Growing as Designers, with CLEVER°FRANKE
This article is an excerpt from the Encode 2019 Festival Guide, and it’s part of our ‘Encode Hacks’ series that celebrates some of the stunning speakers and contributors who were part of our latest event.
Looking back at the biggest challenges to setting up a data visualisation design company, Thomas Clever and Gert Franke from CLEVER°FRANKE share their insights at Encode 2019.
Which of your projects has defined you as a data design studio, and why?
That would be our project Google Consumer Barometer (2012), in which we explored interactive storytelling and created new and playful ways to visualise information. Google’s research project studied consumers’ use of online and offline media in purchasing processes. Our task was to present all this data in an attractive way by making use of innovative web technologies, whilst simultaneously being able to tell meaningful stories. Most importantly though, this project showed us how much we could achieve as a team. We had several developers, researchers, and designers on board — all dedicated to creating a ground-breaking project.
How are you currently using data in your design practice and how would you like to use it in the future?
The increasing amount of data that people produce every day creates big opportunities for designers. In our design practise currently, we aim to turn all that data into knowledge and eventually into informed actions. We actually fulfill the role of an editor by deciding on the ways to use data at the right moment, in the right place, and for the right user. However, we are aware that good practice is not only about leveraging the power of data, but it’s also about how you can effectively use new possibilities.
We believe that data enables us to create a new visual language, which will eventually become the major way of capturing the nuance of daily life. By making the data an experience, we are trying to contribute to the development of this new visual language as we move into the future.
Whether the uniqueness lies in the content or in the visual aspects of the story, we always make sure that it is memorable.
Within the field of data design, what are the trends and techniques that you feel you can associate your work with — both now and in the future?
Recently, we’ve been delving into the use of sensors that can keep track of various elements within different surroundings. This is particularly exciting for us, as all the parameters we work with stand to become even more connected now. Additionally, with the help of AI, we are able to gather data in efficient ways and analyse it to gain better insights. These developments will have a huge impact on our way of thinking as designers. We envision ourselves moving from designing the outcomes of our projects to designing the rules by which our work will flourish.
What can we do as practitioners to ensure that lessons and experiences within our field are shared and embedded within education frameworks?
We find it very important to engage with educational institutions and students on a regular basis. Giving talks, workshops, curating exhibitions, and talking with young talent are all highly important and mutually valuable exercises. Within CLEVER°FRANKE, we also open internship positions each year in a bid to give students the opportunity to grow their skills and perspective within our interdisciplinary team. We hope that more active cooperation between practitioners and educational institutions can be engendered by the means of collaborative projects and exchanging opinions and ideas via courses and training. We look forward to these developments materialising!
What advice would you give to those who are about to embark on their own data design journey?
We would advise emerging practitioners not to see data visualisation as an end in itself. It should be treated as part of a bigger story. These days, many data designers use data visualisations to show tiny aspects of larger narratives, without leading people to see connections with larger patterns. Data definitively creates exciting opportunities for designers, but to effectively benefit from them, data designers need to have a strong vision that defines these opportunities in meaningful ways for both users and clients.
Who is CLEVER°FRANKE?
Thomas Clever is Co-Founder of CLEVER°FRANKE, a data design studio based in the Netherlands and USA. He studied Graphic Design at the University of Arts Utrecht (NL) and received his Master’s degree from the same university, specialising in Editorial Design and Data Visualisation. Gert Franke is also Co-Founder of CLEVER°FRANKE, which was founded in 2008. He received his Graphic Design degree with Honours from the University of Arts Utrecht (NL).
