PROCESS INSTRUCTIONS
(time required: 1 to 2 hours over a three day period):
You are an expert in something. Use your first-hand experience or observation to create a unique visual explanation of your insight. Use annotation, storyboarding, sketching, and visual perception to create a poster that clearly advises someone (a family member, a stranger, someone you want to teach) the wisdom and artistry of your ways.
Rhetorical Situation:
- Purpose: Reducing Cognitive Load, Passing on Knowledge
- Audience: A person who is trying to learn about your subject, assume they do not know much about your topic.
- Context: A print poster (no larger than 8.5″ x 11″ finished size) or
Web graphic (1024 px x 768 px resolution or larger) - Token Bonus: Include a Venn diagram or Flowchart into your finished visual work
Criteria: Create an “Explanation Graphic” that explains the parts of a system with differing levels of detail using a large contextual image made up of smaller visual elements. Annotate and point out useful elements using McCloud’s tezt-image juxtapositions (duo-specific, picture/word specific, intersecting, or interdependent relationships). Also make sure to add the secret sauce, your personal insight. Why do you point these things out?
Here are a list of topics to avoid because they have been done too many times: the water cycle, recycling trash, butterfly or moth lifecycle, bicycle, or camera.
Process Steps: (spend no more than 30 minutes on each step):
Part 1: Get ideas
- Day 1 Brainstorm: Think about all the knowledge you have insight into. This could be: cooking food, performing a difficult sports move, playing an instrument well, creating a type of art, something you are good at. What knowledge would be exciting for people to learn about? What tips do you have for someone else that you are happy to share? Think about times where someone marveled at something you did, or asked you to explain something you do, and you thought “oh, this is simple to teach!”
- You may have a few ideas at this point. Talk to a friend or two about these ideas. Note down their interest and feedback about what you would be teaching.
- Think about the system you would like to draw. Identify the components that are useful to show, and write up few ideas for useful tips you could put in annotations.
- Consider a few different ways of presenting your system. Sketch these quickly in thumbnail form.
- Go do something else, relax or sleep. Let your subconscious mind keep working about new insights relating to novel, unique insights when you are relaxed.
Part 2: Visualize the ideas
- Return on Day 2, after your break to look at and add to your list of personal insights about the system.
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Add to your collection of thumbnails sketches some layouts for the final visual you are considering:
- Layout. Do you want to show ONE moment, or do you want to show a story? Are you using a process or Venn Diagram for the main image? A flowchart or Venn diagram do not need to look rigid, they can be aesthetic interpretations.
- What views are useful to show? Perhaps a perspective or frontal view of the product in different states (closed, partially open, being worn, in active play, etc) can be interesting. Perhaps frame a person’s face or hands doing the activity?
- Think about the different textual juxtapositions that may get a kid to part with their allowance. Remember with text, less is always more. Use as little text as you can to get the idea across. Remember to take advantage of lines and arrows to draw the eyes to relevant information. You will need a title. Don’t forget to add some attribution, so people know who is the author, or how to contact you (e.g. url, instagram, or twitter).
- Think about aesthetics. Aim for a balanced layout in the final composition. What colors and line styles are appealing? Reduce overload on the working memory. How will you capture and maintain the cognitive thread? How will you draw the viewer’s eyes through the story to completely read the visual? Will you composite the final work in Google Slides, Photoshop, or sketch it all out (color by hand or digitally ink it – check out the videos)? I recommend digitally inking it with Snagit or Photoshop— usually it is faster to sketch in dark marker and then color things quickly. Then, add annotations digitally so that you can experiment with moving and resizing text.
Part 3: Day 3 Create the homework submission
- Finally, create a professional and legible poster. Select appropriate coloring and lighting for your photos. Make sure text is readable.
- Post the following images on your blog: 1) thumbnail sketches and 2) your final work. Optional tokens include a correct flowchart and Venn diagram in your documentation.
- In your blog post, describe your design process and discuss the types of text-image juxtapositions you decided to use.
Fill out this checklist AFTER you have completed your assignment and posted it in your Portfolio Blog: