John Venn's 180th Birthday

John
Venn was a logician and philosopher best known for introducing the Venn
diagram. In the diagram, circles are used to visually and logically
sort groups to illustrate their relationships to each other. For
example, one circle may contain things that are mammals. The other
circle may contain things that have wings. The overlapping space that
both circles occupy would consist of mammals that have wings.



With
a concept this simple, you would think it was all fun and games to
design an interactive doodle for John Venn’s 180th birthday. And you
would be right, but there was also a lot more to it! The doodle team
asked the project lead and designer of the Venn doodle, a few questions about the creative process.


How did the idea develop?

Venn
diagrams in general are naturally pretty fun. So as far as finding an
idea for an interactive doodle, Venn was a no-brainer. But finding a way
to clearly and correctly communicate how these diagrams actually work
was a bit trickier.



Eventually,
I sat down with two of the doodle engineers, Corrie Scalisi (the
engineer of this doodle) and Mark Ivey. We spent a Friday afternoon on a
patio with the sole mission of figuring this out. They threw around all
kinds of ideas while I doodled them on a giant sketchpad. There were
plenty of silly ideas, and some really great ones. Ultimately, that’s
what went into making the final doodle. Sound logic and silliness.






This looks more like a kid's game than usual doodles.  What made you choose this style?
Many
of us first learned about Venn diagrams in our early school years, so
that was a factor. While it was important to make something all users
could enjoy, Corrie and I wanted to make something kids would find
especially fun and educational.




The
specific visual style was initially based on old math and science
textbooks. However, as the project developed I realized it would be
better served with a fresh vibrant look that could easily be animated.
The biggest visual cue came in the form of the Venn diagram itself:
circles. I basically cut circles up into as many ways as I could using
Illustrator, and the style guide gradually emerged.



Which combination did you enjoy coming up with and animating the most?
My
favorite that I worked on would probably have to be the kraken. I loved
the idea of taking something that is utterly terrifying, such as a
large sea creature that devours entire ships, and turning it into just a
little dude having a bit of fun, albeit still at the expense of the
ship and its crew. As long the diagram checked out logically, it was fun
to take liberties in the final reveals.





Some
of my favorite animations actually came from Corrie, who didn't let her
role as engineer stop her from taking a crack at a few. She says she
did them for fun, but they also served as a friendly nudge halfway
through the project that we absolutely needed to animate the final
reveals, even if it meant a lot more work!

What was the hardest combination to come up with?
The
hardest combination was actually one that seems simple:
Vegetation/Mythical. I’m not a certified wizarding horticulturalist by
any means, but luckily someone else on the team was able to suggest
either a mandrake or a treant/ent.





On
a related note, it was another project highlight getting other doodlers
involved. Big thanks to Sophia Foster-Dimino for creating and animating
a few of the final combinations and to Kevin Laughlin for additional
illustration help.


Last question: CAN YOU DO A DOODLE FOR DAVID BOWIE?
That may have to wait a while, but there is
a moment in the Venn doodle featuring a certain astronaut, covering a
certain Bowie song, while floating around in a certain, "most peculiar
way."