Information Design: Turning Location Based Ideas into Infographics

1. Introduction: - Hey, - guys, - in Listen, - I'm Gavin. - Things were signing up for us. - Um, - for this class will be guiding you through the basics of making map infographic using the - topic of hurricanes in the U. - S. - If you haven't checked out, - the data get it might seem really intimidating. - But please don't worry. - We'll walk you through it and help you select five or so points from that data that you - want a feature on your map. - Yeah, - but before we get talking about that too much, - um, - we're going to start with, - like, - a little bit of an overview of all the different types of maps that you can create and what - makes certain I'm successful and what makes others not so successful. - And as a reminder, - if you're not super skilled an illustrator Photoshopped um, - you can always create project in your favorite medium, - whether that's painting, - drawing, - even cut paper or anything else. - And we prefer to work digitally. - But that doesn't mean you have to also, - we'll show you guys some really good examples of non digitally made maps later on, - like in the video, - and so you can see how great those could be and some of those non digitally created things - like painted and hand drawn, - illustrated sort of things or the most compelling. - And they get promoted a lot on social media networks and tumbler such like so it might be a - really good option if you're a little bit more advanced. - If you want to try something new or if you really don't like toe work digitally at all. - So anyway, - onto the maps. - Um, - So for the next, - um, - 20 minutes or so, - 30 minutes or settle, - we are going to be showing you some different types of infographic maps satyr gonna - hopefully help you with your project. - We're gonna show a little bit about what makes certain one successful. - What makes others not on. - You know, - all the different types of things that you can do on the maps. - We're gonna talk about story and how story is the key to a successful infographic. - Essentially, - when you break down an infographic, - there are two parts to it. - There is the data and the story behind it. - You know, - I generally think infographics should give an overview of a certain situation. - Um, - they're kind of most successful as a generalization of text or story and a set of data. - The raw down it lacks the story, - and the story lacks visual overview. - And so the purpose of the Infographic is to sort of marry the two. - It provides the story for the data and provides an overview for the story. - So it's a project that we're gonna be doing. - We have to ask ourselves a couple of different questions before we get started. - So one of the most important things to understand is what you're trying to accomplish with - this infographic. - And what is the story that you'd like to convey? - That's incredibly important to understand what you're trying to tell the audience, - because if you don't know that from the very beginning, - then you're kind of starting with a disadvantage. - You're starting with a handicap of some kind. - So the next question you want to ask yourself is, - Should I rely on the data itself to convey the story? - Or should I assist the story with illustration? - And that's yeah, - that's generally what an infographic issue. - Wanna kind of introduce bits of illustration to help, - you know, - tell the story to help people understand that raw data. - You know, - you want to bring it to a more graphic level so that people I can understand what you're - trying to convey. - Yeah, - but I think there's a danger in that, - though going too far with illustration. - There's a lot of people in their first starting out. - They tend to go on the side of too much illustration, - and then it muddles up the entire graphic. - And then you lose the data in a way. - So it's really important to make sure that your story is being told using a little bit of - illustration as a bit of a fun factor and potentially a storyteller. - But just to make sure that the data is front and center and being understood completely, - yeah, - the most. - I mean, - the single most important thing is obviously, - is that your true to the data and that everything is accurately represented and that you're - not exaggerating or, - you know, - falsely representing anything. - In our case, - in this project, - we're gonna be looking at Hurricane, - so there's a ton to work with. - So when you first get your data, - you want to take a look at it and you want to analyze it and understand what sort of story - , - it's telling you, - the designer, - the first thing we wanted to show you guys, - even though you might think it's a little silly, - is actually the most recognizable type of map infographic, - which is the weather map. - And it's agreed. - Example. - Because of how basic it is. - There are actually several layers of data communicated there, - though, - um, - first of all, - the map provides the base layer. - The icons are there to provide the generalized information. - Um, - for the viewer. - Like what? - You know, - What is the weather like? - Is it sunny? - Is it snowing? - Is it raining? - There's some nice visuals for you to look at. - The map itself, - actually, - is someone of a heat map. - It's not a literal heat map. - It's actually a form of a style of map infographic, - where different areas air highlighted. - So in this situation, - bread means hot and blue means cold. - You know, - it's it's really basic, - but it's it's really understandable. - Which is the point, - um, - so then there's usually another layer on top of this, - with more detailed weather maps, - which is the jet stream. - So that's yet another layer, - which is kind of amazing if you can if you worked with maps before getting that many layers - of information on top of each other without cluttering the spaces. - Really amazing. - I think this is a great example of ah, - really great infographic. - You know, - it's talking about the weight of the world in which which countries, - um, - consume the most calories. - So it's very clear you know which countries air consuming the most. - The U. - S. - At 66.3% that's the type is very large, - it standing out. - So in this situation they've made the most important number is bigger than the smaller - numbers. - So we can very, - very