Yingyan Huang, who created the two visualizations on the unity of Scripture from the last post, graciously agreed to answer a few questions for me about her work:
Where did you get the inspiration for your pieces? What was your motivation to create them?
Initially I had started with ideas of creating an information visualizations on Paul’s journeys and the spread of Christianity. As I explored the topic further, I realized that the focus, as a Christian, should not be on Paul but really on Christ Himself. Since the objective of Paul’s journeys and ministry was Christ. So I began exploring the Gospels and the role of Christ in the Bible. Ultimately my motivation is to visually demonstrate, given the Bible as a historical relic and literature, Christ’s centrality in the Bible and His reality because of the sheer number of references to Him found in the OT even before His birth.
What was the process you used to create them? Where did you get the data? What tools did you use?
My data was obtained through many reading and primarily comes from the Tyndale Life Application Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, and The Christ of the Covenants by O. Palmer Robertson. I cross referenced the passages from ESV’s history of salvation and Palmer’s book against the 250 events in the life of Christ from the Tyndale study bible. Some computer programs I used include Adobe Illustrator, Acrobat, and Microsoft Excel.
With infographics, there’s often a tension between making something attractive and clearly portraying the information you want to communicate. As a designer, how did you resolve that tension with these pieces?
As mentioned above, I basically cross-referenced the bible verses/passages to create data points. I did not create my own data, merely synthesized available data that have been around for centuries to create the data sets.
Why do graphic designers create infographics about the Bible?
Perhaps the Bible remains a choice subject matter because it is rich with intricacies and complexities that come together so harmoniously.
What are you up to these days?
I am currently interning/working at a magazine as a art/photo assistant and assisting in teaching an information design class at Parsons. I am also cooking and baking to test and create recipes. Additionally I am involved in starting a new college ministry (City Campus Ministry) and a teaching assistant for the Children’s Ministry at my church, Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC.
