Information Graphic, Part 1: Initial Thoughts

     We have just received a new assignment: to create an information graphic. For this task, I will be working collaboratively with Brandon Sanders and Sahil Nawab. While we do not have a client we are creating this image for, we do have a set of affordances which our final product must conform to: the graphic must be no larger than 8.5" by 11", it must have a centralized story tying its elements together, and it must have a cohesive, logical color palette. Our particular image will convey information under the theme of college majors and professional development.
     While we have not formally discussed a plan as of yet, we have begun trying to find commonality between our interests. Both Brandon and I are Computer Science (CS) majors (I am also an Interactive Media and Game Development double-major), while Sahil is a Biology major. Since CS is important to some areas of biology, we may be able to focus our research and graphic on the applications and opportunities provided by CS.
     Since we are ultimately creating an information graphic, I believe it will be critical to consider how we want to portray our information in a cohesive image from early on in the process as this should help us to focus on what types of information we want to convey. Although we do not have a specific topic chosen yet, never mind completed research, I already have an possible idea for the general design of our image inspired by our theme. The centerpiece of the graphic would be a silhouette of a person, representing a college student, with information related to college majors displayed within it. Extending outwards from this image would be various "paths," possibly shaped like arrows, representing different applications or jobs related to the major or majors that were displayed within the silhouette. Although this design is very general and has many unspecified details, it already conveys a story (that of transitioning from college to a professional career) and would be very easily adapted to fit our CS idea if we choose to pursue that.

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 15, 2017 at 10:45 AM

    I really like how you guys found the commonality of computer science between each other within the topic of college majors and professional development. It will be easier to create something meaningful if the topic already has meaning to all of you and by finding that connection early on in the design process I think will help you in creating the end result. I find it very interesting that you already have a preliminary idea before you have done research or had a discussion of your audience/purpose. This is different than I feel most people will do it and I am really intrigued to see if having that starting idea will make the rest of the design process easier or more difficult. I was also wondering where your inspiration for the silhouette of the person came from. Overall, I'm really excited to hear about the rest of your design process and what you are going to produce as a final product.

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    Replies
    1. Brandon SandersNovember 16, 2017 at 12:23 PM

      It's so true! Having both common majors and totally different majors in the same group gives us a really cool combination of perspectives to draw from.

      Having a preliminary idea of how to approach our research (and the theme of our research) allowed us to focus our efforts from the get-go and quickly gather a lot of statistical data to draw from. It did mean we had to re-orient ourselves several times (going from "why CS is cool" to "why CS should be used by everyone" to "why CS should be used by biologists", basically), but it also meant we had a loose goal to work towards the whole time, which helped us iteratively re-define our audience and purpose, gathering only relevant data and inspiration for our designs.

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  2. UnknownNovember 17, 2017 at 4:32 AM

    Your approach to the information graphic is definitely different than our group's - we chose to focus our topic down before choosing an image to focus on. However, I think your approach will be very effective at the end of the day. The image in the infographic is such a huge feature, and the effectiveness of the infographic relies heavily on the effectiveness of the image. I think your approach will serve you well! Also, as I commented on Brandon's blog, this topic is one that I would really benefit from, and I am sure other students would as well.

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  3. Natasha LeveyNovember 17, 2017 at 6:28 PM

    I really like your idea of having different paths leading out from a person. I think it captures the different paths college students can take, and it immediately places the viewer in the story by letting them be the silhouette. What would be your color scheme if you were to choose that infographic? Silhouettes are very dark, and I imagine it would be difficult to choose a color scheme that accompanies darkness as well as the variety of colors the different majors are associated with. Maybe you guys could choose one major, and have the different options of that major snaking away from him. I know that sometimes students don't know what opportunities their field of study offers them, so that could be a helpful infographic to have!

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