clearly see what is the most important. - And what are the ones that are being called out as more extreme in a way. - And you can tell that it's pretty extreme when you see the word weight of the world, - and then you see the number 66. - I'm assuming without even reading any of the information. - That is probably a bad thing for the U. - S. - Usually, - and here's a great also a great example, - like where you know, - the illustration really helps convey the message. - You know, - they're using the scale, - and as you can see the 66% is weighing down that scale all the way, - whereas 18% is barely, - you know, - creating an impact on that scale. - Yeah, - and it's It's so simple. - But it's so nice and it's just it's really easy to understand, - and you don't have to stare it it for 10 minutes to try to get the information out of it. - You see it right away, - and that's that's a really, - like a really cool thing to be able to dio with a very simple graphic like this, - and they've actually made use of the flags within the illustration. - So there is actually, - uh, - you no further purpose for that illustration and, - you know, - and that's always like, - really important to look for are clever opportunities to introduce more information, - you know, - whether it so. - Although this isn't like a full on map infographic, - um, - it's still not based, - and you know that all of the information is relevant to the matter. - But it's a great example where, - you know, - maybe there was so much information that they couldn't fit it all in the map. - So they used. - They used this color system where they could actually call out, - You know all of the different sets of data and then have it relate today, - their location on the map. - Yeah, - that's very clever to do when you've worked with maps for a long time. - It does become really difficult to fit all the information in there just on the map itself - . - So you need to learn how to bring different points out and try to incorporate them in an - attractive way without it making without muddling the information which can often happen if - things were running into each other. - So this is really nice really set up into a grid, - and it's really readable. - Very nice. - This is by always with honor, - by the way, - they're really great designers. - This is another really great infographic by Nicholas Filton, - also known as Beltran. - Um, - I wanted to show this one because it's a great example where there are quite there, - actually, - like not very many data points in this, - you know, - I think there are like seven airport locations, - but yet it's still very interesting and still conveys the message. - I think Nicholas had a very clever way of introducing the gas consumption, - which was through the airplane icon and then the statistic following that airplane not - going. - And though there isn't a lot of data here, - it's still getting the message across, - and it still looks very nice, - Um, - as well, - sometimes when you don't have a whole lot of data to plot out on the map. - This is where you can make use of those supplemental stats like Nicholas had. - You know, - this is where he has £42 under 37 seats. - You know, - different points that you know, - might help tell the story. - Yeah, - And also something to think about is that you know, - you might look at this map and say, - Well, - why did he even bother plotting those points? - Why did it even need a map? - But, - you know, - if you were to be given this information, - just is like a an article or a list on the left hand side of the page. - You might not read it. - You might not want to look at it. - So it's It's pretty. - It's a good example of why we do use maps to show information and why they really help - convey in for me. - You know why? - Why? - Maps actually convict So it's a good example of by We used maps to convey information, - to grab attention and to get people to read what's going on. - Yeah, - although we know you know where each of the cities are most likely, - you know, - it's still very impactful to see them blood it out like that. - So this one is a great example of using multiple layers of data on the same plane. - So he makes really good use of the key, - which is a very, - very useful tool and condensing lots of information. - And it's it's kind of interesting because the first thing you see when you come to this map - is are the color. - So you know that those are the most important things. - So those air that's again using hierarchy Teoh explain your data a little bit easier for - the viewer. - So this is another example of a really great one and not unlike that first, - always with honor, - one that we had shown. - It makes use of several sets of data within these call out boxes. - So it's very clear, - you know, - uh, - he actually doesn't use size variations to represent the more important information he just - use his number, - which is just a successful at times. - Obviously, - In that first example, - though, - it's a wonder it made more sense to have the science variations to communicate, - to convey, - you know, - the heaviness. - And in this example, - this works best. - I feel because there are just so many and, - you know, - there's kind of a list of companies, - and maybe it doesn't matter that IBM is is number one. - You know, - it's just a way to house lots of, - uh, - sets of information. - I actually think that this is really interesting. - You know, - um, - the visuals are really cool on. - You Immediately get what's going on, - though it is a little bit cluttered, - like it's a little bit hard to see. - All that's going on, - um, - or what information is being communicated? - The idea is there, - but I think this might be an example of where the message is lost, - right? - It's as you can see that the the tickets are not all exactly formatted the seam, - which you don't have to have everything formatted exactly, - perfectly the same. - But in this case, - there's just so much information on this map that it's really hard for me to tell where to - look first. - So that's it's, - Ah, - another example of hierarchy and using hierarchy to your advantage. - And in this situation, - I don't think that it's working as well as many others do. - For example, - I'm looking mostly at I c E L a X and SLC first, - because those are big and bold, - whereas the ones that are