Information Design - Exercise

Week 1 - Week 2 / 04.01.2022 - 16.01.2022

Tow Wan Tian / 0343765

W1 - W3 / 04.01.2022 - 21.01.2022

Module Information / Instructions

 

Figure 1.0 Information Design Module Information Booklet

Assignment Brief

Figure 1.1 Exercise and Assignment Brief

During our first lecture, the module facilitator, Ms Anis briefed us on the general information of the module, as well as exercises and assignments that we need to complete in this 7-week-long semester. For the first two weeks, we are tasked to work on Exercise 1 and Exercise 2. Afterwards, Ms Anis moved on to give further details of Exercise 1 and instructed us to begin working on it during the practical session. 

Exercise 1 - Quantify and Visualise Data

Instructions and Examples for Exercise 1

According to the assignment brief, the main goal of the exercise was to quantify our selected items, arrange them into a presentable chart or layout, take a picture of the final presentation and upload it to the Google Drive folder for submission. 

We were given two options for our items:

1. A jar of something - Buttons and Lego blocks were already prepared by Ms Anis for students who were on campus. On the other hand, online students could choose whatever they could find in the house, as long as they are similar contents of the same category and fit on a piece of paper.
2. Emergency bug out bag - A bug out bag is a survival kit filled with essentials that can help one get through various emergency situations. Hence, we would need to gather the items found in the house to fill up a bug out bag.

Idea Exploration

During my scavenger hunt in the house, I found several items that could potentially work for the exercise: 

• A bag of leftover Nano Blocks (a miniature version of Lego blocks)
• A cup of pebbles from my mother's garden
• A basket of laundry clippers

I played around with each category of items and felt that the pebbles were the most suitable one for this exercise. 

Next, I grabbed a handful of the pebbles and started categorising them into colours. 

 

Figure 2. A pile of pebbles

As a result, I had four smaller piles of pebbles in the colour of white, turquoise, green and red.

Figure 2.1 Categorising the pebbles according to colours.

The next step was to sort the pebbles according to size (large, medium and small) in their respective colour group. I found a few stained pebbles during the process and it gave me the idea to further categorise the pebbles according to purity (stained and unstained). However, I scraped the category of purity later on in the process, thinking that it was too complicating. 

Figure 2.2 Categorising pebbles according to size and purity

Afterwards, I began quantifying the data and organised it into a simple chart (Figure 2.3). 

Figure 2.3 Quantifying the data

I sketched out the composition for the visual presentation. Since the pebbles are found in the garden, I wanted the composition to be garden- or plant-related. Therefore, the overall arrangement of the pebbles would resemble the silhouette of a leaf (Figure 2.4). The colour groups were arranged intentionally. The darker colours (red and green) were arranged from the top left whereas the lighter colours (white and turquoise) were placed at the bottom right of the paper. Ideally, it should have a rough colour gradient. 

Figure 2.4 A sketch of the composition

Following the sketch, I began to arrange the pebbles on a piece of A4 paper. It took a while to get each little pebble to fit neatly on one page. I even accidentally knocked over the whole composition once and had to start all over😭. In the end, here is how the composition looked:

Figure 2.5 Attempt 1

I added dotted lines surrounding each pile of pebbles to differentiate them from each other and labelled them according to their sizes with their respective quantities. 

During the next lecture, I asked Ms Anis to take a look at my attempt and provide her feedback. 

Feedback from Ms Anis

• Nice visualisation.

• Suggest adding an indicator or a legend for the size (explain what L, M and S stands for).

• Suggest adding a description of what the data visualisation is about. It could be a subtitle.

Reflecting on the feedback, I added a legend at the bottom left corner of the paper and a subtitle right above the title. As I was revising the composition, I realised that I miscalculated the pebbles and had to count everything again. After several calculations, I did the necessary corrections on the composition. What I did was cover up the errors with a small piece of paper and then write the correct numbers. After a few more closed evaluations, I complete the final composition for Exercise 1. 

Final Outcome

Figure 2.6 Final outcome for Exercise 1 - Quantify and Visualise Data

Figure 2.7 Final outcome for Exercise 1 - Quantify and Visualise Data (PDF)

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

After completing FLIP 2, we moved on to work on the second exercise.

Instructions and Examples for Exercise 2

Figure 1. Instructions and examples of Exercise 2

I chose Pokemon as my topic because it is a subject that I am already quite familiar with. With that being said, I went online to gather more information about Pokemons. Additionally, I decided to apply location, time, category and hierarchy as the four main LATCH principles. 

