Found Information Graphics at EMERGE

When I was at the AIGA EMERGE student design exhibition over at Loyola Marymount University on February 7th, I came across some very interesting information graphics. There was this visual representation of how and why the United States is in a recession. The information was presented as a diagram and was displayed as a large 20 by 30 inch poster. The color pallette was mostly ranging in the orange and yellow hues. It was a very nice poster overall as you can see in the photograph above.

I thought the approach was very interesting as the playful or lively color palette ins't necessrily deemed appropriate for the information preseted. However, the information presented may not be something that people may not want to read about during these times, but the representation and presentation of the information makes it very approachable. Although there are some elements that may be considered chart junk, the overall impression of the poster with the large amount of information presented is actually very readable. The fact that this is an overall fun-to-look at poster with not-so-fun information makes this design problem successfully solved. It may not be the best solution to some, but it definitely works.

Art 468 Map Project

So I finally thought of something interesting to work on for my Art 468 Information Graphics class. Over the weekend, I've been trying to find a map that holds multiple forms of information that I can redesign so it is visually interesting and easy to understand. I wanted to go with some form of information that people can find interesting not only in a visual sense, but with the type of information I am presenting as well. I was restricted o it having to be a map, so I came across this map of LA County.

There are countless maps of Los Angeles County out there and the one that I found the most interesting was the one that illustrated all homocides for 2007. This information really isn't your average world population or sea level map. Its more moving or serious than most of the issues I've ever worked with in design s I'm a bit enthusiastic about working with this information. Most of the work that I have design revolves mostly around positive or in this case, non-violent subjects. I'm looking forward to exploring how can present this information in a serious manner but at the same time mae it visually dynamic. The work I've done so far has been a bit boring in my opinion (work schedules, aiga salaries...). The illustration above is what I'm working with. We'll see how the final product comes out. I'll be posting it when its finished.