InfoViz

Edward Tufte has long championed the need to improve the ways that we design how to visualize complex information. Often, artists contribute at a different level than designers, but in both cases aesthetics are a key component. Computers have helped artists increase the volume of explorations of this topic with results like WordCount and NewsMap and Touch Graph of Google Searches.

A much simpler issue is the design of each basic GIS map that we make. It is still a form of visualization that often compresses large amounts of information into a pretty tight capsule.

But for a first time summary this is great: Slate.com has posted a slidehow on InfoViz that includes a Radiohead video.