more in pastel it's it's a little bit more difficult to see. - So just something to think about as not a bad example, - but as a an example of something that if you choose some one of the data sets that has a - lot more data or you choose to put 20 points instead of 10 you know, - take a look at this and just make sure you're not going to crazy with it. - So this map for me personally and chose this one, - it's not a bad map. - It's not bad looking. - I actually really think it's really fun, - and it's really interesting to look at. - But the problem that I have with it is that it does not relate at all like the data does - not relate at all to the map itself, - and I understand what they're trying to do with the, - you know, - New York City subway map. - But since it's relating to other cities, - it's not quite communicating as I would hope it would, - just because the city's don't relate to New York City at all. - And New York City is actually one of the cities that they're talking about. - So it's just kind of it's kind of hard to read properly and understand, - but I do really enjoy the colors and how bold it is. - So something about going bold and colorful with your map. - I would love that. - So as a final thought, - we're gonna leave you guys with the steps of creating an infographic in a successful one at - that. - Hopefully first, - you obviously want to pick out your set of China. - So from the set that we provided for you, - we want to make sure that you guys understand that you should pick a fuse, - points like 5 to 10 points that you're gonna map, - not the whole entire thing, - because that would be crazy. - Just maybe 5 to 10. - Just pick and choose, - You know, - find the most compelling pieces that you think are really interesting and go for it next, - you're gonna give your map a title. - You're gonna want to set the tone for the story that you're about to tell to your audience - . - And you want to make sure that as clear as possible. - If you guys need a help with any of this, - please. - You know, - right in the discussions panel, - we'll try to help you come up with different titles and that Would you make your make the - most compelling Infographic? - Start laying out your data. - Um, - just get like a rough layout going, - you know, - seeing how it all fits to get how it all fits on your map. - Next, - you're gonna want to find your hierarchy. - So what do you want people to see first? - What do you want them in? - See? - 2nd 3rd etcetera. - It's really important that you make sure Teoh have different size text on their in - different size imagery and everything. - It's you just want to make sure it's easy to understand. - On First Street in a great a great way to test this out is like, - you know, - for that first level of hierarchy, - you know, - the most important level, - like try standing a couple feet away from the computer and see if you can actually see - individual. - See what text you know stands out. - Um, - make sure the most important text is the biggest, - which you would think is obvious. - But some people do not know that. - And then if you get a little closer, - what can you read after that? - And then if you get really close, - you know, - is there any supplemental information? - Um, - you know, - in a great a great rule is is to just have 3 to 4 levels of hierarchy. - And, - yeah, - the actual map is kind of your foundation. - You know, - um, - that's the base layer that you're building everything on top of, - and that is a clear information. - The next step is to find opportunities for illustration so you can go several ways. - With this, - you can go full on illustration while the wall illustration. - You can do little icons for each point. - You could do an icon for each state or country or whatever you're mapping. - Um, - it really depends on your map, - and it really depends on your information that you're using. - But it's really nice when you add in a tiny touch of illustration and could be really, - really good, - and I could make it all the more interesting to look at him back. - Yeah. - Is there any more information that can be added to help tell the story? - You know it's not. - Maybe the debt is not that important. - But if people are really looking into the infographic, - you know, - this could help them understand further. - You know, - like some random statistic about how the hurricanes affected wild wildlife. - Maybe. - Or, - you know, - I don't know if we have that data, - but, - you know, - just like random stats that someone might be interested if they look closer into it. - And also, - if you are going to do that, - you need toe sight your sources, - which is really important. - That's why we gave you. - We gave you data from the N O W A, - which is a government organization for weather tracking. - Um, - it's it's really important to use legit data rather than just Wikipedia stuff at Wikipedia - . - Stuff can be legitimate. - It's just, - you know you have to. - You have to make sure their sources air correct, - begin to style eyes. - So here you want toe, - infuse your own style into the map, - and so you don't have to use Ah, - completely stylized map. - You can use a vector map. - You can use something very basic but adding your own touches of your favorite color or - something that's gonna make it pop and be really different from someone else's boring map. - Make it make it really cool may get you're your own. - Or make a really professional or make it really static. - Or, - you know, - whatever you want to tell, - you know whatever story you want to tell with the map. - This is where you want to do it, - and this is when you want to add your sources and you want to give yourself credit or give - the client credit. - Um, - this is just really important and, - you know, - it kind of like legitimizes your infographic If you have, - you're proper, - sources cited. - Yeah, - I just think about this part as a bibliography to your infographic. - So if you did your thesis in college and you didn't have a bibliography than you probably - wouldn't be taken very seriously, - and that's the same way it is with these. - And it seems like, - you know, - it's just a graphic. - What's a big deal? - But it's It's actually really important to give people the proper credit for doing all that - research that you just took and you made look attractive. - So your job is not