Information Design - Exercises

 

TANG LILIN (0376668)

Packaging and Merchandising Design

20/4/2026 - 0//2026 （ Week 1 - Week 14 ）

Bachelor OF DESIGN (HONERS) IN CREATIVE MEDIA

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LIST

• MI
• EXERCISE 1: Quantify & visualize data (5%)
• EXERCISE 2: L.A.T.C.H (5%) 
• EXERCISE 3: Vector/Character Animation (5%) 
• EXERCISE 4: Animation Chart (5%)

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MI

 

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EXERCISE 1: Quantifying & Visualise Date (5%)

INSTRUTIONS

Exercise 1: Quantify & visualize data (5%): Arrange objects (Lego/ buttons/ coins etc) with relevant indicators written out with pens to help you visualize the quantity and data. Take a picture of the final assembly and upload into your Google Drive folder.

PROGRESS

In Week 1, after Mr. Martin assigned us the task, my initial thought was to use M&Ms for categorization. However, after carefully analyzing the work of previous students, I realized that they had created a hierarchical structure with main and subcategories. M&Ms, on the other hand, could only be distinguished by color. Therefore, I decided to use beads instead.

Figure 1.1: Beads.

Next, I started brainstorming how to categorize them. These beads obviously varied in size, mainly falling into two color families: pink and purple. They also differed in shape, including round, heart, and star shapes.

Initially, my idea was to categorize only the pink beads. The main category would be based on shape: Round, Heart, Star. Subcategories would be based on transparency: Solid and Transparent. The detail category would be based on finish: Matte, Smooth, Glossy, Cracked Pearl, Gradient Pearl, and Pearl.

Below is a draft based on this categorization.

Figure 1.2: First Draft of Exercise 1.

I found that the content categorized this way looked messy and inefficient. For the heart-shaped section, the two hearts not only differed in finish but also in size, making the categorization unclear. Furthermore, neither the "Heart" nor "Star" categories had beads for the "transparent" category. The overall image looked empty, not only because of the pencil markings but also because the summary section, such as the total number of beads and a table summary, was missing. Therefore, I decided to readjust the selected beads and redesign the layout.

To improve the clarity and consistency of the categorization, I narrowed the statistical scope, retaining only round, opaque beads that could form a stable categorization logic, and included pink and purple beads for comparison.

The overall image was divided into three equal parts: pink/purple and summary sections, as follows:

Main category: Color

• Purple
• Pink

Secondary category: Size

• Small
• Medium
• Large

Detail category: Finish

• Smooth
• Matte
• Glossy
• Pearl
• Gradient Pearl

Below is the final product:

Figure 1.3: Exercise 1 Final Product.

The group task requires all groups to create a presentation on infographics.

Figure 1.4: the Bad Infographic Poster I Found

I chose this poster because although it looks like an infographic at first, it does not communicate the information very effectively. It includes data, icons and text, but the visuals feel more decorative than informative. The icons do not really help explain the statistics, and the hierarchy is not clear enough to guide the viewer through the information. Most of the message still depends on reading the text, rather than understanding the data visually. Because of this, I think it is a weak infographic poster and a good example to redesign.

Because this poster is about drugs, when I reselected the color scheme, I chose a darker, but not the rigid black, red, and white combination of the original. Below is my final color scheme:

Figure 1.5: the Color Palette I Choose

Below is my thought process and steps for making these changes:

After carefully analysis the original poster, I found that the icons were mostly decorative and did not really help explain the information. The hierarchy was unclear, and most of the message relied on reading the text rather than understanding it visually.

Because of this, I decided to redesign it into a clearer and more effective infographic.

Figure 1.6: the First Draft I Created

In my first draft, I started to reorganize the information into sections. I separated the content into three main parts: daily deaths, increase over time, and strength comparison. I also began to use pictograms and simple charts instead of only text.

However, this version still had some problems. The layout felt a bit unbalanced, and some visual elements were not accurate. For example, the chart for “66% increase” looked like a trend chart, even though there was no detailed data to support it.

Figure 1.7: the Final Version

In the final version, I focused on improving clarity and visual hierarchy.

• I used pictograms to clearly show “18 people per day” so the audience can understand the number quickly.
• I replaced the misleading chart with a simple “before vs now” bar chart to better represent the 66% increase.
• For the “50x stronger” data, I used a clear visual comparison with repeated icons to show the difference in scale.
• I kept a consistent layout across all sections to improve readability.
• I also introduced a highlight color to emphasize key statistics like 66% and 50x.

Overall, the redesign focuses more on visual communication rather than text, making the information easier to understand at a glance.

Figure 1.8: Progress of Making AE animation

In this class exercise, I used Adobe After Effects (AE) to create a simple bouncing circular animation. First, I created a new 800 × 800 px square composition and set the animation duration to 5 seconds. After creating the composition, I used the Rectangle Tool to draw a square that filled the entire screen as a background and adjusted the Fill color to make the image look more complete. Next, I used the Ellipse Tool to create a circle, holding down Shift to draw a perfect circle, and then placed the circle in the center of the screen using the Align panel. Then, I selected the circle layer, pressed P to open the Position property, and clicked the stopwatch at 0 seconds on the timeline to create the first keyframe. I then adjusted the Y value of the circle at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 seconds to make the circle move up and down. Afterward, I duplicated the circle layer and modified the color and Position keyframe position of the duplicate circle to create a misalignment between the two circles, making the animation look richer. Finally, I selected all the keyframes, right-clicked, and chose Easy Ease in Keyframe Assistant. Alternatively, I used the shortcut F9 to make the movement speed of the circle more natural.

Below is my final work:

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EXERCISE 2: L.A.T.C.H (5%) 

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EXERCISE 3: Vector/Character Animation (5%) 

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EXERCISE 4: Animation Chart (5%)