Sometimes I find that I focus too much on execution and I lose track of theory and principles, though it often embodies them both without me realizing it. This workshop forced me to take a step back and think about crafting effective messaging using a new medium. I chose to tell the story of planning my upcoming wedding in Las Vegas. As a video editor, I tend to think linearly in my approach to storytelling, so my visualization reflected that. I then tried a second approach and, after many attempts, was able to craft a more abstract visualization to represent my story. I feel that my second visual wasn't as effective, but it was a great exercise and the leader of the workshop felt that it better associated shared story elements. However, I did learn a lot from seeing the other participants examples and hearing their thought process behind their unique approaches and was able to walk away with some new insights, particularly that a visual story doesn't have to have a concrete beginning and end; it can present information that leads to individual story threads that, overall, provide the viewer with a full view and understanding The most challenging aspect for me was being able to tell a story with the least amount of visual elements. Though it wasn't a requirement, I feel that a viewer can easily become overwhelmed with an extensive character map to reference back and forth to, which can potentially exceed their visual cognitive load causing them to lose focus, interest, and understanding.
Modalities of Design
(from the workshop)
- Communication Design — delivering messages
- Interface/Interaction Design — user experience; behavior of products, people and systems
- Information (Visualization) Design — data visualization
- Critical Design — conceptual scenarios; hypothetical objects; social-political-cultural commentary, speculative
My Worksheet
