Infographics

For Typo class this week, Cindy told me that I have a messy mind that enjoys to be in crowds, by the way she looks at my magazine spread designs. (I'm also not sure if I should feel scarred or wary about myself because I'm pretty much the most introverted person who hates crowds) Confused again because - On one hand, I do love organizing, but on the other, I just can't seem to achieve minimalist designs. I may no be fantastic at it, but I.DO.VERY.MUCH. LOVE. DESIGNING. INFO GRAPHICS. It's not everyday that you hear somebody professing their love for organizing data into pictorial forms, so I find it rather strange.  //Identity Crisis//

Back to the topic:
I really enjoyed this assignment because it's a breath of fresh air as compared to the publication designs we've done in the past. It's more graphic based, as compared to letters, fonts, kerning and *head explodes*. I enjoy creating vectors on illustrator and compartmentalizing them into columns. 

Challenges for me on this assignment:
1- Colour choices 
(The readings that were given said that we shouldn't use more than 3 colours for infographics. So I was a bit iffy on my colour scheme. I decided to just use them all anyway, because they looked coherent and not jarring. I needed a form of continuity because they are, afterall, my colour scheme for the product I'm working on for the final assignment.) 

2- Printing
I got my printing done really late, and I was freaking out over not being able to finish the two posters, even till the night before. Thankfully, I had the two-sense to buy my fancypaper the day before and still had printing credits in school. And, because it was the first time, ever, that I was printing in school, I didn't know you had to down the saturation of your blacks or not the printer would totally smudge. (Sorry if there are some ink smudges on the paper). The colours turned out a bit dull too, so I was a bit disappointed in that. I'm now contemplating on investing in an A3 printer and I'm not sure if that's advisable, so I'm still researching. 

3- Layout
It was quite difficult to layout because I had so much info I wanted to shove in (as you can see from my already-very-cluttered-infographic). Everything is very compact because I had so much research I wanted to put (there's more actually) but this was already the sieved-through version. I got my references from Behance, which were very useful. 

4- Precedence studies
It was genuinely tough to find studies in this aspect because not a lot of people have done campaigns based on superstition. I guess that it's really a dying tradition. The only ones I could find that were really smart was by Bold Design. They designed a sugar cubes in the form of pennies so that as you throw them into your coffee, you could make a wish. 

Reference images:

This assignment made me realise that while one lays out all the information he/she has, it's easier to see the bigger picture from beginning to end. It has given me a clearer vision of my end product because, whether I know it or not, I've made some hard decisions (i.e moodboard, colour scheme, fonts, design elements) by designing this.

Reverting.

Pardon me, I tend to be quite fickle. 

Today was the our infographic proposal pitch. I have to admit that I wasn't being very attentive because I was feeling so drowsy from medication, but I do remember some striking proposals - like Jeremy's gardening idea (I thought the infographic layout was quite fantastic, I've always admire clean cohesive layouts- something I could never achieve), Sharlene's dating scheme (so abstract and fascinating) and Bev's really pretty water coloured disposable plates.  

By the way, I also wanted to say thank you for always making us write down our thoughts (like the first day when we had to introduce ourselves) or design an infographic poster before we present, just so we know exactly what we should talk about. It helps a lot with the nerves and too-much-attention-on-the-speaker. 

Anyway, I made the decision to stick to my original proposal- which was to create a "How To Be Superstitious" working kit (instead of the idea of the lunch box + menu I mentioned). I felt that I still liked the straight-forwardness of the proposal because, ultimately, my audience are straight-forward, simple minded teenagers. And I was ultimately making things very complicated with the Food Idea. Another very unepic flaw of mine. I'm still thankful that you entertained my casual slip into exploring the area of "Food & Superstition" though, because I was able to get some reference pictures for the general look & feel that I was going for, which was published in my previous post.

But on a side note, this was my research for the latter:

Types of Superstition regarding food:

1. Chopsticks cannot be placed in the bowl. Spirits will come to haunt you.
2. Cutting an apple infront of a mirror will show you your future.
3. A clean plate of rice will give you less pimples.
4. Tangerines signify wealth and fortune.
5. A rice container cannot be empty.
6. Noodles should not be cut (longevity)
7. A family that dines together, stays together. 

Why is food so important, especially to the Chinese?

1. The importance of food in understanding human culture lies precisely in its infinite variability--variability that is not essential for species survival. 
2. Food not only affects health as a matter of general principle, the selection of the right food at any particular time must also be dependent upon one's health condition at that time. Food, therefore, is also medicine. 
3. Pride & Joy: Since ingredients are not the same everywhere, Chinese food begins to assume a local character simply by virtue of the ingredients it uses.
4. Customs, traditional recipes
5. Chinese were poor back then. Food was precious.
6. Eating is serious business, at every ceremony.