New project research

I am currently starting a new 4 week project which is all about infographics. The final result will involve presenting data I have collected using a questionnaire that is visually exciting. However, before I start drawing ideas, I did some research into 3 infographics that I found interesting and think I can relate back to for inspiration. 

The first one is an interactive infographic about aviation by The Guardian. Below are screenshots I have taken showing the interactive features. 

I was very impressed with this infographic as the animations were unique for me and helped keep my attention. It definitely allows the viewer to interact with the piece. The text was also in bite-size chunks which made it easier to take in all the information that was being produced. I also appreciated how the infographic used different shades of blue which I thought gave this feature consistency throughout, and links with The Guardian house style colours. Overall, this successful piece of communication is highly inspiring as it gives me ideas in creating a fun, interactive infographic that is not static and not boring for the viewer. 

The next infographic I have analysed is about how the American state Austin 'sucks'. For the record, I did not choose this infographic because of the subject but instead the graphical features that caught my attention.   

What instantly grabbed my attention with this infographic was the colours. Consistently using blue, orange and red throughout keeps a theme going and is an eye-catching design. Also, despite being majorly full with text, I did not find this off-putting. Separating the text into invisible boxes appears more appealing for the viewer and not discouraging. Overall, this has been a really interesting infographic to admire at as the designer has succeeded in implementing the text well into a design that is modern, clean and engaging to look at. This gives me ideas in completing sketches that highlights a text-based design, with various fonts and colours. 

The final infographic I have analysed is one discussing the colours of the web.

I found this infographic very interesting in terms of subject matter as it made me realise how important colour is for a logo. I admire how the designer has used colour palettes (similar looking to pie charts) to discuss how the top 100 web brands are similar in terms of colour. However, what did grab my attention was how the designer indicated the similarity of these brands by using the same colours (especially in the social network category). I think this style will suit the questions my group suggested for the questionnaire as I could possibly find a correlation within the results. The designer has been successful in pointing out the similarities within these popular brands, something I will try to attempt with my answers.   

In conclusion, my ideas have been flowing now that I have got some research done! These infographics have been highly influential for me in improving my knowledge of them and give me the enthusiasm to create a unique infographic that displays my results in a visually effective way. Very exciting times ahead!

Mike  

References:

The Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/aviation-100-years 

Austin, TX sucks - http://dailyinfographic.com/austin-tx-sucks-infographic

The colours of the web - http://static.colourlovers.com.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/top-web-brand-colors.html