Group Final Project

For our final project we were asked to design a complex visualization that displays what we have learned this semester in order to explain it to someone who has not taken this class. At first we were not sure what we were going to do because there were so many possibilities. Then one of us had an idea to make a children’s book that incorporated material from the class into a simple narrative. We based the book off of a book that was popular with young girls when we were younger because of the way the author chose to dual-code the images with the text so that they work together to tell the story. We followed the same basic storyline the author used and factored in vocabulary words from the glossary by throwing in extra details and elaborating on parts of the story. We also tried to factor in as many of the projects we did in class, such as mind maps etc. where we could fit them in. Creating the actual book and meticulously hand writing every word and hand drawing a lot of the images was easily the hardest and most time consuming part of this project and took a little bit longer than expected. Creating the narrative was a bit easier because we could just type it up and we just had to follow along with the book but it was also quite time consuming as well.

                Overall this project was a great learning experience; a true crowning piece to recap everything we have learned in class this semester.  I think doing this project was more helpful than taking a final would have been because of the hands on learning experience it required for us to utilize the knowledge we gained throughout the class. Working in a group allowed us to combine our knowledge and build of each other’s ideas to form a unified and complete understanding of the course material.

               

Personal Reflection:  When doing this project I thought that we came up with a good idea.  As you can see we decided to create a book.  Within the book we had our character,  or our main audience, a 6th grade girl.  We figured this would be a good age audience bec as we get older as people it is important to understand other and it is also important to understand how we should communicate with others as well.  We also figured that the sixth grade audience is a very curious one because they are at the age where they are learning how to become young adults, and obviously probably question mostly everything around them.  So for the project it was fun to create a character and have her go through her everyday life in a journal where she could express what she did that day/week while using terms from Comm 165.  Some of the terms were also very easy ones for a younger student to understand so it made it easy to incorporate them within the story that was being told each day.  All in all, I really liked how our project came out and I think that it is very creative in the sense that we had to be able to include most of what we learned this semester.  The group did a great job working together!

Multivariate Display

Prices of Large Pizzas at Local Pizzerias
	Cheese	pepperoni	2-Topping
Wood St. Pizza	$11.50	$13.00	$14.50
Pizza Wave	$8.99	$10.59	$11.59
Classic Pizza	$11.00	$12.55	$14.10

For my multivariate display I thought that it would be a good idea to compare the prices of local pizzerias.  Pizza is a very popular college staple, especially on the weekends.  I figured I would show where broke college students can get the best bang for their buck, without having to order from nasty food chains such as Dominos.  For my pizza selection I chose to do the common pizza types that students usually order; chesse, pepperoni, and 2-topping.  For the local pizzerias I chose Wood Street Pizza, Pizza Wave and Classic Pizza, all within a four mile radius of campus and SO much better than Dominos!  After looking up the data of the differently priced pizzas, it was obvious which pizza parlor was the cheapest, Pizza Wave.  Pizza Wave not only has the cheapest pizza but also the largest menu of the three pizzerias.  So if you're a college student with under ten bucks in your pocket and could go for a large cheese pizza, I'd say hit up Pizza Wave and decide on the taste quality for yourself.  If you don't like Pizza Wave's options, you definately have many more cheap pizzerias in Bristol, RI to choose from; but I'd say to try the next cheapest, Classic Pizza, who also have plenty of different options on their menu as well, including calzones, subs, and salads, YUM!

second storyboard

For my second storyboard, the third and fifth pictures are represented.  I tried to create a storyline that was a little more ambiguous.  Although I used less boxes to create the storyline, it doesn't have as much detail as the soccer game.  There are more words I added in this storyline the easier it was to understand, whereas in the other storyline, the less words, the easier it was to understand because the storyboard was not as ambiguous. 

In this storyboard I tried to show a somewhat creative story about how Apple was created and incorporated it with the little girl by telling a story of how her mother uses apples to make pie; not music and advance technology.  It is definately McClouds version of a scene to scene storyboard because the story is so ambiguous and there isn't a lot of room to show what happens in the slides between. 

