Information Design / Exercises

3.2.2025 - ?.?.2025 (Week 1 - Week ?)
Elysa Wee Qi En / 0355060 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Information Design
Exercises

LECTURES 

Week 1 / Types of Infographics

• Infographics are effective in increasing engagement and capturing the audience's attention 
• They are a powerful way of presenting and communicating ideas in a visual form, in a simple and visually appealing way
• Useful as an alternative to standard text-based content

*Remember that in infographics, info comes first. Combine it with graphics

8 types of infographics: 

1. List infographics 
- Uses a written list
- Contains text but is also highly visual with graphics
- Contextualising information with visuals makes it easier to read and the info more memorable

2. Statistical infographics
- Includes pie charts, bar graphics etc. 
- Using this visual way to represent info makes it easier to understand 
- Include percentage radials with the branded illustrations to grab attention and reel the audience into reading the information 
- Mostly for corporate communication 

3. How-to infographics
- Explains how to do something, a step-by-step process
- Doesn't bombard the audience with information|
- Easier for people to absorb the process compared to a paragraph or list 

4. Timeline infographics
- Useful, informative and visually appealing
- Make sure to use icons and illustrations to represent each point along the timeline
- Cannot control how people interpret the design, but you can guide their eyes (info first vs visuals first) 
- Can make it organic, linear, circular 

5. Comparison infographics
- A visual way to compare and contrast between different options 
- Helps readers understand the difference and distinction 

6. Map or location infographics 
- Used extensively by companies and organisations
- Normally used to communicate demographic data or location-specific info

7. Flowchart infographics
- A graphical representation of info, like a sequence of different steps or actions 
- Boosts engagement and clearly gives an idea of the process
- Guides people through the steps individually, so feels more personal and resonates more closely with the audience(s) 

8. Process description infographics
- Visually describes the main elements, actions and steps of a process
- Useful to communicate technical info
- Highlights the most important steps 
- Simplifies complex ideas by breaking them down and grouping them into categories

Fig. 1.1. When to use which type of infographic (also an example of flowchart infographics)

Week 2 / L.A.T.C.H. Theory 

• Used to display and visually communicate information
• Can sometimes use all at once, or mix and match

Location 
- Organising info based on location
- Gives a spatial order to the info 

Fig. 1.2. Example of Location

Alphabet
- Group info alphabetically
- May be the easiest way to group info 

Time
- Grouping info by time
- Effective in social media websites, lets users know about the most recent events in other lives
- Example for above is timestamps on posts and comments

Fig. 1.3. Example of Time

Category
- Most frequently used technique of organising info and content on websites
- 'Category' can be any meaningful group (e.g. brand, time, colours, shape etc.)
- Make sure to define categories that make sense to your audience

Hierarchy
- Means arranging info in any order (e.g. by size, cost, popularity etc.)

Week 3 / Miller's Law of Memory

• It's about communicaton
• Interruptions in communication happen often and negatively affect the way a message is carried across to others
• Miller's Law says that our short-term memory is limited in remembering more than seven 'objects' of information, and that we can only retain the information for no longer than 30 seconds
• According to Miller, most people can only retain 5-9 bits of info at once. Any more than that and humans tend to forget some of the items 
• E.g. For phone numbers, we split them into groups to remember them more easily

Fig. 1.4. Example of grouping information

• E.g. Slogans. Nike's slogan, 'Just do it.', is only three words long

• Brains process things according to grids, coordinates etc. That's why the arrangement of items is important in how people remember them
• E.g. In shopping malls, where items are location and stored, to remember brands and which aisle has what you're looking for 

Fig. 1.5. Example of Miller's Law at work

• This is why clustering information is important
• Deliver the message through smaller chunks of information

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig. 2. Module Information Booklet

Exercise 1: Quantifiable Information

To start of the semester, we were given a simple and fun exercise. We had to get some items that can be separated into categories, and use them as our set of data to collect information from. Basically, we had to split these items into categories and organise them into an informational poster. 

There were four steps in this process. First, we had to take a picture of our data set. Then, we had to take a picture of the items sorted into a category. Next, we needed a picture of the items arranged neatly, including the data extracted from them (the number of items in each category). We also needed a picture of the items presented in a visually appealing way. Then finally, we needed a picture of the items arranged to tell some sort of story.

For my project, I used a bunch of buttons of different colours and sizes. 

I started by taking a picture of my data set. I originally had the items organised and took a picture of it, but my lecturer told me I needed to make it a bit fancier. 