just to make things look attractive, - it's It's to work within certain bounds professionally, - so the next step is to refine and make sure it's communicating. - So this is another time when you'll probably want to step back and take another good hard - Look at what you've been doing. - Just make sure that what you're trying to say is coming through. - Definitely on. - This is also a good time to get your friends to look at it. - Some non designers, - random people on the street, - whatever you want to dio get them toe, - take a look and tell you if they understand what your maps trying to explain last just - finishing up. - You know any final touches? - Um, - anything else you can dio Yeah, - maybe add a little bit of texture. - Maybe have a little like wash of water color something to spice it up a little bit. - Make it your own. - This is where you can add a little bit of extra flair at the very end that you could meet - local exciting. - So anyway, - we're really excited to see what you guys do with the information that we gave you and, - um, - see where you take the data. - You know, - if you want to go dry, - you want to go fund. - You wanna go crazy, - You want to go beautiful. - You know, - whatever you want to dio just we were really interested to see what you guys do with it. - So and yeah, - yeah, - Feel free to ask us any questions. - You know that. - Make him up or you know, - any problems that you run into Or if you need to feel like you wanna run some bias, - um, - get some feedback. - You know, - um, - we're Yeah, - This is our first skill share class, - so we're not quite sure how everything works. - So if you guys want us to do anything special or anything outside of that, - you know the videos or anything, - just let us know in the discussions panel and then so that all your other all the other - students can see what your question was and how we answer it on, - um, - we're going to try to figure out how to do some sort of a chat rooms thing. - So if you guys need help, - were critique or anything like that in between the, - you know, - the project dates just, - you know, - let us know you will come, - like an informal poll or something. - I don't know. - So yeah. - So we're really excited. - And let us know if you have any questions we're gonna post up, - um, - some extra reading ideas, - anything that we see that we want you guys to read. - Well, - just posted in the discussions panel also. - Well, - looking forward to seeing what you guys deal. 2. Bringing Sketches to Life: - Hey, - guys, - Thanks for joining me for the second edition of art Information Design Class Video. - So today, - what I am going to Dio is gonna take you on a little journey of how to actually take the - data and turn it into a sketch. - And I'm gonna do a very basic sketch, - and it's not gonna be to intricate or anything, - but it will be hopefully informative for you to see how I work. - And maybe it'll inform you on how to start your project. - So just to go over it one more time, - the last side of the last video was the steps that actually the nine steps to making a - successful infographic. - So for today, - I'm I'm going to go with one through three. - So to review, - that's choose your data, - find your story, - give it a title, - set the tone, - and then lay out the data and see how that takes shape. - So for the next probably 20 minutes or so, - I'm going on and take you through that. - My first step was to take a look at the data and just see what stood out to me as being - most interesting or being fun or you know, - whatever it whatever grabbed my attention first, - So I tend to always air on the side of more fun. - You know, - some people don't like to do extremely silly things or anything like that, - but I like to bring a little fun into my work. - So what? - I chose Waas, - the 10 most intense female named Hurricanes. - I thought it would be funny to name it the craziest ladies of the Atlantic just to be a - little tongue in cheek about it. - You know, - just this is, - you know, - a class project, - So just have some fun with it. - Don't Don't worry too much about it being Teoh, - um, - to dry or anything. - Just have fun. - And I always like to do that. - You never know. - It might actually capture someone's attention more so if it's a little bit more silly or a - little bit more fun, - because those are the ones that get passed around more. - But, - you know, - whatever you decide, - mine is gonna be kind of fun. - So that's all. - Okay. - So once you have your idea down, - what you want to do is get out your map. - We sent a little email to everyone about the vector world map dot com. - It's It was really, - really great resource tohave. - It's totally free. - And I mean, - it's not the end all and be all of maps. - But, - you know, - it's a really great starting point. - If you aren't doing this professionally, - it's good toe, - not waste a ton of time creating your own map. - I mean, - it's crazy to think about actually doing all those points, - like actually plotting out the point of a map. - So this is a really good idea to just use that map for now. - And if you are the type person that wants to you hand me and map, - you know, - use this as reference or, - you know, - go crazy on it. - If it's easier for you to just create your own map, - go right ahead. - We're not stopping you. - This is almost a free for all, - not completely. - But it's almost so, - you know, - go crazy. - If you want. - I'm gonna explain what a pencil sketch. - I know that, - but that term seems a little strange because of what I'm gonna tell you next. - But I do pencil sketches in the sector, - which again is a little weird. - But that's how we do it in the actual industry. - I guess you'd call it that I'm in so you can actually send actual pencil sketches if you - want to. - But I always find that it's a little bit easier to start in Vector and then and in Vector - just for me personally. - And I know Gavin is the exact same way. - So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pull up the map now. - The doctor World map in illustrator. - Personally, - I don't want the map to be black because that's probably not telling the story that I want - to tell. - So I'm gonna change that to a nice shade of green to signify land. - And then I will worry about the background color leader like the watercolor later, - just for