Information Design: Projects 1 & 2

 Information Design

11/1/2022 - 11/2/2022 / Week 2 - Week 6 

NAME: Adeline Wong Chyn Nee (0344017)

I.D: 0344017

COURSE: Bachelors of Design in Creative Media

MODULE: Information Design

Project 1: Instructable Infographics Poster Project 2: Animated Infographic and Exercises 3 & 4

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Project 1: Instructable Infographics Poster 

Pasta Grannies

Fig. 1.1 Pasta grannies' 'Watch great-great granny Angelina make pasta with chickpeas!'

As our first project, we are tasked to create an instructable poster based on Pasta Grannies videos we each chose from their Youtube channel, since I am vegan, I figured it would be suitable to find a pasta recipe that suits my vegan taste and preference. I chose lagane pasta ribbons with chickpeas and chili, in short, chickpeas chili pasta. 

1. Info Breakdown

Fig. 1.2 Video's Info Breakdown, Google Doc, Week 3 (18/1/22)

In class, we were given some time to analyze and break down the details of our Pasta Granny-videos. I first noted down Angelina's story about her unmodernized house in Southern Italy and how her family used to live there. Next, I noted the ingredients and steps for her pasta recipe.

2. Gathering references

From that video as well as the internet, I gathered assets and references such as colors, screenshots, and PNG of objects from the video to use in my poster.

A. Colors and Style Board:

Fig. 2.1 Style Inspiration, Week 3 (18/1/22)

Fig. 2.2 Screenshots & Color pallette, Week 3 (18/1/22)

Upon discovering Angelina's pasta recipe video, I immediately thought of the looks and style I would go for when executing the poster. The storybook art style is something that uses light and washed out colors however includes a few strong colors here and there. Its shadings are usually soft and grainy.

Fig. 2.3 Style Inspiration

B. Screenshots:

To mimic the look of the overall place and environment of Angelina's home and kitchen. I took a few screenshots to utilize as references when constructing the poster.

Fig. 2.4 Screenshots compilation, Week 3 (18/1/22)

Below are some of the screenshots I took:

Fig. 2.5 Screenshots (Pasta and environment), Week 3 (18/1/22)

Fig. 2.6 Screenshots (Insert shot), Week 3 (18/1/22)

Fig. 2.7 & 2.8 Screenshots (Angelina and chili), Week 3 (18/1/22)

C. Mood Board:

Fig. 2.9 & 2.10 Poster mood board, Week 3 (18/1/22)

After deciding on the colors and style, I search for poster inspirations from Pinterest. I found a few posters whose style and layout match my ideal poster. The layout of my ideal poster should be arranged in a scattered but systematic manner, just like the images above.

From there I can start to create my sketches.

3. Sketch

A. Black & white sketch:

Fig. 3.1 Initial Sketch (B&W in Photoshop), Week 4 (25/1/22)

With the information I have so far, I start to sketch and arrange my ingredients in a scattered manner with the pasta on the top left and the main ingredient (chickpeas) on the bottom right. With that, I plan to add texts such as the ingredients and steps on the empty spaces (top right and bottom left).

My aim with this layout is to use visual hierarchy to guide the viewer's eye from the top to the bottom smoothly, from learning about the dish to getting to know the ingredients and finally how to execute the dish.

B. Colour palette:

Fig. 3.2 Colour category & sketch, Week 4 (25/1/22)

Using the Eyedropper Tool, I extracted colors from the screenshots from the video, such as Angelina's apron, the pasta, and Angelina's sister's apron. With those colors set, I can keep the poster's colors and overall look consistent. 

C. Coloured sketches:

Fig. 3.3 Initial illustration (Coloured in Photoshop), Week 4 (27/1/22)

In this next step, I am developing my black and white sketches and combining the layout with the colors I have picked in the previous step. I have decided on an earth-toned background color and added a grainy texture as well to mimic the storybook art style. Not only that, textured brushes are used when illustrating the ingredient to create an organic and raw look.

4. Vectorizing illustrations:

Fig. 4.1 Ingredient assets, PDF, Week 4 (27/1/22)

For more distinct and sharp illustrations, I transitioned from Photoshop over to Illustration. The above are the individual assets I have created using the pen tool as well as the brush tool.

Fig. 4.2 'Making The Pasta' extra assets, Week 5 (1/2/22)

For further elaboration and understanding for the viewers,  I also created some extra assets for the 'Making The Pasta' step of the recipe. These assets are added only later on when designing the layout.

5. Creating layouts:

A. Layout 1

Fig. 5.1 Layout 1, Week 6 (8/2/22)

When creating the first layout, I thought of a scene where the ingredients are put together with the final dish to create harmonious arranging, however, I realized very quickly that this layout wouldn't be suitable to show an informative poster.

B. Layout 2

Fig. 5.2 Layout 2 (With text), Week 6 (8/2/22)

After that, I tried to make the illustrations smaller and filled my poster with the information of the recipe as well as adding the title. This layout gives space for both the illustrations and the recipe information for the poster, the only obvious downside of this layout is that both the illustrations and the information seems very separated and the viewer would have to go back and forth from the illustration to the texts to fully understand the recipe, which is also time-consuming and overall not an effective design poster.

C. Final Layout

Fig. 5.3 Final layout, Week 6 (8/2/22)

This is the final layout I went with, it is categorized by the steps with elaborated illustrations, this layout is created to omit the excess text which creates a more whole and neat look.

