Final Project

  When we brainstormed ideas we had come up with three different ideas, a chart rating projects and terminology throughout the semester, a storyboard, and a tag cloud.  After mapping out iterations of the projects we agreed that the tag cloud would best represent and fulfill the project requirements.  The tag cloud was the best way we could represent the information we wanted to include in the project.

 (Our Inspiration)

In order to begin the tag cloud we had to figure out which terms, concepts, and projects we wanted to include.  We chose the words based on what we understood as the most beneficial, useful, and informative during the semester.  Color and size differentiate the importance and grouping of each word.  For example, dark green represents maps, maroon represents definitions, blue represents overall concepts, and lime green represents graphs.  Each word was designed with a specific purpose behind it.  For example, we agreed that Gestalt is one of the most important terms from the semester; therefore its size is the largest in the tag cloud.  Additionally, each word is written in all capitals not only to make it visually appealing to the audience, but no to discriminate against any letters. 

Once we made each word, we figured out appropriate placement.  We used a coat hanger as the base of our construction.  Two words were attached to the top of the coat hanger.  Since our placement was already resolved it seemed like it would be easy to attach each word according to the plan.  We used a hole puncher and string to connect the words, but in theory the plan was easier than in practice.  Not every word fits exactly perfectly within each space.  Some of the paper is curled because of where each hole meets on each word.  While the tag cloud is not constructed to absolute perfection, our message is conveyed in a successful manner.  Covering the coat hanger is a picture of a cloud with the words “tag cloud.”  Included in the cloud image is a key which describes our color coded system.  We are very happy with the outcome of the project, despite the minor speed bumps to get here.

(Final Project) 

Persona:

-Emily

-Senior in High School, 17 years old

-Athlete, involved in school newspaper

-Interested in small, liberal arts college

-Enrolled in high school communication class

-Visual Learner

-Interested in communications

Personal Reflection:

The most difficult part of this project seemed to be agreeing on good, solid project idea.  Since the project is very open ended we had trouble narrowing down our thoughts to one idea.  I am very glad with how the project turned out though. 

One of the challenges during the project was the tedious assembly of the tag cloud. In theory the assembly does not seem difficult but it was difficult to attach longer words to shorter words.  The most important thing I learned during this project was planning and communicating are essential.  Without proper communication a project cannot be done and without proper planning a project cannot be made.

Multivariate Graph

I was slightly frustrated when I started this project.  I had decided what three variables I wanted to use in my graphs but I could not graph my information the way I wanted to in excel.  I tried various combinations within the table I had created but it was not graphing properly.  I made the decision to hand write my graphs after struggling in excel for quite some time.  I knew that if I graphed my information directly in my sketchbook I had a better chance of conveying my message.

The topic I chose to highlight was my quiz grades during Visual Communications.  The X axis is the grade of each quiz measured in percent.  The Y axis is the time spent on each quiz in minutes.  It was easy to remember how much time I had spent on each quiz.  There were not too many quizzes where I forgot.

The second graph I did was in correlation to the first graph because the X axis variable [from the first graph] was the Y axis variable in the second.  So, the Y axis was the quiz grade and the X axis was the week number.  The relationship I wanted to show was, the more time I spent on a quiz, the higher my grade was.  It should be expected that as the weeks continue my quiz grades did as well.  Usually my grades improve throughout the semester because I learn how the teacher teaches and become familiar with the style of the class.  These quizzes were different though.  Through my graphs it is clear that the week number had no bearing on how well I did, but the amount of time spent on each quiz did.  Since I had the internet and books at my disposal, I always used them for the quizzes.  The one exception to this is when I got a 40% on a quiz in week 9.  I had a lot of work that week and thought it would be a good idea to try a quiz without my tools.  It clearly was not beneficial.

I had a lot of trouble understanding this project initially.  I did not know what exactly I was supposed to do, but I do think I created an effective multivariate graph (at least I hope I did!).