the sake of simplicity, - For right now, - the next thing that you'll probably want to do is figure out where the focus is going to be - on your map. - So I'm working on. - Actually, - you're working too, - with the Atlantic Ocean and with the US coastline. - So what I did was I scaled the map outwards to that it would be larger on my art board that - little black frame like the the frame inside the illustrator file that's called art Board - by the um So I scaled it so that it would fit within the art board, - like roughly where I wanted to sit, - you know? - So I want the focus to be the Atlantic Ocean, - of course, - and I'm probably going to need a little bit of Africa in there because hurricanes usually - start off the coast of Africa. - And then I definitely wanted to have the Gulf of Mexico in there and upward towards me. - And sometimes, - you know, - since I don't have the data down yet, - sometimes hurricanes go off up to lay Greenland. - So you know, - I I know it wasn't going to go that far, - so I just kind of left Greenland other. - You know, - whatever. - It's always, - you know, - you can always change it later, - but it's it's good to get your primary focus right in front of you starting out, - because if you have too much space, - you might get a little overwhelmed. - This just helps toe narrow down your field of vision of it the next step that I always do, - because I do not like the way on the lakes look inside of the continents, - so I always take out the lakes personally. - I mean, - you don't have to, - but I I think they're pretty superfluous. - They don't make a difference in the context of the story. - And I never agree with putting extra information on a map or an infographic because it gets - too muddled. - Then sometimes. - So I discovered of those. - It's actually pretty easy, - if you just well, - with the Vector World map file, - I believe you just have to, - um, - click on some of those little lakes and then you can delete them. - Or you might have to UN group a couple things first. - But then it's It's pretty easy, - just like delete con Mass if you need to. - So then the next thing that I want to do and I want to make sure that I keep track of is I - want to look at the data that I'm actually going to be using for this map. - So since I picked the most intense ladies of the Atlantic Ocean, - I needed to look at this page, - which is page 13 of that huge Pdf that the n o w a. - Put out that I put up on skill share. - So I'm looking for specifically women's names and the rank. - This is my highlighting job that I did that I told you all to do for your data. - And it really helps. - Like if you skip this step, - you are going to get so confused cause they're so much in terms of numbers, - and you might just completely take the wrong number from the wrong section or something if - you don't highlight and make sure you're really focusing. - So I did this highlighting, - and now I have my data to start from, - which is pretty exciting. - Okay, - so then on the next page in that pdf, - there was actually all of those intense hurricanes. - They were all mapped for me, - which is amazing, - because that never happens when you're working professionally. - Never, - ever happens, - So that's pretty cool. - So what I'm gonna do is take this map and combine it with the data set from the page. - Before I actually did that photo shop. - It's extremely easy to do it, - you know, - an illustrator, - or you might even be able to skip this step. - But personally, - I need to visualize it physically. - Toe, - actually, - um translated on to the next step, - so I mean, - you'll see the next step. - It gets a little weird eventually, - but well, - I'll work through it. - So, - um, - I just took the names of the Hurricanes and made sure that the points that were listed like - the numbers were correct. - And some of them were a little weird. - And there were some double double numbers like the rankings were double. - Sometimes, - like if you go back and you see like Donna and Florida, - um, - Hurricane, - those were both number eight in rank. - And then, - um, - Gloria and Opel are the same rank, - so they're both 22 sewer Audrey and Celia. - So it does get a little confusing. - So you just have to make sure plotting correctly, - you have to make sure you're looking at the right information, - and then, - you know, - from there you can move on. - But it's There's a reason why people do is professionally, - because it it's tedious. - Sometimes it's not all just fun and games. - It's it's a little overwhelming a little bit, - but once you get past the certain points, - it it gets easier. - So next. - What I did was, - I brought in that last map into illustrator so that I could start to create lines and copy - over the lines onto my final man. - So what I did was I just traced the actual lines from each of the hurricanes that I'm gonna - be using. - And then, - um, - we'll show you what to do next. - Basically, - this part is a sketch. - So, - you know, - accuracy is not completely 100% important right at this moment, - but it will be so. - It's probably better to make sure you're being as accurate as you possibly can be at this - points that you don't have to go crazy at the end when you're, - you know, - starting to style ISAT and trying to make it cool, - because that might be a little bit more difficult. - But for the sake of this project, - you know, - just try to keep it as accurate as possible. - But if it's not perfect, - you know, - I wouldn't be too overwhelmed by making amazingly perfect map. - Just focus on getting information down and visualizing it. - So that's what I'm doing for right now. - This is pretty accurate, - but it's, - you know, - again. - As you can see, - it's a little weird, - but um, - we'll try to fix that leader going forward next. - I just deleted the bottom map. - And so here I have all victors and starting to look a little bit more like an infographic, - just slightly. - So next I took all the names of the Hurricanes, - all old my ladies, - that I plotted them on map next to their their trajectories so they don't quite fit - completely. - And I'm starting to see that. - Okay, - well, - those air really small, - those lines A really small. - So Okay, - so what do I want to do with that? - That's it's a little boring. - It's That's not what a hurricane directory looks like. - So