Charting a Fresh Perspective

I recently spent a week traveling Oregon and Washington State while visiting a cousin in Corvallis. This was my first time visiting the west coast so I was excited to be visiting somewhere I’d never been. Discovering unfamiliar places can be enthralling, and my recent travels were no exception.

My first discovery became apparent as my flight from Indianapolis began its decent into Salt Lake City. As soon as we broke through the clouds, mountains appeared on both sides of the plane. They were a rich gray with brilliant white peaks. It wasn’t until I spotted the airport that I could appreciate how immense the mountains were — this sudden shift in scale was fascinating.

This shifting of scale occurred many times throughout the week and it continuously caught me off guard. Whether it was at the coast, driving past the trees and mounds of Oregon, or standing 520 feet above Seattle — I felt incredibly smaller than I do in Indiana which was quite a refreshing experience.

My northwest traveling became a week of re-evaluating my own perspective and a reminder of the exciting role that scale and perspective can play in design. Working towards a fresh perspective can be unsettling, but there is much to gain in the process of re-evaluating the current perspectives — and sometimes it takes going places you’ve never been to get there.

In an attempt to visually convey the shift in scale, I’ve designed a few charts that compare Indiana to Oregon. (Click the image below for more detail.)

Tags: design, perspective, scale, travel