The 4 Chosen LATCH Principles

• Location - I would focus on the Pokemons from a specific Pokemon region and then further group them based on specific locations of the region where they can be found. I choose the Sinnoh region which has mountains and a lake. 
• Time - When new Pokemons are released, they will be categorised into a new generation. Therefore, I would include Pokemons from at least three different generations.
• Category - Pokemons come in different types. Some may only have one type while some come in a combination of types. There are a total of 18 types and I would include 4 different types in the poster.
• Hierarchy - Another well-known concept of Pokemon is that Pokemons can evolve into a new species of Pokemon. The evolution can be seen as a hierarchy of stats and strengths. Pokemon of a higher evolution stage generally have higher stats and can learn more fighting moves than their previous form. I would include Pokemons that belongs to the three-stage evolution family.

After spending quite some time browsing through several Pokemon websites, I chose a few Pokemons and compiled their information into the following diagram:

Figure 1.1 Pokemon and their information

Visual Research

Pokemon Maps

The Sinnoh region:

Figure 1.2 Official artwork of the Sinnoh region from Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Source

Figure 1.3 Oblique view of the Sinnoh region from above. Source

Locations: 

Mountain Coronet

Figure 1.4 Mountain Coronet. Source

Oreburgh City

Figure 1.5 Oreburgh City. Source

Lake Verity

Figure 1.6 Lake Verity. Source

Eterna Forest

Figure 1.7 Eterna Forest. Source

Pokemon from the Sinnoh region

Abra → Kadabra → Alakazam

• Type: Psychic
• Generation: I
• Location: Oreburgh City

Figure 1.8 Evolution of Abra to Kadabra to Alamkazam. Source

Cleffa → Clefairy → Clefable

• Type: Fairy
• Generation: II
• Location: Mountain Coronet

Figure 1.9 Evolution of Cleffa. Source

Chimchar → Monferno → Infernape

Type: Fire

Generation: IV

Location: Lake Verity

Figure 2. Evolution of Chimchar. Source

Budew → Roselia → Roserade

Type: Grass

Generation: IV

Location: Eterna Forest

Figure 2.1 Evolution of Budew. Source

Art Style

I am completely new to digital illustration and I need to pick up a type of art style that is simple and easy enough for beginners to follow. I opted for a flat design because it can be constructed using basic geometrical shapes. Therefore, I focused on looking up visual references to that particular art style.

I wanted to highlight the different locations in one illustration, so I looked up graphics of landscape to get some inspiration. Here are some of the flat design landscapes that include mountains and lakes/rivers. 

Figure 2.2 Farm Vector Illustration by MilkyM. Source

Figure 2.3 Nature Illustration. Source

Idea Exploration

Here are some of the sketches for the poster. 

Figure 2.4 Sketch 1

Sketch 1 was done before I landed on the decision of using a flat design. I referred to the Sinnoh map (Figure 1.3) and sketched out a rough outline of the region. The rationale behind this was I wanted to present the exact location of the Pokemons on the map. However, my current skill set was unable to keep up with the idea. It was too difficult and complicated for me to draw digitally. Therefore I had to discontinue the idea and go with something different. 

After another round of research, I came up with a new sketch that applies flat design.

Figure 2.5 Sketch 2

Instead of showing the exact location on a map, I picked out some main elements to represent the locations of the region. Flat triangles to indicate Mountain Coronet, multiple trees placed in one area to indicate Eterna Forest. Buildings and factories indicated Oreburgh City (because it is a mining city), as well as a lake for Lake Verity. 

Progression

#1 Landscape

Figure 2.6 The general landscape depiction of the Sinnoh region

#2 Adding and Arranging the Pokemons

Figure 2.7 Pokemons arranged based on types, location and evolution

#3 Adding further Information

Figure 2.8 Title, poster description and legend were added. 

Final Design Outcome

Figure 2.9 Final Outcome of Exercise 2 - LATCH (PNG)

Figure 3. Final Outcome of Exercise 2 - LATCH (PDF)

Exercise 3 - Motion Graphics: Charts

W3 / 20.01.2022

For this week's practical, we continue to practise making more motion graphics, specifically charts. Instead of giving us a live demonstration in class, Mr Martin provided a pre-recorded tutorial video and presentation slides on how to create animated charts. This way we could view, follow and rewind the instructions in our own pacing. 

As for the tasks, each student was assigned to create a motion graphic chart (i.e. pie chart, doughnut chart, lie chart and bar chart) with the given information and data. I was assigned to create a pie chart based on the Covid-19 cases by age in India.

Figure 1. A screenshot of the practical task

Before jumping into the task, I followed Mr Martin's tutorial video and practise creating the four basic motion graphic charts using Adobe After Effects. Below shows the outcomes of the practice.

Figure 1.1 Motion graphic pie chart

Figure 1.2 Motion graphic doughnut chart

Figure 1.3 Motion graphic bar chart

Figure 1.4 Motion graphic line chart

Then I moved on to work on the given task. Though it was not specified, I added the title and legend to provide more context on what the pie chart is about.

Final Outcome

Figure 1.5 Final outcome of motion graphic pie chart