia lupi, m.arch, BFa “layers” (the visual and textual composition) as opposed to “lines” (the linear composition). Our design method, based upon layering multiple sub-narratives over a main construct prescribes this specific phenomena: the intelligent constructs that lead to info-spatial journalism. How might a team (oftentimes information design is a team endeavor) approach this process? This is of particular concern if a information diagram might be required on a regular publishing schedule. If such new forms of journalism become not merely supplementive of the older models (as is the case with information graphics supporting articles in lieu of images and illustrations) but instead the articles themselves (where the text plays the subservient role) what kind of protocols can ensure reliable generation of examples? The paper outlines the process through a general description of the layering idea and the spatial build-up of the visualizations. It goes into some depth describing a selection of examples and touches upon our data analysis and concept building toward the practice of journalism for info-spatial composition: non-linear storytelling.