Information Design Project III - Infographic Report Video Group Assingment

 MODULE CDG 60504: Information Design 

Tristan Vaughan Sleep - 0365120

Information Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Information Design - FINAL PROJECT INFOGRAPHIC VIDEO

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MODULE INSTRUCTIONS:

“FEB - MARCH 2025: GCD 64904 / MAJOR PROJECT I  MODULE INFORMATION BOOKLET”

Information Design: Project III - Group Animated Infographic Report (Weighted 40%)

Group Project - Project III: For the final Project in module, students of the cohort are expected to group themselves into teams of no-more than ten and begin producing an Infographic Report. Using a processed design framework, students are to pick a subject which can either: A) Create Awareness, B) Explain a process or, C) Define a Concept; which they are then expected to turn into an animated infographic report to present the given information to a ‘target audience.’ For this, they can use Any time based media and software using photography, vector imagery if needed. During their designs, the students must consider the Organisational Principles, Aesthetic Principles and, Cognitive Principles which has been taught to them in previous tasks. The outcome should be a Video shot in 1920 x 1080 and should be between 1.5 minutes to  3 minutes Max.

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PARTICIPATED LECTURES:

WEEK I: Group Introductions and Project Plans

Forming a Group: Beginning the module, the cohort and I were introduced to the assignments needed to complete the module with the final project being a collaborative piece where we would be expected to produce an animated infographic about a specific topic. For this final assignment, it was suggested that the cohort arrange themselves into groups of ten with me eventually being included into Group 6 - Team 2. With our introductions made, the group spent the remainder of the first physical class together posing some ideas of how we wanted to take the project as well as working to establish a group chat where we can further discuss our ideas.

IMG 1

“Week I: Group Voting on Infographic Report Theme”

Topic & Theme: The first task we needed to agree upon was which ‘theme’ would our Infographic Report be based around - the ‘themes’ being: A) Creating Awareness of a Topic, B) Explaining a Process or, C) Defining a concept or thing. Leaving it up to a group poll, a majority of the group voted for Option B) Explaining a Process. With the general theme established, we all began to pitch our ideas for certain topics to pursue with diverse options such as ‘the processes to making foods,’ ‘science experiments or guides’ or, ‘educational materials for research.’ During this, I mainly wanted to pitch ideas relating to either the ideas of education or processes related to our course i.e Animation or design - theses were all the idea proposed at the end of week I:

• How to recycle crayons

• How a seed grows into a tree

• How to make handmade soaps

• How caterpillars transform into a butterfly

• How volcano erupts

• How a virus spreads

• How to make mung bean cake

• How animation productions work

• How to conduct the scientific method

• How to make user-centred design

WEEK II: Topic Specifics & Final Decision

Main Topic Discussion: In the Group Chat, a majority of the members had been discussing the idea of making an infographic report based on ‘making a traditional food recipe’ with the conversation mainly centred around ‘How to make Mung-Bean Cakes.’ With most of the group in agreement on this topic, the first major hurdle however came when the group was unable to find suitable recipes for the project (this is due to some recipes being too long or having too many steps which takes longer to produce.) As a result, we ultimately decided to instead shift our focus to another traditional food being ‘How to make Moon-cakes’ which are small pastries made for the Mid-Autumn Festival in Chinese Culture.

This proved to be more effective as we were able to find more resources relating to the production of mooncakes and even their history (an additional point which we planned to discuss in the video.) With more research and greater understanding, the team all agreed to continue the project with this topic. Before beginning our work for this project however, we needed to consult with our lecturer to get their approval as well as seeing what they would like to see in our production.

Feedback: The topic choice was accepted by the lecturer and recommended that we did include the history of the mooncakes as it is important in understanding their role within their festival. When looking for inspiration for making the video, it was recommended that we instead find a video which is not the best in quality (either in terms of visuals or Content.) From here we can see what weed needs to change in order to make a better final product. We can also include some videos we think are well made as it can also show what a good product would look like.