what's going on? - Okay, - well, - now we have to think about where the possibilities of going forward to make this a little - bit more interesting, - more accurate, - cooler, - everything, - you know. - So what I came up with was the idea of creating the entire half of each of those hurricanes - to see how long they were. - And of course, - um, - you know, - it's about how intense they were, - but I wanted to show is that it doesn't necessarily have to go from the West coast of - Africa all the way up to, - you know, - Michigan for it to be the most intense. - And so we'll see. - And the next page. - So here we have, - um, - the process after it's already begin, - and I started plotting out all of the paths of the hurricanes that I could find. - So this one that I'm highlighting here is Opal, - Hurricane Opal, - and that's the white line. - So again, - as you can see the maps to not completely lineup. - But what was most important to me was that Louisiana and Long Island, - like the New York State Tri State area, - lined up pretty well. - So it's a It's a pretty good rule of some, - I think, - you know, - and I also used the path from the earlier camps to guide where the line should actually - fall. - The final line should fall because that was from the N Ow before, - So I want to keep it as accurate as possible, - and I want to keep it there specifications as much as I possibly can. - So this line follows exactly where that earlier line waas so I just had Teoh manipulate the - map a little bit so that I could get it perfect. - So that's what I'm talking about what I'm when I mean, - like, - don't worry about it being 100% accurate. - I mean, - using this with of stroke, - this is about I think this is a three point with stroke with it. - That's probably, - like 300 miles in reference the map on either side. - So, - you know, - if we're gonna be super accurate and perfect and amazing, - it's it would have to be like a 0.25 stroke. - It would have to be like the thinness line ever. - It would have to be very specific. - So and that's what that processing program is for stuff like that for, - like those super accurate and perfect things. - You know these air, - You know, - when you're doing things by hand, - you know, - there's there's ah, - there's some wiggle room there Not too much, - but a little bit just a little bit. - Here are all of the hurricanes there really crazy looking and, - um, - one actually also extends off the page and too much of Africa showing too much of Spain, - Ireland in there. - So you know what? - We don't actually need all that stuff, - so But we do need to show the end of Celia, - That one that goes off into the new Mexico over there. - So next step would be to reposition the entire map so that actually you can actually see - all of the information. - And it's framed well, - and we can, - you know, - get a better feel for it. - I mean, - this could also be adjusted to, - you know, - we don't need that much of South America, - and we probably want a little bit more on top, - like Canada and just for a title, - like for the place, - a title in there and stuff. - So, - you know, - this just will probably be adjusted later on, - but again, - it's just a sketch. - So we're just trying to figure out how best to move forward at this point. - So this is my final peace of the puzzle. - For right now, - this is completing step three. - Um, - laying out your data. - So this is my These are my girls thes air. - Um, - all ranked. - The 1st 1 was Camille. - So she is bright red. - And the last one is Celia. - So I chose to go with color for now, - again as a sketch, - just to better visualize things for myself going forward, - you know, - a sketch is really for you to understand where you're going with this stuff, - and it's also for your client to or your boss or whoever. - You're doing this for, - um, - to just understand the shape of things to come. - And so this, - of course, - like the typeface could be changed the color of the map commie change or could be a - background. - It's, - I mean, - it will have background. - It will be a lot cooler when it's done. - But this is just getting started and making sure that the points are where they're supposed - to be and making sure data is correct. - And that's really all it is. - So don't worry about stylistic things yet. - Start thinking about it, - of course, - but don't fret over it just yet. - So I hope this helped you guys get started. - And if you have any questions at all, - please let me know. - Please, - like Gavin, - No, - both of us, - and we will respond as soon as possible. - We do work during the day, - so apologies if we can't get back to you within minutes of asking questions. - But we really appreciate, - um, - everyone answering each other's questions. - Two cassettes. - I mean, - we can't get to everything in an instant, - but we really appreciate everyone helping each other out. - That's really great. - And that's what skill shares all about, - which is really cool. - So I'm really excited to see what you guys do with this on and, - well, - thanks for watching. 3. Start to Finish Process with Gavin: - I'm gonna be taking you through the process of creating a map Infographic today. - I actually just had the opportunity to work with a client on a map info graphic. - And so I thought that would be the perfect one to focus on. - Um, - I'm gonna walk you guys through my entire process for creating that infographic. - So when the client first approached me, - they had a story on deep sea exploration. - They had, - ah, - a set of data showing all of the mission's over the past 11 years or so and broken down by - year and by body of water. - So they kind of wanted to show with this infographic how un explored the sea is like they - had just published an article on space exploration, - and so they wanted Teoh Compare this. - You know, - the two articles showing how we're explains based we more than we're exploring our seas. - So when I first saw this data, - obviously thought it made sense to you have a map because that would be the easiest way to - convey which sees have been explored, - the most in which have been not explored as much. - So I think, - to paint the clearest picture we want total these numbers up for each body of water. - I think it's gonna be really impactful to be able to see which specifically which bodies of - water have had