In part 2 of this series, I discussed the ‘philosophy of a poster’ which generally enframed our approach to designing a mobile-first interface for exploring Ron Carter’s discography. Our app presents all 1,000+ releases in an organic, intuitive landscape, catered to the serendipitous nature of how we experience his music. Like a good poster, it makes careful use of visual hierarchy to help guide a viewer through detailed information while leaving plenty of room for chance. Now that we’ve discussed the ideas driving our nonlinear approach to presenting the collection, let’s talk about how we tie everything back to Mr. Carter.

Even when we’re not literally making a poster, the philosophy of the poster can still apply — and in the case of our Ron Carter Universe project, it very much did. What is the Philosophy of the Poster, you ask? Many designers have written about it, but here’s my shot: A good poster is both an ambient presence in a room, and a tool for organizing information into something useful, depending on who its occupants are and where they stand. Data blurs into texture that welcomes wandering eyes, guiding them closer and through a reading experience where written facts mingle with the viewer’s imagination. A poster doesn’t spell out stories like a book does, but orders and paces the appearance of characters and events (”data”) with a visual hierarchy that leaves room for chance, in all its clarity. This balance of curation and ambiguity enables any number of narratives to emerge around a poster’s layers of legibility.

Over the past few years, we developed an interactive archive housing the discography of Ron Carter, one of the most prolific and influential bassists in jazz history. Carter has played a major role in shaping the genre, all the while transcending its bounds through collaboration with artists practicing in all sorts of scenes, formats, and traditions. We worked directly with Mr. Carter and his team (shoutout to Penny and Simone!) to create not only a tool, but an immersive experience that feels faithful to his unique position in a diverse universe of sound. In this series, I reflect on how the project came together, as we got to know Mr. Carter and the joy awaiting any music lover in an exploration of his life’s work.