Technology Posters

Motivation

After having done comprehensive research on technical details for my SEVEN software project I felt the urge to visualise the rather abstract specifications of partition tables in a more natural, approachable and visually pleasing way, while pertaining a reasonable depth and complexity for the enthusiastic viewer. The end product is meant to catch the eye while at the same time provide a comprehensive amount of in-depth information.

Approach

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I realised that the format best suited for this task was a factsheet-style poster around A2 or larger, as it would allow me to provide all information at a glance and accommodate several layers of information, which would not be possible on smaller scale. The abstract motive is shown as a three-dimensional object using an approach known from exploded assembly drawings. This allows for focusing on and grouping of attributes while keeping their relations intact.

Prominently featured on all posters are different weights of Avenir Next, mostly for title and copy, as this neo-grotesque font-face family originates in a humanist response to the constructed sans-serif Futura in the 1980s – around the time the earlier technical standards chosen for these posters were published – and it today is perceived as one of the most refined, timeless yet contemporary font-faces; it is used here to bridge the gaps in time between the individual inventions. For all pieces of content which benefit from monospaced presentation, or as an emphasis on their technical nature, Roboto Mono was chosen, a monospaced addition to the Roboto type family – itself a neo-grotesque sans-serif like Avenir. Therefore Roboto Mono complements the main type nicely and scores with its clear appearance and excellent legibility.

The vibrant colours in the APT poster are a homage to the original Apple logo while the shades of blue of the GPT poster refer to Intel and the UEFI specification, of which GPT is a part. The same warm yellow is used as a highlight across both posters.

Outcome

Poster #1 – APM (1987)

The Apple Partition Map (APM) was introduced for 68k and PowerPC Macintosh computers in 1987. Since for startup the Macintosh's ROM relied upon an Apple-specific data structure – known as Driver Descriptor Map (DDM) – in the first block of a boot device this is included in the design.

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In order to emphasise on the 3D graphic, both, title and year are outlines only. Their size, font weight and position gives them ample impact. A diagram near the right edge provides context to the 3D graphic by illustrating how the partition table's data is laid out on a storage device. Detailed information about partition types and attributes is shown next to it. Entries more usually encountered are shown in white.

Poster #2 – GPT (2000)

The GUID Partition Table was introduced in 2000. EFI-based computers use this partition scheme by default.

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This poster follows the same design principles as the one above. Here partition types and their corresponding GUIDs take a large portion of the available space on the far right side. Description and diagram are arranged accordingly. As the 3D graphic is positioned vertically on the left, title and year are aligned to the right on this poster.

Final Thoughts

I am pleased with the result of this project so far and have decided to create more tech-posters. The next in this mini-series about partition tables will be one about the Master Boot Record (MBR), a famous specimen introduced in the early eighties and still in use today. So more to come in the future. Stay tuned!