WEEK III: Topic Specifics & Final Decision

Developing the FLIP PRESENTATION: With our final idea approved by the lecturer, we would be able to begin preparing the FLIP Presentation as well as gathering the necessary resources and reference material for the final video. To make this presentation more fair for the group, we broke down our requirements into sections which we would individually be responsible for completing before the end of the week. For this task, I would be responsible for making both the introduction Slide as well as the Conclusion/Summary slides. This proved to be a little challenging for me as I was not too familiar with Mooncakes and would need to do some additional research to remain accurate which I feel that I was able to achieve.

“Week III: Group FLIP Presentation”

In addition to this, I would also work with some of the other members to help design the presentation itself - making it look better for when we begin presenting. The idea would be images, vector art and symbols which connect back to both mooncakes and the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the slides, I was ultimately responsible for writing in both the introduction/what is a mooncake slide as well as the conclusion/summary slides. For the visuals, I designed the previous two slides as well as the visuals for the history and Video Reference slides. 

To close out this week, the group would offer to present our slides earlier to both get feedback but also see what we may need to add to improve our video. For the presentation, this was the agreed upon order which the group planned to present in:

Opening - Introduction (slide 1-3) - Valerie

History & mooncake story (slide 4-5) - Yang Jiayi

Why & target audience (slide 6-8) - Sheryne

Video references, conclusion + closing out (9-11) - Tristan

WEEK IV: Topic Specifics & Final Decision

Making Corrections: While our presentation went well, there were still some features we needed to tweak as mentioned in the feedback given to us by our lecturers: The information that is given is plentiful but becomes too complicated and technical for a short video, it is recommended to simplify. This feedback would mainly be more important to me as the next stage of production would see the group actively working to create the video with me being the script writer and offering assistance for the storyboard artists.

Making the Script: The difficulty of this project came from writing the script for the group as it could not be too detailed which would take away from the recipe side nor it could not be too long as to pass the 3 minute maximum time. For the script, I first decided to break it down into five sections being: the introduction, history, cultural importance, recipe and conclusion - with the recipe planning to be the longest section. When writing, I planned to shorten our previously gathered information into a few sentences without using too many names or dates which adds complexity. For the recipe, I wanted to add natural points of pause to make it both easier to read and listen to which was important when making for an audience. With the rough completion of the script, it had been recommended for me to add notes in the sides of the script to give tips to the storyboard artist for what the visuals should look like.

“Week IV: Original Script”

The script would be slightly altered by my one group mate, Zhang who helped ensure that the information was accurate and was easy to read. Overall, we managed to edit the text down and it could be read in about 2:45 Minutes according to the reading speed calculator which allowed for any extra edits the animation team might need.

WEEK V, VI: Script Corrections, additions & Additional support

Week V: With the script completed, the remainder of the team would be able to begin making storyboards for the final animation. While not being fully involved, I’d offered to help with the storyboarding where I’d help guide for what the visual should look like. This mainly came through further changing the little notes left on the side of the script where I would help by expanding upon what actions should occur, rough transitions, timings etc. The remainder of the storyboard production would be handled by a few other members. While they would begin the storyboard, another part of the team had begun recording the voice-overs.

Week VI: Because of the way the group had segmented the work, I would be out of production; however, I would still offer my help should the group ever need me. This would happen on occasion with some aspects of the script or the visuals however the group seemed well managed and my help was minimally needed.

“Week VII: Final Video for Cultural Importance and Making of Mooncakes”

Project Reflections, Experiences, Observations & Findings

Experience: During this Final Project, I was involved mainly in the research/design part of FLIP production as well as the script and visual guide for the final Project which gave a greater understanding of a foreign culture as well as appreciation with effective visual communication. For the research phase, I needed to begin researching something that I was not too familiar with as compared to my group mates which required me to approach the topic with greater care and not being afraid to ask my group mates if they were willing to help me and confirm that I’m accurate. The most creativity came from writing the script which saw me iterating constantly to get the right amount of information while still sounding good to record. 

Findings: Throughout this experience, I found that Information Design is the thoughtful presentation of information in visual mediums including static images as well videos and other projects. While it may seem simple as an idea, Information Design requires a lot of thought before even starting to work on the visuals as a good base understanding supports a well crafted design. Furthermore, I’ve found that a design is rarely perfect on its first attempt (yet alone the final one) and thus iterating is an important process which can be supported with the help of others or by trying to make a new design. With feedback and time, the designs will become better and can help to open your mind to different ideas.