the most expeditions and which have had the least in the past 11 years. - So I think the best way to effectively do that is to have a singular visualization for each - of the bodies of water, - you know. - So the Gulf of Mexico as 36 expeditions, - we would have one big circle to represent the 36 South Atlantic only two. - So a smaller circle to represent the to the important thing is to build that hierarchy. - And obviously the most important thing is to show which areas have been explored the most. - So keeping it simple, - you know, - just some simple circles for each body of water. - I think that's the most effective way to communicate. - You know clearly what we want to show, - you know. - Still, - it's it's really interesting to see the yearly breakdown, - so maybe we'll keep that in mind for later. - Maybe it's something we can sneak in a zoo, - a kind of a second layer of information, - But first, - let's get visualizing our most important set of information. - The bodies of water. - I got the map on the page and then I added the title. - You know, - one of the first steps just tryingto get started and figure out where the title should go. - Obviously with title to be really visible, - you know, - at first sight. - So that was really important. - Um, - next I'm gonna be again, - kind of like plotting out the data and and kind of trying to find that proper - representation. - We want the biggest circles to be really big and impactful, - and then the the less explored circles to still be visible at first sight. - So I believe the Gulf of Mexico has 36 total missions since 2001. - So we'll keep that will write that number down. - But that there and in the least is the South Atlantic Ocean with two. - So that's kind of our range. - Next, - You know, - we want to try to find that sizing so that we can really convey this information. - So I'm gonna create a circle here, - and I'm just gonna dio let's do 360 pixels by 160 pixels. - That's really big. - So let's size it down. - You know, - um, - when I first looked at it, - I said that they were actually a lot of circles over here, - kind of on the East Coast. - So I'm just gonna be careful not to make too big. - Maybe this one will be about that science. - Now, - I'm thinking, - you know, - cool idea. - Could be if if the more explode sport sees were like a brighter color, - you know, - was it the water is being lit up by, - you know, - the amount of missions that were taking place there. - So I'm gonna do just that yellow dollar for that next bright yellow. - Maybe we'll change that later. - But that's a good starting point. - Then on the other side, - um, - you know, - just creating that over there for right now. - Maybe Maybe that sets in. - I says small enough. - And it a lot for a nice amount of sizes in between. - So, - you know, - it's less explored, - so maybe we'll make it a darker purple. - Okay, - so the next and here is like, - a little trick. - Um, - since this is like a pretty small set of numbers and, - uh, - you know, - like we have 36 to 2 and then all of the other numbers fall between. - So here's a little trick to kind of blend. - Blend these two together to create a lot like a nice Grady anted range circles between the - two, - you know, - the smallest one and the largest one. - So I'm gonna use this trick in Illustrator. - It's called the Blend Tool, - and it's gonna create a nice even set of circles between them. - It's gonna actually blend the colors to gonna make a nice creedy in. - You want to go toe up to object, - then you want to go to blend and blend options. - And so we have 34 steps between, - But then we actually have, - you know, - two already visualized. - So we're actually gonna do 32? - Um, - it's gonna make 32 circles between these two. - So after we have these selected, - um, - gonna select them and hit command Option B. - And then that's also you know, - if you go upto object blend, - then make, - um, - so it's gonna make. - And I said of evenly sized circles between those two and then you want to expand those you - know? - So you get the while the individual ones between. - So you know I've kind of begun. - Then begin to lay out the information, - the type on top, - you know, - and you'll notice that I'm gonna switch up the colors. - Um, - I think these colors are a little nicer, - and they kind of provided nicer ingredient. - You know, - it gets gets darker as you go down. - Um, - we've got all the numbers on there. - You can still see that tube, - and the 36 really stands out. - So I'm actually only gonna add couple of the titles of the bodies of water. - You know, - geographically speaking, - it's pretty obvious, - you know, - these will be positioned in their location, - so we probably don't need the title for each one. - It's the next you'll see. - I've switched up the colors a little bit. - I'm thinking maybe to, - you know, - we've got the really bright color lighting up the ocean are the bodies of water for the - bigger points, - the darker ones for the lesser point, - you know, - the smaller points. - So I'm thinking maybe it will do a dark sea so can really light up the area. - I've added the title. - I've actually stylized it a little bit. - You'll see some waves in there it's kind of convey a little message. - Next, - we're gonna start plotting out the circles. - We've already had them all, - So let's just put him in their locations and kind of see how they look. - It looks like they're all you know. - It's not too cluttered. - It's really communicating a clear message over here. - There's a nice, - very instance izing. - You know, - we can really We can still see the smallest one. - The biggest one really stands out, - so it looks good, - you know? - And it looks like we might still have enough room for the yearly breakdowns if we want to - use those and it could be a nice added layer of of information. - But next, - you know, - I'm thinking that, - like, - there's a lot of empty space over here. - The client had actually provided me with some other information to include in here like the - total number of explorations, - which gives the map a little bit of context, - cause you might not know what these numbers mean. - So I'm just gonna quickly police that data in there. - So there's been 100 82 total expeditions since 2001 so that, - you know, - gives all these numbers context. - Next. - You know, - I'm thinking the