Mapping Relationships I

The world we live in is a complex place, a fact that for centuries has presented designers — be they mapmakers or information architects — with a troublesome paradox. How do we represent complexity in a visual form that is clear and understandable and yet illuminating and enriching? In other words, how do we represent complex relationships simply, but not too simply? A conceptual minefield awaits anyone attempting to resolve the paradox – to illuminate certain relationships necessarily means burying others in darkness. 

Take for example the classic convention for visually tracking and representing the the history of extended family – the family tree. As beautiful and powerful as a well-constructed one can be in illuminating individual histories and the complex linkages between generations, it seems at the same time horribly inadequate for revealing the true character of the relationships between one branch and another — as Libby experienced when designing a tree mapping eight generations of Cartons, dating back to 1664 when William Carton paid hearth tax in Santry, County Dublin.