Information Graphics Assignments: Total 200 points.

The goals for this unit are to introduce you to the concepts of visual culture and language and introduce you to the tools and methods of producing good visual communication in the medium of print and paper.  Static images and words are still the components of visual communication most of us will use most of the time, so I want to you to get a good grounding in working with these elements in this medium. 

You will draft three different information graphics (read pages 61 and 62 of Visual Language for an explanation of "information graphics") for this unit.  Simply producing a draft will get you 25 points each week; at the end of week four you will choose one to develop and revise, then write a self-analysis memo of your revised information graphic. 

Week Two:  Produce an information graphic that illustrates your relationship to visual culture.  Use images, shapes, and words to illustrate your personal involvement with, or distance from, elements of visual culture.  The information graphic on pages 15 and 16 of Visual Language is a good model to work from.  This graphic will be an exercise in how to use visual communication to express yourself. 

Week Three: Write an information graphic that explains another piece of visual communication (e.g. a greeting card, a children's book, a CD insert, an advertisement, etc.).  Horn's analysis of his own work on pages 95 and 96 of Visual Language is a good model for this information graphic.  Use concepts from UC and Visual Language to guide your analysis.  You will need to scan your example, then import that image file into Microsoft Word or a graphics program if you are comfortable working with one.  This graphic will be an exercise in how to use visual communication to analyze something.

Week Four: Write an information graphic that explains a key idea or ideas from McLuhan's The Medium is the Massage.  You can scan some material from the book and produce an information graphic much like the one you did last week, or you can use your own images and designs to explain a concept as best you can.  See Horn's page about McLuhan (245 of Visual Language) and see McCloud's explanation of media as "extensions" on pages 38 and 39 of Understanding Comics as possible models for translating McLuhan's already visual thinking into other kinds of visual thinking.  This graphic will be an exercise in how to use visual communication to explain a concept.

Week Five:  Revise one of these Information Graphics for a grade out of 100 points.  See the criteria on the back.

Also, please write a reflective memo for 25 points.  Think of your memo as a chance to grade yourself.  Tell me how well you think you have met the criteria.  If you were having trouble with any component of the assignment, try to explain what was giving you problems, and how you would overcome those problems with a further draft.  A strong reflective memo will help you understand your work and might positively influence your grade on the final information graphic.

Criteria: What makes a good information graphic? 

1. Appropriately focused topic or subject for communication.  One of the dangers of "cut-and-paste" composition is that the final product is without focus—a big mess of images thrown together.  I have identified the topic for each of these information graphics above, so your task will be to say focused.

2. Appropriate selection of words, images, and shapes. The language on an information graphic needs to be carefully chosen—no room for wordiness or vagueness.  Images are tricky—they often have many connotations.  Don't settle for the first image you find, choose the right one.  Shapes are even more abstract and can invoke a variety of responses—make sure you know why you have used the shapes you have used.  Explain your choices in your memo.

3. Tight integration of words, images, shapes.  This criterion is closely related to #2: all of your selections need to complement each other.  It is possible to make word choices and image choices that, independent of one another, seem reasonable, but together, they work against each other.  Ask readers of your information graphic to give you feedback on this and other components of the document.

4. Effective, efficient, attractive expression of ideas and concepts.  If you have done 1, 2 and 3 well, this holistic goal should be met.  Attractiveness in this context does not necessarily mean original artwork or colorful presentation: it means professional-in-appearance, eye-catching, and free of "chart junk." 

I will comment on how well you have met each criterion using the following scale:

¯    Excellent: exceeds my expectations—readers' initial responses will likely be "wow!"

¯    Very Good: some flashes of brilliance, but also some room for improvement.

¯    Adequate: gets the job done, fulfills the assignment, but plenty of room for improvement.

¯    In adequate: doesn't meet the assignment, or misses the mark.  A document that is all text or all images would be inadequate, for example. 

After commenting on the criteria, I will assign a number value out of 100.