exercises

lim jia sheng,
0344034.

BDCM
.Information Design
::exercises

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lectures:

week[1]A: Module bootstrapping

We were briefed about the natural disasters about to come our way — exercises & assignments. After the overview, we were straight thrown into the 1st exercise.

week[1]B: Intro to information visualization

The concept of presenting visual information has been around for a long time. From maps, to stats, they enable easy parsing, collecting, & planning of data.

Figure 1.1.1, Benefits of information presented visually, n.d

Goal

To reveal the intricacy of the world in uncomplicated terms; simple to understand. It also should add knowledge to the information it displays through spatial, quantitative, and chronological relationships.

Importance

exercise[1]: Quantify data

todo:

• Find a jar/bunch of things
• Sort & arrange
• Visualize the data

process:

I had a few choices to pick from, namely coins, nuts & bolts, & screwdriver bits.

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• 
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Figure 1.2.4, Choices of stuffs, 4/1/2022

I ended up picking the screwdriver bits cuz they seemed the most interesting.

Starting things off, I did some preliminary sorting just to see what I'm working with:

Figure 1.2.5, Preliminary sort, 4/1/2022

Doesn't look like much, but it presents the main groups & distribution of the groups. After that, I did a more precise sort of it, including separating the lengths of each main category into their own subcategory.

Figure 1.2.6, Precise sort, 4/1/2022

Thus, with the two main prerequisites done, I moved forward to making the final arrangement.

final:

Figure 1.3.1, Final arrangement, 5/1/2022

feedback:

• 13/1/2022
  • The minimalistic aesthetic is good.

exercise[2]: L.A.T.C.H

todo:

• Create an infographic with at least 4/5 L.A.T.C.H principles.

process:

Pokémon Emerald was my childhood, so I chose that. With the simple decisions out of the way, I had the idea to 3D-ify the original Hoenn map from the game. This was a surprisingly difficult task, but I eventually found & yanked one from SimplyBLG's Pokémon map explorer:

Figure 1.4.1, Hoenn, n.d

After that, I needed to somehow convert that into a 3D model. My initial Idea was to use a z-map, which is basically a a 2D image that tells a 3D program how to displace a 2D plane into a shape. By using some, very wonky, After Effects magic, I managed to come up with this:

Figure 1.4.2, Hoenn z-map, 13/1/2022

Unfortunately, while using only displacement was most probably fine for simple geometry, once you want to access only sections of it, it becomes much more complex. Thus, I had the idea to convert it into a vector so it can be imported as separate meshes.

Figure 1.4.3, z-map vector, 13/1/2022

In detail on how I vectorize, see Vectorization from my Advanced Typo blog post.

I then took each layer, extruded them in Blender, applied some materials & an ocean modifier. That ended me up with:

Figure 1.4.4, Scene in Blender, 13/1/2022

Next, is actually creating everything else... after the surprisingly lengthy render (curse you blender caustic solver). I started with labelling everything on the map, as well as gathering assets for gym leaders. The helpful Serebii.net came in clutch with (sorta) everything I needed (the gym leaders are over grey for some reason). After removing the background, more arranging, many line drawings, the product morphed itself into:

Figure 1.4.5, Draft infographic, 15/1/2022

However, there is only 3 L.A.T.C.H principles so far — Location, Category, & Hierarchy. I went on sort of a frenzy to find things I could organize, eventually stumbling on the fact that Hoenn is not only on Emerald, but also Ruby & Sapphire. 3 is plural enough I guess. I also dumped the full thing into After Effects to give it a grade & some ✨flare✨.

Figure 1.4.6, Graded & _flared_ draft, 15/1/2022

After showing this to Ms. Anis, her main comment was on the red line thingy that directed the viewer to the physical relation of each gym. I yanked it, & there came the final.

final:

Figure 1.5.1, Final L.A.T.C.H infographic, 20/1/2022

feedback:

• 20/1/2022
  • The red line is a little confusing, find a way to make it less distracting, or yank it.