Information Design / Project 1: Instructable Infographic

on

21/02/24 - 28/02/24 / Week 3 - Week 4

Sheren Princessa Davon / 0362134

Information Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Project 1

INSTRUCTIONS




EXERCISES

 Project 1: Instructable Infographic 

For this project, we are required to choose a recipe from Pasta Grannies. We are to study one video, break down, and chunk the preparation and cooking process into an instructable poster. The required assessment criteria for this project is as follows:

Theoretical (Information Design Framework) 
  • Information type 
  • Device 
  • Principles (LATCH etc) 
  • Aesthetics i.e: isometric, simplified illustrations
Practical - photo editing/illustration software
  • Graphs, charts, and diagrams
  • Poster size: 1240 × 1750 pixels or 2048 × 2048 pixels
Research
After briefly looking through their numerous videos, I decided to pick a video of Irma's tagliatelle recipe below: 

Fig 1.0 Recipe Chosen (Tagliatelle by Irma)

Then I watched the video and took down some notes as to the ingredients she used, the steps on how to cook this recipe, and also screenshotted some images for reference.

Fig 1.1 Research

Sketch
Then I looking for inspiration online and slowly started to develop ideas of my own. 

Fig 1.2 References & Sketches

I ended up with 5 sketches and Mr. Shamsul suggested I go for Sketch #4. So I started to work on the infographic on Adobe Illustrator.

Process on Illustrator
I started by creating the assets of the ingredients used in the recipe. I pulled up some reference images online and used that as a guide to create my own shapes and illustration of the ingredients used in the recipe.

Fig 1.3 Illustrating the ingredients

After I was done with the ingredients, I started to illustrate the steps on how to make the tagliatelle. I placed my chosen sketch on the side of the Artboard for easy access. I also had the notes I took down open so that I could easily tell which is the next step to illustrate.

Fig 1.3 Illustrating the steps

Assets
 
Fig 1.4 Assets Illustrated


After hours of illustrating them one by one, I was finally finished with all the assets I needed for my infographic.

Fig 1.5 Assets Illustrated

Layout
Finally, it was time to arrange the assets and also incorporate the text into the poster. I took some time to browse through the typefaces and fonts to choose which ones to use. I decided on a combination of Edwardian Script ITC and Century Gothic Bold for the title. I liked mixing the serif and sans serif font to create a variation in the title.

I used the same Century Gothic Bold font for the body text as I liked how the sans serif matched the vibe of my poster.

Then, I started to arrange the assets into my original sketch layout.

Fig 1.7 Layout Progress #1

At first, I laid out the steps in rows (left screenshot). However since the recipe consists of two main parts (dough and sauce), I decided to rearrange them to their own sides each (dough on the left, sauce on the right). Later, I plan on adding two different backgrounds. This way, there will be a more visible categorization of the information. 

Fig 1.8 Layout Progress #2 (dough and sauce steps)

I didn't really like my original idea of the blobs for the background of the ingredients. My original idea was for the ingredients of the dough to resemble the dough and the same with the sauce, hence the colours and the splat-like shape I drew. So, I started to look back at my sketches and I realize I could incorporate the cutting board background concept I had in my Sketch #5.

Fig 1.9 Layout Progress #3 (ingredients)

I proceeded to add the text, keeping it aligned and making sure they have the same size so it looks organized and consistent.

Fig 1.10 Layout Progress #3 (adding text)

To finish off the poster, I added different backgrounds to show some categorization and hierarchy, especially having learned the LATCH method last week. I also added some textures so that the poster isn't too plain.

For the dough and sauce section, I incorporated "chunking" from Miller's law by using two slightly different background colors to indicate the two separate factors of the tagliatelle.
Fig 1.11 Layout Progress #3 (textures)


Fig 1.12 Drafted layouts

After receiving feedback from Mr. Shamsul, I decided to change a few things. I changed the title fonts and rearranged the ingredients as he said that the categorization feels a bit too much with two separate boxes inside another box.

Final Project 1: Instructable Infographic
I did the changes and the final poster is done! It presents 103 year old Irma's Tagliatelle recipe into the different parts; ingredients, and the steps to make it. I incorporated the LATCH method with categorizing the ingredients, as well as including hierarchy and timeline of steps. I also incorporated "chunking" from Miller's Law by separating the steps into 3 chunks (dough, sauce, final).

Fig 1.13 Final Project 1 - PNG. Week 3 (21/02/24)


Fig 1.14 Final Project 1 - PDF. Week 3 (21/02/24)


FEEDBACK

- The combination of fonts in the title doesn't work, the font change in the "ia" in "tagliatelle" is not necessary 
- Needs a little more labeling in the ingredients and final steps
- The ingredients part feels too much with the two categorization (the boxes already inside another box)

REFLECTION

This project was tedious to say the least, illustrating all the assets one by one. However, not to take away the enjoyment I had with this project. I have never created a whole poster with illustrations I made by myself, which I can say is such an achievement. I also had the opportunity to include the lessons from the lecture into my design, for example the LATCH theory and also Miller's Law. I'm more knowledgeable of making infographics because of this project as I had a medium to apply the lessons I learned in class.


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