Thursday, December 18, 2014
Thesis Proposal Acceptance and Link!
My thesis proposal has been accepted and I am free to continue to work on my project, design and continue researching my subject. The following link will lead you to a pdf of my approved MFA Thesis Proposal Document containing all of my current research, situation analysis,l problem statement, survey of literature, ideation, methods, dissemination, considerations and updates including the adaptation section, ect.
Complete Reference Listing Including Books, Journals and Web
The following link will lead you to a pdf containing a current complete listing of all my references for my thesis including websites, journal articles and a listing of books I have been using as inspiration, reference and research methods.
Thesis Update Presentation
The following link allows you to view my thesis proposal update presentation which details new additions/inspiration/ideation since my proposal defense presentation. Some of the highlight additions and considerations include the following:
Symbol sets may not be all inclusive to a data set and thus the need for additions is necessary. Therefore, a means of storing the symbol sets that allows for the ability to update is important. Though my thesis does not include the following implementation ideas as it focuses on the design of the symbols themselves these are viable options to expand my thesis to become adaptable to multiple audiences:
• A website with a SQL database component where symbols can be uploaded and downloaded for addition and usage.
• Symbol style sets could be created using ESRI ArcGis and hosted on their community maps program server to be downloaded by the community.
• The symbols could be hosted by thenounproject.com in collaboration with the AIGA to download the symbols as well as upload new additions.
The needs of crime analysts and police officers are similar but differ in key ways the following are new considerations for me to think about in developing my thesis:
• The specific needs of analysts and officers are mainly one in the same but officer needs differ by needing to identify environmental features that are consistent with specific types of problems.
• I.E. specific areas to consider symbols for including key city locations such as bus stops/public transport stations, bars/entertainment areas, stores, banks, ect.
• Bridging a gap to show broad statistics and specific information localized information through the symbols and their sets as a whole.
• Include/allude to crimes in specific locales or locale types.
Because my symbols need to show time change and even quantitative data these are some considerations as means of measurements that could apply to my symbols:
• Nominal measurement show names or labels items in unordered categories, such as race, age, gender, ect.
• Ordinal measurements classify incidents, victim or offender characteristics, areas, ect according to rank.
• Interval measurements show values but cannot show ratios between values.
• Ratio such as distance in inches, feet, yards, millimeters, meters, start at zero and continue indefinitely.
Symbol sets may not be all inclusive to a data set and thus the need for additions is necessary. Therefore, a means of storing the symbol sets that allows for the ability to update is important. Though my thesis does not include the following implementation ideas as it focuses on the design of the symbols themselves these are viable options to expand my thesis to become adaptable to multiple audiences:
• A website with a SQL database component where symbols can be uploaded and downloaded for addition and usage.
• Symbol style sets could be created using ESRI ArcGis and hosted on their community maps program server to be downloaded by the community.
• The symbols could be hosted by thenounproject.com in collaboration with the AIGA to download the symbols as well as upload new additions.
The needs of crime analysts and police officers are similar but differ in key ways the following are new considerations for me to think about in developing my thesis:
• The specific needs of analysts and officers are mainly one in the same but officer needs differ by needing to identify environmental features that are consistent with specific types of problems.
• I.E. specific areas to consider symbols for including key city locations such as bus stops/public transport stations, bars/entertainment areas, stores, banks, ect.
• Bridging a gap to show broad statistics and specific information localized information through the symbols and their sets as a whole.
• Include/allude to crimes in specific locales or locale types.
Because my symbols need to show time change and even quantitative data these are some considerations as means of measurements that could apply to my symbols:
• Nominal measurement show names or labels items in unordered categories, such as race, age, gender, ect.
• Ordinal measurements classify incidents, victim or offender characteristics, areas, ect according to rank.
• Interval measurements show values but cannot show ratios between values.
• Ratio such as distance in inches, feet, yards, millimeters, meters, start at zero and continue indefinitely.
