Information Design: FLIP

12.1.2023 - 10.2.2022 (Week 1 - Week 5)
Wong Khye Qing / 0361000 
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Information Design
FLIP Classroom  
Instructions




FLIP Topic 1: 
Different Types of Infographics
Week 1: Group Task

Lecture Slide (FLIP 1)

Week 1 (12/01/2023)
This week's assigned FLIP topic is a group work. We were tasked to form a group and analyse different types of infographics. The creation of presentation slides were required upon compiling the research information and present different types of infographics. 

Points that we needed to research and compile:
  • The different types of infographic 
  • The kind of information they’re applicable for 
  • An example for each identified type.

We went on researching about different types of infographic and compiled the researched materials into Google Docs. We also used Google Slides to make our presentation slides for easier collaboration as a group.


Group Compiled information for Presentation Slide

Group Presentation Slide


FLIP Topic 1: 
Online Tools
Week 1: Individual Task

Week 1 (12/01/2023)
This was an individual task that required me to redesign a poorly designed infographic using one Online infographic tool. After that, I needed to rate and review the online tool based on the below:
  • Difficulty, intuitiveness
  • Usefulness
  • Design templates, choices
Figure 1.1 Poorly designed Infographic
This is a Map and Location type infographic. This infographic does not contain enough white space for the viewers eyes as the contents in the infographic looks compact. Besides, there are too much information to process in one picture, there are different types of graphs which makes the whole picture looks complicated. 

Figure 1.2 Template for redesign
The template that was used gave me a glimpse of what I wanted to redesign. The space for information were also adequate for a clean design.

Figure 1.3 Initial version of redesigned infographic

Figure 1.4 Final version of redesigned infographic

My redesign aims to reduce the feeling of clutter for the viewer and only put adequate amount of information into the infographic. This could save time and the information could be digestible easier. 

Initial version
I was aiming for a cleaner version of the infographic. I tries using lighter color for the world map so that the radius for respective countries could highlighted easier. The Row Chart was reduced from 10 to 5 least-populated countries to reduce the clutter in the whole infographic. Top 3 countries had bigger font size to highlight the significance of the population and capture the attention of the viewer. Unfortunately, I still thought that the color scheme doesn't go well with each other. 
Final version
I changed the background to dark gray and used the basic colors for the infographics. With a darker background, viewers got to shift more of their attention to the information that were presented to them. Besides, the radius of each countries could be seen easier with the dark background. 

About the Online Tool
The online tool that I have used was Canva. 

Difficulty, intuitiveness (2/5)
I did found it difficult when I can't use some accustomed Adobe shortcuts (pressing Space+Left Click to move around the canvas). Overall I think that it is simple to use Online tool, it will be an easier transition if users were used to Adobe programs. 
Besides, the navigations were good and I was able to find the right tool without searching too long. 

Usefulness (4/5)
It is a great Online tool to design when we are in a pinch or in a hurry. 
There were also enough simple features for designs that requires less effort and could actually save the users a lot of time to create. 
On top of that, the graphs and charts feature was very convenient to use for data input considering it is a feature that is not in a lot of design tool.  

Design templates, choices (4/5)
There are a lot of design templates including the ones which are free and paid. As mentioned, users are able to save time and get a wide choice of templates and vectors in a short time. With the available elements and templates, users are spoiled with a library of resources ready for use. 


FLIP Topic 2: 
Saul Wurman’s L.A.T.C.H.
Week 2: Group Task

Week 2 (19/01/2023)
We were tasked do research about Saul Wurman's L.A.T.C.H. framework. Our group presented the slides upon the end of the research time.  
We needed to research the usages and find examples for L.A.T.C.H:
  • Location
  • Alphabet
  • Time
  • Category
  • Hierarchy
Lecturer briefing slides

Group Presentation Slides


FLIP Topic 3: 
Miller's Law (Chunking)
Week 3: Group Task

Week 3 (26/01/2023)
We were tasked do research about Miller's Law also known as Chunking by George A. Miller. We were needed to research about:
  • Definition of Miller's Law
  • Usage of the Chunking  
  • How to utilise Chunking for a well designed infographics UI/UX, web app, games Process (Instructable infographics) 
  • References for Chunking 
Lecturer briefing slides
Group Presentation Slides


FLIP Topic 4: 
Manuel Lima’s 9 Directives Manifesto
Week 4: Group Task

Week 4 (02/02/2023)
We were tasked do research about Manuel Lima’s 9 Directives Manifesto. We were needed to research about the topic and find the examples and bad examples that did not use this manifesto.

Lecturer briefing slides
Group Presentation Slides


Experience 
F.L.I.P. classes have let me to experience about the theory and technical part of design based on some principals and rules that we have sometimes missed out on. These topics discussed had led me into discussions with my groupmates to make slides together that explained about the FLIP topics and examples for each usage of principals, frameworks and theories that has been delivered in the class.

Observation
I have noticed that the Chunking method was one of the effective methods that could be used when trying to include information into a design. It reminded us that humans tend to glance through contents for just a few seconds, which is why I could see that effective infographics often chunk less than 7 information in a category for better digestion of information.

Findings
I found by that having F.L.I.P. classes, I could collaborate with my groupmates in finding information and examples together. Task delegations also went into delegating the parts to each members so we could gather enough information together in a short period of time. Apart from that, I found that the  theories and methods I learnt from the topics could be integrated into my future design works for better design workflow.