Persuasion is a very powerful tool, one we as graphic designers have a lot of control over. In order to get people thinking about plastic pollution, how do we approach it? Do we make the viewer feel guilty and bombard them with depressing visuals or do we take another approach and simply educate. I found that the best solution is often educating people on problems they know exist, but do not have the time to research properly in order to have a better understanding. This is were we as designers, can promote change through infographics and research sewn nicely together to form a digestible and powerful piece.
Information Visualization | Summary
Keep it kind.
I wanted the color palette of this project to be disarming. I wanted to stay away from colors that I felt easily conveyed sadness or negativity. The subject matter was going to be plenty depressing, so having a light and expressive color palette was very important to keep or grab the attention of the viewer.
Support role.
Due to the nature of this project, it was paramount that I was able to quickly relay information to the audience through visuals and type. The type had to be supportive of the illustration and vice versa.
Font choice acted as a powerful tool to highlight facts and quick summarizations to further promote my calls to action.
Where it starts.
I wanted a very clear and concise way of working through this story of information. By breaking up the content into three condensed sections, I was able to tell the story from start to finish in a way that wouldn’t come off as overly informational or overwhelming.
How we use it.
I wanted the user to be able to work through the information in a number of ways. From right to left or from side to side, or even in a zig zag. That way the narrative could be explored visually and narratively in multiple ways. Using subtle visual ques with dotted lines and establishing a clear visual hierarchy with color, text, and illustration heavily supported the story in order to make the information digestible, explorable, and concise.
Where it ends up.
The original poster is currently being utilized in a high school science room with my best friend. That is where I feel this project and many like it should end up. The hope is that the meticulous combination of type, color, and illustration can easily convey a broad topic like plastic pollution in a condensed manner. The simplification will help the user gain a general understanding of the problem in order to begin a dialogue.
