Positives:
- Fonts: There are only 2 fonts used in this piece. One is use for title and headers, the other for the content. That said, the casual and "loose" title font contradicts unpleasantly with the standard and almost boxy content font.
- Tacky Type Emphasis: The author did not make the fonts worse by applying additional emphasis or having too many shifts in sizing. The standard fonts are used throughout, emphasis is used sparingly.
- Proximity: Content is grouped in way that is logical and useful.
- Background: The background is a gradient orange and is not busy.
Negatives:
- Naked photos: The images end abruptly, making it feel as though they were a late add-on.
- Bad bullets: The Bullet and text are too close, leaving no breathing room.
- 4 Corners and Clutter: Clip art appears everywhere. Instead of illustrating the topic, it detracts the eye from the message.
- Trapped negative spacing: The social media list is made to feel bulky by placing the icon in columns after the name. Instead, the author could have used the icons as bullets, allowing a smoother flow.
- Margins: The spacing around the graphics and text are inconsistent without purpose. In addition, the spacing between lines is often inconsistent, creating larger than expected negative space.
- General discord: Instead of bringing the entire design together in harmony, the repetition of stars creates discord. The placement appears haphazard, causing the text to appear as secondary material.
Part B
I enjoyed the Harmony activity, but found the Decisive Presentation challenging. No matter how many times I rearranged the images and text I was never happy (still not thrilled with the final result).
Michele I truly truly admire the way that you analyzed that infographic on how to create an infographic! I agree that when at first looking at it, it is very unappealing. You really nailed every detail of what is decent about it and what really causes dischord. I think maybe with a few less stars, less pictures, perhaps a bolder font, and varied alignment for each chunk of information (instead of primarily center alignment with trapped negative spacing), it would be a lot more aesthetically pleasing.
ReplyDeleteMichele, I couldn’t agree more when you said the clip art distracts from the message. Since this assignment, I have been paying attention to a lot of signage around my town focusing on where my eye goes first. The first place I looked was at the three pictures in the bottom right. After I read the entire infographic, I didn’t see the connection between the three pictures and the overall message of the text. It does seem, as you said, that the pictures were a last minute addition. Also, I agree that there is too much clutter. In fact, I didn’t read any of the text until I looked at all the pictures. I am sure that is not what the designer of this infographic intended.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a good choice. I don't like this infographic either. The first thing that jumped out at me was the font, as you mentioned. Then, the margins, or lack thereof, caught my eye. I also noticed the bad bullets, which for me is the most annoying thing about this image for some reason. (I'm not sure why that bothers me so much.) When I look at the infographic as a whole, it's almost as though I can hear it and it sounds like noise. It's a mess!
ReplyDelete