I think I had more fun trying to create a story out of two totally different pictures, it made me think of a more creative plot.

storyboard

For this storyboard I decided to chose the picture of the boys dressed in what appears to be soccer uniforms.  I thought that this was a very relatable picture to form a story around, especially because I played soccer for most of my life.  I also thought that there were many possibilities of story lines.  When I first started my storyboard I wasn't really sure what I was going to have the story be about.  First looking at the picture with the four boys, it looks like they really need to use the bathroom, so I thought that maybe I would try and base a story around that, but wasn't really sure where to go with the idea, so I chose to create a story and just weave the picture in the storyline eventually.

Eventually I created my story based on the common theme of an intense sports game and having the close tied score in the end.  In the storyline I just created the basic thoughts and concepts that tend to happen in such an intense game--the crazy fans and nervous players.  I also tried to include some actions that are often present in a soccer game; pregame line-up, referee calls, scoring, the kick-off, etc.  Based on the information just given, I would conclude that I used McClouds action to action technique of storyboarding because each box shows a different action and it really only needs one slide to show that particular action. 

In the end, after creating my second storyboard, I assumed that having only one picture would make it easier to create a story, but I don't think it was.  It definately took me more slides to explain the one picture than it did to explain two pictures. 

Tables and Graphs

Roger Williams Girls Basketball Statistics
Year	Wins	Loses	Total Games Played
2009-10	9	17	26
2008-09	7	18	25
2007-08	12	14	26
2006-07	12	14	26
2005-06	8	18	26
2004-05	15	11	26

#1 Bar Graph



#2 Column Graph

 #3 Line Graph

#4 Revised Column Graph

Roger Williams Mens Basketball Statistics
Year	Wins	Loses	Total Games Played
2009-10	12	13	25
2008-09	12	14	26
2007-08	17	11	28
2006-07	15	11	26
2005-06	12	14	26
2004-05	15	12	27

#1 Column Graph

#2 Column Graph Revised

#3 Line Graph

Total Percent of Games Won: Men vs. Women

Year	Men	Women
2009-10	48	34.6
2008-09	46.1	28
2007-08	60.7	46.1
2006-07	57.6	46.1
2005-06	46.1	30.7
2004-05	55.5	57.6
total	52.5	40.6

Percent of Games Won Between 2004-2010

 Percent of Games Won Between 2004-2010

Total Percent Games Won Between 2004-2010

	Men	Women
Total Percent Won	52.5	40.6

For my graphs I first decided to show the stats for the Girls Basketball team at RWU.  This is shown in the graphs for the Girls.  The graphs that I did for the girls were best seen in a column graph.  After deciding the column graph was best, I thought that there was something wrong with the graph.  I decided that I did not need the total games played in the column graph because the information was useless.  Though I thought that the column graph was the lightest on the cognitive load, I thought the line graph was very interesting.  The graph appeared symmetrical and clearly showed where there were more wins, there were less losses.  I thought the colors that were used, blue and red, were also very clear for the brain to interpret.  Wins were represented as blue, and red were losses.  Red usually represents something bad, and a loss is considered bad most of the time.  I did the same graphs for the stats of the mens team. 

After I decided to graph the stats for both the men and the womens team, I decided that I wanted to compare the two. At first I made a chart to compare the data over the years.  I did the total percentage of games each the men and the women won between the years of 2004-2010.  I thought that both the column graph and the line graph were interesting ways to show the date.  I like the column graph because it clearly showed a comparison between the percentage of games won.  I thought the line graph was interesting because it shows the coorelation of the two teams during the same years.  It shows that each the men and the womens teams seemed to have a high or low amount of wins during the same years, which I found ironic.  As for the colors, I decided to continue with the red and the blue.  The blue was used to represent the men, and the red the women, typical colors of those genders.

The final chart I did represents the total percentage of games won between 2004-2010 as a whole, not showing the years.  It shows in total that the men won more games than the women during that chunk of time and concludes that the RWU men's basketball team is the better of the two teams.

