Nash, C., Briggs, J., 2026.

Cybernetic Portraits at the Collision of Program and Problem: How can we draw diagrams of complex systems?

In 1968, Margaret Mead said that the most significant component of a system is the person who creates the model of that system. When we take data, and translate it into form, how do we insert ourselves -- our cultural perceptions and biases -- into that process? This paper presents informational graphics created by the first author during an 18-month long study of civic crowdfunding, a process whereby activists use digitally driven fundraising to develop value for their communities (Light & Briggs, 2017). These diagrams were created using varied co-creative methods that sought to be inclusive, localized, and critically reflexive.