circles aren't very fun, - you know, - they're not very visual. - They don't give a whole lot of evidence. - Is that what this is all about? - You know, - aside from reading the title, - so maybe there is some opportunity for illustration. - There might be some opportunity for illustration. - The client had actually provided me with some other bits of information, - um, - to give me some specific missions. - And I thought it might be cool to place a little illustration in the exact spot of those - missions. - So I'm gonna make some little boats and place them up there, - place them in their spots. - So there were five, - and that kind of fills in some empty areas, - and, - you know, - there's a nice visual weaken. - Men begin to see, - you know, - a little bit more. - I created this little rope going down into the water to signify maybe there is something - going on down there, - um, - that I'm gonna place in that information, - you know, - uh, - because we don't know what those boats mean without without the text. - So the boats help a little bit, - but I'm thinking, - you know, - there's still some empty space on the right, - and we don't really get that true deep under the water feeling. - So the client had actually provided me with a couple other data points, - just generally speaking about deep sea exploration and calling out how 95% of the ocean - remains unexplored and how the deepest point is in the ocean is 35,840 feet. - So I thought it might be nice to have this scale. - You know, - it kind of gives evidence that we're going down under the water and we can call out kind of - these specific a little pieces of data. - So now we still have the yearly breakdown data that we, - I think should include. - You know, - it's nice. - It's gonna be a nice added level of information, - and I think it's it's pretty important, - Um, - and, - you know, - I think it would be a nice, - that nice added layer that makes you want to look closer at the infographic to really see - you know which places have been explored more on. - You know what time or when they were being explored more. - Um, - so I'm gonna go ahead and include that and this. - You know, - this is kind of like a a difficult part because you have to find the room for it, - and you have to find the the method. - You know, - representing the data now had already used, - like, - a black line with black text. - So obviously I want a different, - you know, - sort of a different visual language for for this yearly breakdown information. - So I'm gonna use white text. - Why take stands out a little bit more to you than the black, - and you're gonna keep the circles going and, - um, - maintaining the same color. - So, - you know, - the gulf is still yellow yellow circles, - and we can kind of clearly see what years. - Um, - we've got admissions. - Um, - so it's pretty full left now, - and I think we're in pretty good shape to kind of take this to the very finish. - So I'm gonna go ahead and add in these waves. - Just give it a little bit more of, - like a water feeling and, - you know, - to kind of fill in the space a little bit more next. - I just want to go ahead and a little bit of shading, - you know, - like the bottom corner over here was a little bit empty and the upper right corner was, - you know, - it's a very there's been no explosion going on over there. - So we're just gonna dark in those areas up, - continuing the theme of like areas that export more are brighter, - less starker. - Then give credit. - You know, - where is your source? - Where is the information coming from? - And usually you give yourself credit. - I think that's important, - but in this case, - it was fair client. - And don't always get that luxury. - Um, - just add a little bit of texture and you don't have to, - but I like to you and that's it. - That's pretty much the whole infographic from start to finish. - Next, - I want to kind of give a little demo on how toe accurately proportion your data When you - win, - visualizing it. - Sometimes you'll get some crazy numbers like you're the like. - You'll have to visualize $400 million compared to 100 million compared to 225 minutes. - And you might think, - well, - you know it makes sense, - you know, - 100 million. - Why not represent that with 100 pixels? - 3 to 25 million stranger, - 25 pixels, - you know, - using the scaling trick and the truth is, - is that that's not really that accurate. - Like if we have $100 million represented in that circle and we want to see you know, - if really 44 of these is represented accurately in 400 million, - that's that's not really true. - You know, - we could probably 8 to 10 of these $100 million circles inside that large 400 million. - I mean, - it's it's nice and impactful. - You can clearly see that there are. - You know, - there's a dramatic difference between the numbers, - but it's not accurate. - And we want accuracy. - Um, - so the correct formula to find out these numbers is first of all, - to find out how much bigger that you know, - bigger circle is. - The bigger number is the smaller one. - So in this case for 100 million is four times bigger than 100 million, - and we want to increase the length of the graphic of the $100 million circle by the square - root of X, - which is exes work because it's four times larger, - so the square root of four is too. - Therefore, - we want to increase the size of this graphic times two, - which makes it 200 pixels. - And realistically, - you know, - we probably could fit four of these circles in there. - You know, - um, - there's a little bit of space there, - so it's actually pretty accurate. - And then for this other one, - we have 25 million, - which is three, - three and 1/4 times larger. - This greater that IHS 1.8028 So, - in the end, - it should look like this as opposed to the other way. - You know, - this is a way more accurate representation, - and you can kind of see, - So that's 200 pixels. - And that's 180 pixels, - which is, - you know, - we increase the length of this one by 1.8 times, - so that's kind of just a little demo. - You know, - if you're using circles to represent your data, - you want to make sure you do it in the most accurate way. - And so you always use this formula when doing that. - All right, - Thanks, - guys. - And let us know if you have any questions. - Were really looking forward to see how your project will turn out