If I had to choose a graph that best represents all of my data, I would probably choose the line graph that compares the men and the women.  It is a good representation because we are also able to see how well the two teams did during the same year, and the curve of how well they did or didn't do.  A line graph is also used to show a coorelation over time.

Watch Me

Toasting A Pop-Tart (Comedian-Brian Reagan)

Flowchart

Try #1, Ebay Flowchart

For my flow chart I first decided to draw the steps to buy a product on Ebay. With this particular chart I found that when I was drawing out the steps, I was making them too simple.  But logging on to a website such as Ebay is supposed to be simple and user friendly, right?  Anyways, after I decided to ditch that chart in the bag, I moved on and decided to do a flow chart on how to search for a book on Amazon.  It seemed to be a little more easier to do, and somewhat less complex with the steps, not that Ebay was really hard, just ambiguos. 

Tre\y #2, Amazon Flowchart

When drawing my new map I was sure to use the right symbols and tried to carefully choose my steps in which to order the process.  I found that the easy way to figure out the steps was to log on to the Amazon website and actually do it myself.  When I did this I wrote down the steps then proceeded to draw my flow chart.  I tried not to leave out any important steps, but I also tried not to state the overly obvious.  Though the flow chart is very long, there are many steps in ordering a book off of a webpage, especially Amazon when they give you more than one selection in many areas (the book you are searching, whether you want it new or used, if you are a member of the site, where you want things shipped and how you want them shipped, etc, etc.). 

When drawing my flow chart, I was unsure whether or not I wanted to use colors.  There are some charts that do use colors and others that do not.  In my flow chart I ended up deciding that I did not want to use colors.  I thought that it would confuse the reader more, especially because there are already enough steps for them to follow.

For my third flow chart, I decided to show how to search on Google Scholar.  This process was easier than that of the Amazon.  It could possibly have been easier to show because the way the website was set up.  The Google website seemed to have less steps and not as many options that needed many decisions.  I feel as though the Google site had many steps that were able to repeat, whereas on Amazon you find the book in typically one search and you proceed to checkout, etc, but on Google scholar you have to continuously search the products that the search retreives.  There are more repetitive steps in the process.

Visual Essay

Original

 

For my visual essay I chose to reconstruct the instructions of how to toast a pop-tart.  It took me forever to finally decide which image I was going to use to edit.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to simplify an idea or make a simple graphic more complex.  I chose to make a simple visual more complex.  With the instruction that are typically on the side of a pop-tart box, which is three or four simple steps, I turned it into a more visual, step-by-step graphic.  Instead of just showing the picture of the pop-tarts in the toaster, I showed more words and steps with more graphics of what the process should look like. 

With the old graphic I thought that it was very plain and simple and wouldn't be very easy for a child or person using the product who didn't know how to read.  When I made my new model, I used more color and representations of actual materials that one would find in their kitchen.  I also used the actual pop-tart label and pictures of pop-tarts so that a user would actually know what the pastry looked like.  The main reason I redid this particular graphic was because I wanted the graphics and the written instructions to correspond and relate.

In my first reiteration of the instructional diagram I originally drew it by hand.  Then I decided that maybe it would be better if it wasn't a cartoon because a user would more clearly recognize such materials.  It was also easier to incorporate the actual colors used in the products.

How to make spaghetti!

 

 For this assignment we were asked to draw or show how to make spaghetti without using words.  This task was very similar to that of the lawn care assignment.  When drawing out the process we had to make sure that there were no words used and that anyone would be able to understand the meaning of an action or a picture.  I found that it was easiest to write out the steps needed to make spaghetti.  Although the process of boiling water and using specific pans may seem easy to say or depict, there were also a bunch of little ideas that a person may need to understand.  I found that it was not as easy as I intended for it to be. 

In my pictures, I first started off by showing a table setting and the time of day in which spaghetti may be made, at 6pm, prime dinner time.  Though it was not specifically stated that spaghetti can only be made at 6 o'clock, it was just a suggestion. 

