Exploiting the visual potential of numbers
I want the user to get a sense of the relative popularity of each album. To do this, I have used the US album charts as an indicator of general popularity, and have recorded each album's peak position on the Billboard 200 charts. I used size as a visual indicator of success in one chart, and position as a visual indicator of success in the other.
I used thin lines and shapes with no outlines to organize and to represent my data. Additionally, I included small full-color photos, just as my model does with its NBA logo. Lastly, I boxed the title heading with a dark grey box and used light text within.
I used the same light grey background color and the dark grey for text color. I also used the turquoise color for some of my shapes and for some of my text color.
I used Acumin Pro Wide for the title heading, per my text model, and used condensed and regular-width versions of Acumin pro for the rest of my text, also per my text model.
This numbers display will go on the lower right of my layout, as it is not one of the more important parts of my infographic.
Critique
Neha
In the first display, she first noticed the colored circles and the size of them, and then noticed the title because of the color contrast. Next, she saw the images associated with the circles. She found the next near the picture difficult to read (as well as the dates). The first thing she understood is that it is about albums and their positions. In the second display, she first noticed the lines and then the images next to other images. She found that the numbers next to the images were hard to read. She noticed the title at the top, which helped give her context of the display. She felt that she needed to rely on the text way more than she would have liked because the numbers don't make as much sense to her as they did in the first display.
She preferred the first display because it made more sense to her ,but she would prefer it if the text size for the dates and album covers were larger. She also found the color contrast nice in the first display, but suggested that I could put the images under the album names within the circles instead of undeneath the circles.
In terms of my visual language model, she saw that I used the black border for the title and the black and white contrast in color. She didn't see my model using filled in circles and instead suggested a donut graph or incorporating the lines as leader lines. She mentioned that I used photographs like the model, but the model uses black and white images instead of colored images. She also saw that I made sure my lines weren't that thick for the second display. In terms of my color model, she saw how I used the blue color for the fill color of the circles and made sure the lines are filled in with black. she suggested using the orange/yellow color for fill colors. She thought that the font size could be increased, but that my font choices fit my typography model well. She understands why I chose this section's position within my layout, but could also see the graph on the top right side portion or the lower left hand side.
Response to first critique
Because she didn't find the display intuitive and found herself spending a significant amount of time trying to figure out what was going on, I turned to a more simple idea to convey. I also made the images greyscale because she pointed out that my visual language model does not use colored images.
Andrea Chen
From the image on the left, she saw the large teal dots first. She then noticed the position of the dots relative to each location. She also saw the album art covers on the bottom near the x axis. She then noticed the large black title that says climbing the charts. On the image on the right, she saw the album art first, and then the title. She also noticed the background grid lines.
She preferred the image on the right, as she thought she understood more what the information is conveying. She also questioned what the size of the dots meant, as the ranking decreases, since the dot increases. She also wondered if album sales or something that would better convey this information. (Although I don't have access to this data, after much effort)
She could see that from my VLM I emulated the heading of the text and used solid fill colors. Outside of that, she could see he deviated from his model. In my image on the right, she saw background grid lines being used, when my model doesn't have that. She could see that the same colors were used in the model. She thought that they were well matched to how they were used. She could see that the same font is being emulated, and is present in my body text and header. She could see that the model would fit in the proposed area.
Response to second critique
After this critique, I tried to brainstorm what other visual methods I could use to convey ranking data across different years, but I could not find a method that I felt emphasized the important aspects of the data, so I decided to switch to different data.
Rose Jao
When looking at my first display (left), Rose immediately noticed the bold white title against a black rectangle. The size and contrast made it stand out from the rest of the text on the page. Then she read the subtitle to better understand the topic of the display, which is relating to the Billboard 200. The next thing Rose saw was the size of the circles and the album covers. She intuitively figured that the size of the chart represented a larger quantity of something, but then she realized it corresponded to the ranking of the album (so the largest chart represented #1 instead of having this particular album appear more on the chart than others). She noticed that two albums failed to chart and that iridescence is their most successful album. For the second display, Rose was again drawn to the titles first. Even though their size wasn’t as stark of a contrast as the first display, they still stood out. She thought this one better represented the rankings of the album, because it was very intuitive to read from top to bottom with top being #1 and the very bottom being #200. She thought putting the two albums that failed to chart outside the graph made a lot of sense and was easy to understand.