Thesis Proposal Defense Presentation
Click the following link to view my Thesis Proposal Defense Presentation which includes some ideation, a listing of print, web and journal resources as well as the concept and situation analysis for my thesis and how it not only contributes to visual design but also the criminal justice fileds.
AIGA and NOUNPROJECT Inspiration
While certainly also design inspiration resources the AIGA Symbol Sign collection and NounProject showcase a multitude of symbols involving crime and other topics as well as being possible sources of dissemination for my thesis and even a place to house an uneatable system of symbols that all police agencies and designers can access.
Design Inspiration Reserach
The following links to various sites show examples of visual design research that will impact my thesis in a multitude of ways. Much of the research shows inspiration into pictograms, ideograms and even ancient cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Some links from Arc GIS also show new insight in to their updated symbols which are mainly like the old ones except with a color update.
Arc GIS Links
Ancient Inspiration
Style Inspiration: Olympics
Style Inspiration: Grundi
Arc GIS Links
Ancient Inspiration
Style Inspiration: Olympics
Style Inspiration: Grundi
Ideograms
The following links are pdf articles concerning the use and development of ideograms within society and design. Ideograms differ from pictograms in that they visually depict an action as well as person, place or thing.
Visual Design Research and Referecnes
The following links are a collection of visual communication design resources that help my thesis in various avenues of design approaches to creating symbols, how to represent quantitative data within symbol designs as well as sign theory and semiotics.
Criminal Justice Online Resources
The following links are a collection of criminal justice resources that help my thesis in various avenues of subject matter. Some deal with crime mapping while others such as the popcenter.org detail officer records and useful information of how crimes are classified as well as problem solving tools and police responses to crime.
Directional Shift
After further research and consultation with my thesis committee, I have shifted the direction from being a multilayer interactive crime mapping prototype simulation to focusing on a specific aspect of the mapping being the symbols. The map symbols are lacking in design, effectiveness, communication of the idea or action, consistency, and quantitative and qualitative data. Therefore, my thesis has shifted to create a series of symbols sets that span four categories of public safety data including search and rescue, emergency response, officer field data and crime data. These areas lack symbols as well as clear communicating symbols. I aim to effectively synthesize and standardize a symbol system to be used in crime mapping applications for police agencies throughout the country. This was realized after finding that all police departments use Arc GIS to map crime and through reading various resources but particularly these following article links from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service:
Arc GIS Resources
The following collection of pdfs from Arc GIS detail specific crime mapping topics including corrections, crime analysis, criminal intelligence, fusion centers and intelligence led policing procedures. These resources are helpful to see the current standard of crime mapping methodology and to better understand the rationale behind specific methods. Arc GIS is the industry leading mapping software platform that is used as the standard base mapping solution for police departments across the United States.
Here are the pdf links: Corrections
Crime Analysis
Criminal Intelligence
Data Fusion Centers
Intelligence Led Policing
Here are the pdf links: Corrections
Crime Analysis
Criminal Intelligence
Data Fusion Centers
Intelligence Led Policing
Current Online Crime Map Solutions
The following images are current interactive crime mapping solutions utilizing systems such as Arc GIS. They suffer from overcrowding of symbols, lack of layering and filtering of pertinent crime data statistics and poor map and symbol design.
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| Crime Map Image from RAIDS Online |
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| Crime Map Example from Rochester, NY from Spot Crime |
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| Interactive Crime Map from Trulia.com which is a reality site that incorporates
crime mapping data to show the rates of crimes near prospective homes.
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| Mapping example from Crimemapping.com showing the extent of symbol crowding on the map and reduced readability as a result. |
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| Map solution of Rochester, NY showing crime stats using crimereports.com |
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| An example of a spatial crime map solution from the LAPD. |
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Thesis Problem Statement First Draft
Click to view my first draft of my thesis situation analysis and problem statement revolving around the notion of creating an interactive mutilayer mapping application solution. This accompanied with supplemental print design for local police departments and community newspapers will become essential tools through the country to cut down on crime and make communities safer through better predictive policing and awareness.
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