INFORMATION DESIGN - FLIP & EXERCISES

06/02/2024 - 27/02/2024 / Week 1 - Week 4

Information Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) In Creative Media

Flip & Exercises

Thanaphorn Daensaad / 0350930

List:

Flip W1

- Presentation slides

- Individual task

Flip W2

- Presentation slides

- Individual task

Flip W3

- Presentation slides

- Individual task

Flip W4

- Presentation slides

- Individual task

Exercise 1 : Quantify & visualise data

Exercise 2 : L.A.T.C.H

Flip W1: Types of infographics & online tools

Presentation slides

In your group, find out what are the different types of infographic + the kind of information they’re applicable for + an example foreach identified type.

Flip 1 (Group 4) - Types of infographic by Group 4

Individual task

Pick one free online infographic tool and re-design one poorly constructed infographic poster.

Record the process into the your blog and present the redesigned infographics with before and after comparison and their personal rating + review of the online tool for:

- Difficulty, intuitiveness

- Usefulness

- Design templates, choices

Re-designing an infographic

During our week 1 class, we were instructed to find a poorly designed infographic and redesign it using a free online infographic tool such as Canva, Miro and more. We are then required to rate and review the tool we used. I chose to use Canva as I am fond of using it.

Fig 1.1 Chosen poorly designed infographic

Issues:

1. Background color blends with the object (can)

2. Too many information scattered around (can shorten it cuz I would not read all of it)

3. Lack of white spaces (need space to breathe)

4. Repeating of same color all over

5. Poor choice of font color to highlight the information

6. Repetitive object like the bull and clock (idk it just annoys me)

7. Looks like a poster in some doctor's room

My initial idea was to maintain the choice of putting a huge can as the main element and the lightning element to show the fact that it's an energy drink. I found an element I was able to use for free but I was not into the color it was so I chose to improvise with a regular empty can and slap on a lightning logo.

I then focused on changing the way the information on the can was placed by making it bigger to create an emphasis to the content of the drink.

Fig 1.2 Progress 1, Week 1 (6/2/2024)

Fig 1.3 Progress 2, Week 1 (6/2/2024)

I chose to add colors of green and red to better differentiate the good and bad opinions given about the topic of energy drink.

Fig 1.4 Progress 3, Week 1 (6/2/2024)

I feel like the color of the background did not vibe well with the overall design so I played around with the color wheel to make a gradient to make a battery style of color to show the energy one has after drinking energy drink.

Fig 1.5 Final re-designed infographic, Week 1 (7/2/2024)

Rating and review of the online tool (Canva):

Difficulty, intuitiveness: 4.5*

Canva is quite straightforward to use as it is made for design beginners. Canva has easy navigation system and functions for a beginner to use. The annoying part of the tool is how I'm not able to freely move around and zoom onto things like how I could on Adobe Illustrator. Due to the fact that I'm used to using Adobe Illustrator, it feels weird not being able to use some features like zooming onto details, doing my own distortions and more.

Usefulness: 5*

With it being free, I would say it's quite decent for those who are just making designs for the sake of presentation and more as it has quite a handful of free elements to use. I would say it's a good choice to make presentations with it as it has moving elements in it.

Design templates, choices: 4.3*

There's alot of choices of templates to choose from that has nice colour schemes and suitable fonts. The overall design is pleasing to look at.

Flip W2: Saul Wurman's LATCH theory

Flip W3: Miller's law of memory (chunking)

Flip W4: Manuel Lima's 9 directives manifestos

Instructions

Module Information Booklet

Exercise 1 : Quantifiable Information

We were required to bring objects with relevant indicators to help with visualising quantity and data. Objects that were suggested to us to bring are such as legos, buttons, coins, candies and more. The object I have selected for the exercise is candies as it was easier for me to get.

I first started with splitting them into different categories like the colors, sizes and content of the candy. I used to different bag of mnms (one with milk chocolate inside and other with peanut inside)

Splitting them to categories

I arranged them according to the size in a pattern of a constellation.

Arranging them in patterns

Exercise 2: L.A.T.C.H

We were tasked to organize a group of information into a visual poster that combines and utilizes the L.A.T.C.H principles - Location / Alphabet / Time / Category / Hierarchy.

We may choose to use one of the suggested compiled data (Pokedex/FFXIV Bestiary/Dinosaurs) or choose any topic we want to create the visual poster.

Requirements:

- Must apply L.A.T.C.H principles (minimum 4)

- Size resolution: 1240 × 1750 pixels or 2048 × 2048 pixels

- Use a digital photo editing/ illustration software

2.0 Research Process

Pokémon, short for "Pocket Monsters. The Pokémon world is divided into regions, each inhabited by different species of Pokémon. Each region typically features its own set of Pokémon species, landmarks, and Gyms where Trainers can challenge Gym Leaders to earn Gym Badges.

The Pokémon franchise has grown to include hundreds of different species of Pokémon, each with its own unique abilities, types, and characteristics. Pokémon types include Normal, Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel, Fairy, and more. These types interact with each other in a rock-paper-scissors-like manner, with certain types being strong against others and weak against others.

From the information I found, I found a few categories I can talk about in my infographic poster such as the types of species, different regions, different gyms and more.

2.1 Selecting principles

I have decided to use 4 L.A.T.C.H which are L (Location), T (Time), C (Category), H (Hierarchy).

Chosen 4 L.A.T.C.H Principles:

1. Location - Map Spawn/ Released of map at the time

2. Time - Generation of the release of pokemon evolution

3. Category - Pokémon Types (Grass, Fire, etc)

4. Hierarchy - Stats (Power / Rarity)

2.2 Visual References

I searched on infographic that shows geographical data and labels as a reference to understand how one lay information through design. Using the empty spaces and picking the main color of the element to indicate it is a good way to label without writing a long label for them.

Fig 2.2 (1) Visual Reference, Week 2 (13/02/2024)

I search on Pokemon-related designs to get a little idea on how other people do it in order for me to find the similarity in design others have to avoid having a basic look design. Most design I've seen is on the type of species so I planned on doing on eeveelution which I rarely come across. Eevee is a type of species that is able to evolute to almost all of the elements in Pokemon.

Fig 2.2 (2) Visual Reference, Week 2 (13/02/2024)

2.3 Moodboard

I made a moodboard on Pinterest to get inspirations on the type of art I'm going for and how I will approach on my design. I noted that the design I will be focusing on has a wide range of color used in the character design. Planning the background would be the issue as I need a color to not blend with any of the characters.

Fig 2.3 (1) Visual Reference, Week 2 (14/02/2024)

2.4 Sketches

After doing research in class, I did my sketches on my sketchbook to ask for Mr. Shamsul's opinion before I proceed to doing the final poster design.

Fig. 2.4 (1) Sketches, Week 2 (14/02/2024)

Sir likes the sketch on the top right which is on how I show the different elements and generations of the evolution. He told me to try to make the design contrast to each other ( fire - water ) then told me to proceed with the idea.

2.5 Digitization process

I was inspired to use the pokemon cards as the character assets instead of from the game or the show as they look much more better and it has the poses I needed for my poster.

Background & Arranging by Generations

I decided to arrange it in a clockwise rotation as it is how everyone would do it when they first see a circular design. I picked the main color of the characters to use as a way to label them into their generations at the bottom of the poster.

Final L.A.T.C.H Infographic