6. Final Outcome:

Fig. 6.1 Final Outcome, PNG, Week 6 (10/2/22)

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Project 2 Part 1: Animated Infographic 

1. Compiling into scenes:

Continuing from our poster, we are now tasked to create an animation based on the instructable poster. I started by gathering my assets to prepare them for animation in After Effects. To do that, I used the Film & Video composition in Illustrator.

Fig. 7.1 Film & Video preset in Illustrator

Below are my assets that I will be putting together into a scene:

Fig. 7.2 Asset #1

Fig. 7.3 Asset #2

Fig. 7.4 Screenshot of layers separated for animation, Week 7 (15/2/22)

Fig. 7.5 Scenes Compilation, PDF, Week 7 (15/2/22)

There are a total of 20 scenes and a total of 53 layers after compiling them.

2. Animating in After Effects:

Fig 8.1 Animating in After Effects, Week 7 (15/2/22)

Fig 8.2 Screenshot of keyframes in After Effects, Week 7 (15/2/22)

Fig 8.2 Screenshot of keyframes in After Effects #2, Week 7 (15/2/22)

Fig 8.3 Screenshot of keyframes in After Effects #3, Week 7 (15/2/22)

3. Sound Effects in Premiere Pro:

Fig 9.1 Screenshot of SFX in Premiere pro, Week 7 (16/2/22)

I retrieved the sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com/ 

4. Final Outcome:

Fig 10.1 Final Animated Infographics poster, Week 7 (16/2/22)

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Project 2 Part 2: Kinetic Typography

1. Group members (Group 2)

1) Adeline Wong
2) Adena Tan
3) Alicia Teng
4)Chung Yi Ki
5) Diane Lim
6) Sasilvia

2. Song of choice

On week 2, we are tasked to carry out a kinetic typography lyric video of a song of our choice, the members of group 2 all decided that it is best to execute this project based on the given song, 'So What' by Pink as the group members are familiar with the rhythm and timing of the song from the exercise we've done on it previously.

Chosen song: 'So What' by Pink

Fig 11.1 Pink 'So What' album cover, Week 2 (11/1/22)

"So What" is a song recorded by American singer Pink for her fifth studio album, Funhouse (2008). The song was written by Pink, Max Martin, and Shellback, and produced by Martin. Selected as the album's lead single, "So What" was first released to mainstream radios on August 25, 2008 (Wikipedia contributors, 2022b)

3. Lyric breakdown

On 11th January, we created a copy of the given excel file of Pink's 'So What' lyric breakdown and added it to our google drive folder. We start by arranging the repeated lyrics in different colors of highlight, like so.

Fig 12.1 Repeated lyrics, Week 2 (11/1/22)

In a lyric video, each lyric from the motion graphic should be consistent, which is why separating the repeated lyrics is so important so there's no different style coming from the same words. The audience would also be able to avoid confusion when viewing the video.

Fig 12.2 Repeated lyrics, PDF, Week 2 (11/1/22)

After that, we grouped the continuous lyrics at the side equally, each of the members got an average of 8 lines from the song to complete individually, after that process is finished, each of our assigned lyrics will then be edited so that all of them are joined together to form one whole song.

Fig 12.3 Assigned lyrics, Week 2 (11/1/22)

Fig 12.4 Assigned lyrics, PDF, Week 2 (11/1/22)

4. Moodboard

A. Colors Palette

The group members shared their ideas for the color palette of the whole lyric video in our Discord group, they are all very different colors however, in the end, we agreed on one of them.

Fig 13.1 3 color palettes, Week 2 (11/1/22)

We chose shades of hot pink and black as our final color palette. Like her name, Pink, we thought that it would only be right to live up to her name and utilize the color pink in our lyric video. It may be obvious but it is straightforward and enough to get the message through.

Fig 13.2 Chosen color palettes, Week 2 (11/1/22)

B. Font choice

We had a few options for our font: Barlow, Hogfish, and Great friend:

Fig 13.3 Font suggestions, Week 2 (11/1/22)

Fig 13.4 Font suggestions, Week 2 (11/1/22)

We then decided to mix the fonts to allow different variations for the lyrics.

5. Animation

A. Test animation:

Fig 14.1 Test animation, Week 3 (20/1/22)

I rendered my first test video with no background and sent it in our Discord group where we showed each of our progress, we shared our feedback and supported each other's progress by sharing our thoughts so we can improve and do better.
 

B. Process in After Effects

Fig 14.2 Background color, Week 3 (21/1/22)

I first set a #ff028b background as a base color for easy previewing later on.

Fig 14.3 Null object keyframes, Week 3 (21/1/22)

Fig 14.4 Null object screenshot, Week 3 (21/1/22)

I utilized the Null object tool as taught during practical. By doing that, I got a fun lyric motion effect on some of the lines of my lyrics.

Fig 14.4 Screenshot of layers, Week 3 (21/1/22)

5. Final Outcome

Fig 15.1 Final Kinetic Typography video, YouTube, Week 3 (23/1/22)

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Project 2 Part 2: Motion Graphic Chart

Fig. 17.1 Week 3: Motion graphic animation chart, Week 3 (18/1/2022)

In week 3, we were tasked to create a motion graphic chart of either pie chart, bar chart or line chart. I was tasked to execute B which is Pie chart.

Fig. 17.2 Week 3: Pie chart, Week 3 (18/1/2022)

Using After Effects, I have to create a motion graphic using trim pathto create the percentages of the pie chart.

Fig. 17.3 Week 3: Trim Path, Week 3 (18/1/2022)

Fig. 17.4 Final motion graphic chart - pie graph, Week 4 (26/1/2022)