05 | Information Design
Project Brief
This project was focused on creating an information visualisation based on a chosen topic from one of three written pieces. The three pieces were about The Future of Work, The Future of Wellbeing, and The Future of the Planet. After becoming familiar with the texts we were tasked with gathering more information on our chosen topic in the form of primary and secondary research. Once we have the information we need, the information should be refined into visuals to create a compelling infographic in a static vertical narrative.
Project Deliverables
| Vertical Narrative Infographic
Design Strategy
The topic that I conducted my research on was 'the Future of the Planet.' This research allowed be to divert into a small sub theme as I landed on the topic of hydraulic fracturing (Fracking). This is a pressing issue as the fight against fracking is not only extremely current but and issue often gone unnoticed by those uneducated to the problems.
The main issue discovered in the research phase of the project was that governments are the primary source responsible for fracking, as the common citizen knows not of the disasters the governments are causing. The design strategy became clear as the idea of propaganda and Russian constructivism were central inspirations to the look and feel of the final infographic.
The Research Phase
For full breakdown of research click here.
"Fracking has unlocked massive new supplies of oil and clean-burning natural gas from dense deposits of shale — supplies that increase our country's energy security and improve our ability to generate electricity, heat homes and power vehicles for generations to come," according to EnergyFromShale.org, an alliance of oil and gas industry groups.
But opponents say the industry is whitewashing fracking's real effects, a long list that includes air pollution, groundwater contamination, health problems and surface water pollution.
Researchers from Duke University tested drinking water at 60 sites throughout Pennsylvania and New York; their research was published in 2011 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found that drinking water near fracking wells had levels of methane that "fell squarely within a range that the U.S. Department of Interior says is dangerous and requires urgent 'hazard mitigation' action," ProPublica reports.
There seems to be many more issues that fracking can cause but legal settlements and nondisclosure agreements usually prevent access to any documentation of these incidents. It is now known that fracking is bad but to what extent is hidden from the public.
Visual Strategy
The central ideas of man versus machine and man versus establishment are brought through the Russian constructivism propaganda like posters found here in the mood-board.
Style Guide
Industry inc and Proxima Nova were identified as easy to read and accessible for the infographic, while both sans serifs add to the industrial feel that the propaganda style calls for. The main design approach centres around gradient textures that for visual interest. This gradient textured elements were created with a wide range of dull greys and blacks with the bright red which draws attention to focal areas.
Narrative Development
The final vertical narrative went through several iterative processes to reach the final conclusion. The design had to pay attention to imagery, differing graphs and icons to display the research conducted. The research was rewritten and condensed so that the information would be easily digestible to viewers of the final vertical narrative
For all process development click here.
Final Vertical Narrative
