Most Recent Improvements

Typography Iterations

Smithsonian Exhibit

Round 5

Round 4

Round 3

Round 2

Round1

Exhibit Titles and Ideas

1. Religiously Challenged
Applying satire and cynicism to the Catholic religion by juxtaposing questionable statements and imagery .

2. Amalgamation: A Fusion of Catholicism and Popular Culture
Use of advertising, slogans, and related pop culture to bring new meaning or reinforce meaning.

3. Stock Rituals
Making the Catholic religion more relatable and approachable by comparing the rituals to everyday tasks.

Final Information Graphics

 

In the process of creating these information graphics I have learned that when communicating large amounts of information simplicity goes a long way. I began these infographs with having too much happening typographically and aesthetically. I simplified and kept a few typographic rules to help me steer clear of extraneous decorative elements. 

One of the requirements for this project was to incorporate our icons from our previous project. In "Top 9 Catholic Counties" I used my icon of the Virgin Mary to represent the Catholic religion. I also employed scale to reinforce the percentages of each population. The use of my icons in "The Liturgical Year" represent a portion of the calendar. The candle alludes to a prayer and the waiting for an act of God. This references the Advent season and its purposes about the time spent awaiting the birth of Christ. It seemed most appropriate to assign the Virgin Mary, the mother, to Christmas. For the Lent and Eastertide seasons I used the chalice and the monstrance to represent the body and blood of Christ. Both of these seasons are dedicated to celebrating His selfless death and His rising.  In the third infograph I applied my icon through repetition. The last infograph uses an icon per section; each plays a role in the mass. The stoup, which holds the holy water is placed in the first section because taking a few drops of the holy water prior to the beginning of the mass is customary. The Chalice is placed in the second section because it is used to hold the wine during the mass. 

Find + Share

These infographs, created by Jer Thorpe, data artist-in-residence at The New York Times visualizes word frequencies in the Times over a 20-year period. Each bar represents a month, with January 1981 at the 12 p.m. position, then the bars moving clockwise from there. Dates and mentions of specific events and key words are thrown in here and there to orient the viewer. With these information graphics not only can you see the growth of the content that fills the pages.

 

The New Basicis, by Lupton

This reading gives further insight on the categorization of graphs and their purpose. Diagrams allow us to see relationships that would not come forward in a straight list of numbers or a verbal description. Information Grahics have the power to inform and impress.

According to Lupton, there are three kinds of networks.  Centralized networks share a common point. A decentralized network has a spine with radiating elements. A distributed network is peppered with nodes of connectivity. All networks can be described graphically with points and lines.

The Numbers Man

This article is about Nicholas Felton and the information graphics he creates. Not only are these information graphics stunning, but operate past their function of informing and create a meaningful narrative.

I feel that most people connect with his information graphics is because, as he mentions in the article, these infographs act as a mirror; a way for the reader to wonder what numbers their lives will display. This connection is what causes Felton to be so memorable.

Final Icons

 

Final Icons

 

With my icons I wanted reflect my culture of the Catholic church by creating icons that reflected the ornate feel of Catholic artifacts and showcase a form that appears to be complex, yet constructed in a very simple way. One of the more difficult parts of creating these icons was translating such ornamented objects into simplified forms that communicated well. Reflecting on the process, I feel that by simply tracing each object's geometric form and allowing that to be my base was most helpful. By doing so I was able to build and add on to that basic form. By applying a scalloped pattern into my icons the idea of ornateness communicates well, but it also speaks of the Catholic religion itself. This religion is composed of many small, specific details that add up to the religion in it's entirety. For instance, the number of times a certain prayer is recited, or the way that the eucharist is taken from the priest and placed in ones mouth, or the way that the holy water is pinched from the stoup; every ritual is very specific. I chose to use a single line because although the Catholic faith is very complex and has many rules at the end of the day, this religion comes down to one factor: faith.

Progress: Icons

 Today in class we had our last critique before our final icons are due. We went around the room and chose the strongest set of icons that reflected legibility, cohesion, style, and craft. It was helpful to look at my fellow classmates sets of icons because it outlined the standards that are required to achieve a set of icons that are beautiful and communicate appropriately.

 

My current icon set is shown above. Improvements from my last critique was the consistency of the the line weight and a more consistent scalloped pattern throughout each of my icons. In critique, it was noted that the legibility of the monstrance, confessional, and the candle need to be improved. The overall cohesion could use attention in the line work, such as the open ended segments of each icon. 

Below is the process I am currently using to build each icon. I begin with the drawing I made, then on top of that I create basic, geometric shapes of the drawing. I then begin to segment each line to have more control over it. After this, I begin to round out each of the lines, and lastly add the scallop pattern on to the icon.

 

Icons in Vector

Icons in Style

After one more round of experimenting, I have landed on the stylistic qualities of my icons. My icons will be open ended contours that consist of one line. Additionally, they will have variety in stroke weight and have a scallop pattern incorporated into each of the patterns. While these are not in the final stages, they follow the rules I have set for my icons. Improvements I hope to accomplish: establish consistency within the weight of the strokes, create a more cohesive use of pattern, determine the the size in which these icons will range.

Icons (process)

Below are the initial icons required for Viscom II. We were to explore a range of stylistic approaches in order to find a style that was visually appealing and communicated best. 

The seven approaches are:

• geometric
• organic
• 3-D
• complex figure/ground
•  fill
•  contrast
•  line quality
•  fragmented
•  distortion
•  repetition
•  frame

Contrast

Fill

Geometric

Line Quality

Organic

Partial Fill

Geometric/Contour'