Fig. 3.1. Original attempt at the Sorted poster [1] (5/2/2025)

I tried to go straight ahead in making the Sorted poster, but I quickly decided that I would need to create some sketches first. I also took this opportunity to count my items in each category.

Fig. 3.2. Original attempt at Sorted poster [2] (5/2/2025)

Fig. 3.3. Info about items + Sketch ideas for posters (10/2/2025)

I decided to go for Idea 1 as my Sorted poster, Idea 5 as my Arranged poster, and Idea 2 as my Presented Visually poster. For my Story poster, I decided to try my original idea of creating a dress shape first.

As I was making my Presented Visually poster, I realised that the buttons I had did not quite create full circles. I tried to use two categories of buttons to create one circle, but I didn't really like the way it looked.

Fig. 3.4. Original attempt at Presented Visually poster (10/2/2025)

I tried arranging them slightly differently - without making full circles with each category. I gradually increased the diameters of the incomplete circles. This ended up being my final Presented Visually poster.

In creating the concept for my Explained With A Story poster, I first thought of what was related to my items. Since I chose buttons, I easily thought of fashion and clothing. That's how I had the idea to use my buttons to create the shape of a dress.

FINAL Quantifiable Information Submissions

Fig. 4.1. Data poster (11/2/2025)

Fig. 4.2. Sorted poster (10/2/2025)

Fig. 4.3. Arranged poster (10/2/2025)

Fig. 4.4. Presented Visually (10/2/2025)

Fig. 4.5. Explained With A Story poster (11/2/2025)

A dress made out of buttons may not seem possible in reality, but in imagination, anything is impossible. Perhaps with a few scraps, we can create magic. A snip here, a stitch there - and poof! 

The magic of creation is only limited by the amount of freedom you give yourself.

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

For this assignment, our task was to create a poster that makes use of at least four of the five L.A.T.C.H techniques. To recap, those techniques are used to group or display information, and they are Location, Alphabet, Time, Category and Hierarchy. 

I started by creating a Google Sheet to clearly display all the information I needed of my data sets. Originally, I wanted to make a poster about the Dragon Slayers in the anime Fairy Tail, but there wasn't really enough information available for me to create an accurate poster, so I scrapped the idea. 

Then, I decided to gather another set of data about the characters from the region Sumeru in the game Genshin Impact. 

The sheet contained the following info on each character: 
- Their name
- What element their Vision is (a.k.a. what element they use in combat)
- What weapon they use
- Whether they're a 5-star (gold) or 4-star (purple) character (I call this their 'rarity')
- The exact date they were released into the game (in Asia servers)
- What version of the game they were released in 
- The darshan of the Akademia they are or were in, if any (essentially, what they studied in school, if they were ever enrolled)

Fig. 5.1. Google Sheet containing my data sets (15/2/2025)

In the end, I only included their names, elements, rarity, and the version of the game they were released in as information in the poster. 

This is because the weapons they used added another category when their elements were sufficient for the poster, the exact date they were released on was more difficult to display, and not every character is part of a darshan as visible in the sheet.

I also created another sheet for another set of data, using the characters from the region Mondstadt instead. However, since it is the first released region in the game, a lot of Mondstadt characters were released in Version 1.0. Therefore I decided to stick with Sumeru characters as it had more potential.

Fig. 5.2. Idea sketches (21/2/2025)

I started off by sketching some ideas for the layout of my poster. The first sketch was made with my first data set in mind, the one that I scrapped. The 8th sketch was actually created after my friend suggested using a 'family tree' concept - I ended up going with this idea in the end, but it doesn't look much like the sketch. I'll expand more on this later.

After creating sketches, I settled on using Photoshop to create my posters as I would be mostly importing and dragging around images from my files. I felt that Photoshop would be suitable for what I was doing. 

For all these designs, I used a brown colour as the background colour of the poster. I also used the Sumeru emblem as a design for the background of the poster, as all the characters are from Sumeru. I felt it was fitting.

Fig. 5.3. Screenshot of the Sumeru emblem (15/2/2025)

This picture, the rarity stars, and the pictures of the characters and element symbols, were all taken from the Genshin Impact Fandom Wiki (https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Genshin_Impact_Wiki).

Fig. 5.4. The character icon for Alhaitham (15/2/2025)

Fig. 5.5. Screenshot of the rarity stars (15/2/2025) 

Fig. 5.6. Screenshot of the element symbols (15-21/2/2025)

My first attempt followed the 5th sketch. I tried grouping the characters by their elements and then arranging them alphabetically. However, this only used two of the L.A.T.C.H techniques, and maybe Hierarchy if we counted the distinction between 5-star and 4-star characters. Therefore, I could not go ahead with this design.