Rose prefers the second display. Although it may not be as “creative” as the first display (using a traditional graph with a labeled y-axis and guide lines instead of variously sized circles), it was much clearer to understand that it was about ranking each album. The top-to-bottom layout was also more commonly correlated to rankings (first place is always at the top of the podium and last is always at the bottom), compared to left-to-right, which Rose more often associates with time
When looking at my visual display model, Rose saw similarities similar circular shapes as the first display. She noticed how my model did not have any circles filled in and the labels were inside the circle, whereas mine were solid shapes with the labels outside. She noticed the same dark lines in my second display that are scattered throughout the model, and thought I did a great job emulating the same thickness and color. Rose noticed that my model used a bar chart and had data labels inside the bars instead of on a y-axis, whereas mine used traditional guidelines. However, for the sake of my specific data, Rose thought the type of graph that I used worked to portray the different rankings. Rose thought I incorporated the turquoise from my color model very nicely in the first display, but did not see much color in the second display. The yellow from the “ALL-AMERICAN TRASH” album happens to correspond with the yellow in my color model, but in the second model there is no turquoise or red and she suggests finding a way to incorporate those since my model is very colorful throughout. She thought I emulated the typography quite well, with a bolder sans serif font as the title and a longer narrower sans serif font for subtitles and all caps for all of the body text. She thought the title text was slightly different with my models’ having more space between each letter and less condensed down, but it is not a majorly noticeable difference. Finally, Rose thought the first display could go in the top right of my layout model and the second display could fit well in the bottom right because the first is horizontal and the second is vertical. Since both displays are not text-heavy, they do not need to occupy a large section of space to be readable.
Response to third critique
Because Rose seemed to be focused a lot on the clarity of the display and how well it matched my models, I decided to switch to different data that would be easier to make both clear and consistent with my visual models.
From this display, I want the viewer to get a quick glimpse at each of the 13 members of BROCKHAMPTON. I am using fixed vertical position and varying horizontal positions to show that they are all on a level playing field and view each other as equals.
I incorporated black and white photos and simple shapes into this display. I tried to use a uniform approach and not have different photos stand out so as to keep a minimal feel, like the feel of my visual language model.
I used black and white for this graphic on the light background of my color model.
I used Acumin Pro Wide in a semibold variation for the large text in this section.
This section will go across the top.
Critique
Thadeus
Upon viewing my display, he saw a gallery of people and a number indicating that there were 13 of them. Viewing closer, he saw that the people were labeled by their names. From the text on the left, he learned that the people were all members of something (BROCKHAMPTON, which my overall infographic will make obvious). He found the display simple and clear in its display of people.
He preferred this revised version with different content because he appreciated the simplicity of the gallery. He thought that the previous versions (the bubble chart and graph) did not provide a very intuitive picture of what was going on, so he thought switching to a different format was warranted.
He found that my visual language model was echoed through a simple an uncrowded-feeling composition and through the use of black-and-white images. He saw that the color model was largely followed, but did point out that this section lacks any non-greyscale colors, while my model incorporates them throughout. He thought my font choices matched up with my model's paragraph font well, but suggested incorporating the thin condensed font for the number or "members" word. In terms of layout, he thought it was a good fit for the top bar.
Joy
She initially saw the number 13 and a row of images, which she soon saw were people's faces. She remarked that the display immediately felt well-balanced to her and she liked the simple composition. She said she wasn't sure if it used numerical encoding strategies but wasn't sure what other things I would measure/track/present in my numbers section. She said that for what it was, the design was clean and easy to read, but she just wasn't sure if it had a place in the numbers section.
She preferred this version because the previous displays left her a bit confused about what was going on, and she felt as though the first two were not very well-laid out to show the information that they were modeling, but she said that she thought the first two displays had more potential. She also thought the data for the first two models was not a large enough amount. However, she thought that if I was able to track down more data for musical success/popularity that I should go with one of the first two models.
She found it difficult to assess my visual language in relation to my model's, but did mention that my model's photographs are cut out, while mine are cut into circles but not cut out as figurines. She didn't think I followed the color model that well because I didn't include any color. For typography, she thought that my text should be more spread out to match the kerning in my model, and perhaps include colored text. For my layout, she thought that this made sense to put in place of the diagrams at the top of my layout model.
Ryan
The first thing he noticed in this display was a group of people with labeled portraits for each person. He wasn't sure if there was any relevance to the order in which they were laid out, but he did not notice and clear alphabetical or other ordering. He saw the "13 members" text off to the left in a large font that made it jump out in comparison to the smaller text of the names.
He preferred the second of the three displays (top right) because he liked to see the growth of the group over time. He suggested incorporating the revised display elsewhere in my infographic because he thought it provided a nice picture of who makes up BROCKHAMPTON, but didn't know if it made sense within the context of a numbers display.
He thought that I did a pretty good job modeling my visual language after my model, and suggested perhaps incorporating the diagonal patch of lines between the "13 members" text and the portraits to further match my visual language model. He thought I used simple shapes just like my model. He thought my colors did not look out of place with my color model but he was curious to see what it would look like if I made the text one of the colors (blue/red/yellow) in my model. He thought that this particular display (the member portrait gallery) was a perfect fit for the long horizontal stretch at the top of my layout model.