In 2020, at the start of COVID, I had the opportunity to digitize hundreds of family history documents, including dozens of certificates dating back to the 1920’s. Upon further investigation, I found just over 100 certificates, ranging widely in their characteristics. This project is an attempt to further investigate and visualize this range in character.
By averaging or compiling each element, we can build the "most average certificate."
To start creating an average certificate, we need an average canvas.
Since the physical size was not recorded in the digitization process, it was necessary to normalize the width of the certificates. From there, a simple outline of the aspect-ratio was created in order to compare the dataset.
Visually, we can see how most of the certificates are landscape, and from additional data (not shown), can confirm this is not a recent trend. For the past century, landscape certificates have dominated.
Specifically, the most popular (mode) ratio for certificates is 3x4.
Visualized above is the paper color of the certificates in chronological order. The colors range from dark browns to pale reds. By calculating the average RGB value from the set, a clear trend from light tan to near-perfect white can be identified as time progresses. The average of all the certificate colors results in a neutral tan.
Almost every certificate uses a different title font. While classic, Old English Text shows up more than others, the variety of title typefaces is truly immense. That variety can be best captured through the "average" typefaces shown below, which compile these varying glyphs into a couple sets of characters – one for the 1900s and one for the 2000s.
By investigating the typefaces above, we can see how certificate design has grown more friendly to sans-serif, in contrast to the heavy representation of Blackletter in the 1900s. It is also notable to see the consistent inclusion of some serif glyphs in both typefaces.
Dating back to the 1920s, this dataset of certificates covers over a century of documents. Shown below, without even looking at the purpose of each certificate, the waves in the timeline help us infer that schooling is significant in the identity of most certificates. From the 1940s when my grandparents were in school, to the 1980s when my parents were in school, and now to the 2020s, defining my start of high school, a majority of the certificates were awarded during school.
To further support the importance of school, we can also look at the months the certificates were awarded. While there is a healthy distribution, a considerable amount of the dataset was awarded in the Spring and especially the month of May. This, again, supports the inference that most of the certificates result from school, which usually wraps up for the year around May.
If we average all of these dates, the average date can be calculated:
The purpose of each certificate ranged in complexity from "Graduation" to "Egg Drop Contest Winner." From these broad purposes, I grouped the certificates into 8 larger categories, shown below. Once again, the academic category prevails, also represented somewhat in the membership category, which included academic societies.
Note: The "Government" category includes certificates for birth, marriage, and military service. The "Other" category includes purposes like "promotion" and "health."
Our most average certificate will assume the most average purpose – a (academic) membership!
The organizations represented on the certificates also ranged considerably – from "The Oklahoma State Dental Association" to "Limestone Elementary," and even the "Texas Readers Club." The words of these various organizations are broken up and arranged into the word cloud shown below. The academic theme continues to dominate, but it also helps us notice other themes, like location. Clearly, many of these certificates were issued in my home state of Oklahoma.
To calculate this average, I gave each of these organizations to
an AI, which generated dozens of new (and often nonsensical) organizations informed by the organizations I already had. Some of the more sensical ones included the "National Children's League," "American Booksellers," and the perfectly average "Oklahoma Science Association."
Every certificate has a professional “introduction statement” that either states its purpose or addresses the viewer. Some are pretty funny, like:
⁍ Know ye that the Worthy Noble
⁍ To whom these presents shall come
⁍ Hace contestar por este certificado que
⁍ Know Ye that the well beloved brother
⁍ Know all men by these presents
However, most were short and simple, with “This is to certify that” appearing in 19 of the certificates, and “This certifies that” appearing in another 15.
After giving
the same AI all of these phrases and asking it to write another one, we get the average introduction for our certificate:
The most interesting part of any certificate is usually its seal. Something about the ambitious complexity of the illustrations, contained in a 1-2 inch circle, is a timeless and recognizable format for conveying professionalism. As you can see in the collage of the seals below, however, not all abide by this standard format, yet they maintain their interest and sense of officiality.
I find it most natural to begin investigating this dataset with a comparison of the seals' shapes. While typical portrayals of seals tend to assume a zig-zag shape, like those pictured in the first block, the data shows that most seals are actually circular. This includes the Princeton seal, used to officialize the university's most important documents. There remains a healthy representation of odd-shaped or free-formed seals, as well, especially prevalent in the certificates from the 2000s.
The next visualization tells us a bit more about the dominant seal categories. We can see how most gold seals are zig-zag, and most B&W certificates are circular. This trend results from the mediums in which they are created – while B&W certificates can be printed on and by almost any material, gold seals must be created with specialty foil paper, which is then cut to shape. The rest fall into the multicolor category, most of which result from the more recent adoption of color printers to make certificates.
Last, it is interesting to show the similarities in the few seals that include ribbons. These usually accompany a sticker (zig-zag) seal and add an element of specialty to the certificate.
Taking inspiration from the majority of the seals, a lot of which are complicated for their small size, I created an average seal for the "Oklahoma Science Association." At its core, it is a B&W, circular seal, which we identified as the average earlier. To this base, I added other elements that repeated in many of the seals. Essential to every seal is radial text, which I made sure to include with the title and date of the certificate alongside equally characteristic radial patterns. To these outlines, I then created an illustrated science crest, admittedly far too complicated for its realistic size.
Just like that, and with a couple of bonus elements (like a signature and some dingbats), we have the individually-calculated, "Most Average Certificate."
This seal is interactive, so go ahead and replace "Important Person" with your name, or whatever you choose! Then, feel free to screenshot and save it for your records.
This project was a ton of fun and taught me a tremendous amount about data visualization. For one, this is the first website I have designed entirely with code, allowing me to finally test and experiment with my HTML and CSS skills. Additionally, I had never been so focused on one dataset before. This focus allowed me to investigate each element of each certificate, and take the time to appreciate what I had spent so much time digitizing years ago. After investigating each element, I was also able to practice the data visualization I learned throughout the semester, pulling inspiration from some visualizations I made in the past (dataset collage, gif, etc.) and also trying ways to visualize different types of data (word cloud, dot matrix, etc). Last, in the creation of the physical element of this project (the "Most Average Certificate" shown above), I learned about professional printing and experimented with different printing materials like matte, luminescent, and transparent. Overall, I enjoyed seeing this project through, learning each step of the way, and satisfying my curiosity of what the "Most Average Certificate" looks like.