Fig. 6.1. Design 1 (15-21/2/2025)

My second attempt followed my 2nd sketch, where I group the characters based on the version they were released in. However, I had to switch to the horizontal layout (my 3rd sketch) as the poster simply couldn't fit all the information I wanted to include.

Fig. 6.2. Attempt 2 (15-21/2/2025)

This is the reformatted version. It's a simple, straightforward design, that I actually quite liked. I sorted the characters by category, arranged them by rarity and then alphabetically. However, my friends and I agreed it was too rigid in its design and wasn't that interesting to look at. 

Fig. 6.3. Design 2 (15-21/2/2025)

Next, I tried reformatting Design 1. This followed a ladder sort of arrangement instead of the diamond arrangement in Design 1. However, I just didn't like it much. It just didn't feel like a final product I was satisfied with.

Fig. 6.4. Design 3 (15-21/2/2025)

It was at this point that my friend Cheryl suggested a 'family tree' inspired layout. For this, I grouped information following Time, the version they were released in. 

Normally, a family tree has multiple points branching out from one, but this clashes with the linear timeline I was organising the information in. So instead of having multiple groups branch out from one, I had one group lead to another, creating somewhat of a 'path'. 

Fig. 6.5. Design 4 (15-21/2/2025)

The above design wasn't bad, but it looks a little messy and didn't sit right with me at the time. My other friend suggested I add some boxes, which I then tried. I felt the boxes added a lot to the design - it helps make the groups clearer and makes it more visually appealing. 

Fig. 6.6. Design 5 (15-21/2/2025)

But then, I received news from my friend that a landscape layout was allowed for this assignment. I went to rearrange my poster into a landscape layout instead, which I loved.

With this layout, I was able to fit all the groups in a way that flowed well, and also could include the information in the top right. I organised the characters by hierarchy, and then alphabetically. Then I added their elements behind them. I was already quite satisfied with this layout, but tried to experiment a little more. 

Fig. 6.7. Design 6 (15-21/2/2025)

I reformatted Design 3 into a landscape layout. I didn't really hate this, but I felt it simply wasn't as visually interesting as Design 6. So I had made up my mind.

Fig. 6.8. Design 7 (15-21/2/2025)

I brushed up Design 6 some more - starting with changing the arrangement of the lines from group 3.0 to 3.1. I felt that putting the lines instead at the bottom of group 3.0 led the viewers' eyes to group 3.1 better since it was below 3.0, without accidentally leading them to group 3.2 first. 

I then decided to make the background a lighter colour. I also added some text in the top right to make it clearer what the version numbers were (3.0, 3.1 etc.), and also further decreased the opacity of the Sumeru emblem in the back. 

Here is a bit of proof of progress:

Fig. 6.9. Pictures of progress and development (15-21/2/2025)

FINAL L.A.T.C.H Infographic Poster Submission

Fig. 7. Final L.A.T.C.H Infographic Poster (21/2/2025)

FEEDBACK

Week 2
Specific Feedback:
- Can proceed with my idea

Week 3
General Feedback:
- Final project is a group project, so learn to split the work accordingly
- If you aren't part of the research, make sure you're part of the production

REFLECTIONS

Experience
These exercises were a pretty good introduction to the module, in my opinion. Through them, I was able to better understand the step-by-step process of creating an infographic or informational poster. Although I felt a bit rushed and pressured by the deadlines, this is mostly due to me taking the module on a short semester instead of a long one. However, these tight deadlines also meant I was trained in my discipline and was pushed to come up with good ideas in a short amount of time.

Observations
I went through around 7 revisions to come up with my final product for Exercise 2, and I had one revision for one of the posters in Exercise 1. And this is only for posters. It reminds me that the most satisfactory design isn't always the first draft, and is usually not going to be found unless one experiments or thinks outside the box. I shouldn't be afraid to push any limits, as in design, sometimes rules are meant to be broken. By breaking away from a set idea in your brain, you could come up with something even better by not limiting yourself to what you think is already the 'right answer'.

Findings
One thing I realised was that a friend's advice can be seriously helpful when one is stuck and cannot come up with new ideas. After showing my designs to my two friends, they managed to provide some valuable advice that ended up shaping my final product for Exercise 2. Without them, I don't think my final submission would satisfy me as much as my current one does. They are both design students, so I think sharing your design struggles with other designers can help - but I also think that even a non-designer can offer a fresh perspective when you're too trapped in your 'box'.