In the next few boxes I decided to separate the supplies needed.  I did this by using a box for food and a box for materials, such as pots, pans, and spoons.  I also showed what other appliances would be needed in the next boxes and what should be done with those appliances; such as turning on the stove and using the sink to fill the pot with water.

After I tried to show the process of boiling water, and continued to show what the boiling process looked like so one would know that boiling water consists of bubbling water.   Then I proceeded to show the specific brand of spaghetti common to most, Barilla, being poured into the pot.  I decided to show a timer to show the amount of time that it typically takes for a pot of spaghetti to cook.  I tried to show when the timer went off by using the common idea of music notes and the bright stars and jagged lines to show that something was happening in the picture--the idea that a loud noise was being made to alert someone.

When drawing my diagram I found that I used alot of the same concepts; the alarm, showing things being put places, and arrows for movement of objects.  It was all very simple and similar because when making something I found that one tends to use similar repetative movements.

I am unsure though if my diagrams split up into different pictures is more or less confusing ( I really just couldn't fit the whole process on one sheet of paper and found it easier to divide each into sections for the drawings of steps.)  I also do not know if it would have been easier for someone to understand if I were to have used arrows showing which direction the steps went in or not.

Lawn Care Decision Tree

For this assignment we were asked to make a map for a specific lawn care product.  When making the map we were not able to use words besides for the final outcome.  The map is supposed to be for an illiterate person who does not speak English. 

When starting to draw my map I had to think of concepts that would represent the ideas I was trying to present.  For the beginning of my map I drew a "happy lawn," with a smiley flower and green grass, hoping the reader would interpret the lawn as being in good shape and healthy. 

To represent the "yes" and the "no" I decided that I would use green and red, though I realize now that if I were to use those colors in a different culture it may not be such a good idea because different colors in different cultures have alternate meanings.  But in this case, the green means good; like a traffic light, and red for bad; also like a stop sign and traffic light.  Green usually also means something is good and healthy when thinking about plants and gardens.  Whereas red usually has a negative conotation; markings on a test, a stop sign, red light, etc.

When trying to represent the temperature, I drew a thermometer with a high temperature on it.  I thought that this would be a good idea because in order for someone to know what the temperature is outside they would need to look at a thermometer, and they would see the same thing that I drew on my map.  I also drew a sun to indicate that it would probably be hot if the sun was out, though this is not always the case. 

To show whether the grass was wet, or dry, I used a cloud with rain drops.  Now looking back at my map, I wish I had did it differently because the rain cloud doesn't really show if the grass itself is wet, but rather the weather.  If I was to do the "wet" differently I would probably have done the grass with dew on it.  I feel that this would have been a better representation because typically when the grass is wet, it just has dew drops on it, or its muddy. 

As for the bugs and insects infesting the grass I just drew an ant, it could probably also be seen as many other commons bugs with six legs.  I don't really see how I would have done this differently, unless I added a few more bugs, rather than just one to show that there are many bugs in the lawn because one may be a misinterpretation.

In Class Collage

Geographical Map

For the map of choice I first tried to start to do a concept map, and it was very hard for me to focus on words that all related to eachother, so I decided to try and do a different kind of geographical map.  I did my map of Bristol.  When I was drawing my map of Bristol I tried to get the basic shape of the town and the peninsula.  The reason I did it that way was because I felt as though the shape of Bristol is very important.  There are many different places where there is water and different little coves that really make up the town in itself. 

     I also came to find that what I drew had a lot to do with all of the different running routes that I did for cross country and track here at school.  I realized that all of these landmarks I ended up drawing where things that I would see on my run or even driving around town.  They are landmarks to the town that many people are able to recognize easily.
     When I was drawing my map it was easy for me to see where the different places, like Dunkin Donuts, Jacky's and Colt State Park were, but it was hard for me to place them correctly on the map where they actually are.  I still feel as though the map is a little off, though I did look it up on Google Maps.  I think it may have been easier if I just included the landmarks rather than the street names, though if I did that it may have messed up the routes on which I run because there would not really be a trail.
     I also think that I decided to draw a map because I took off cross country this season due to an injury and whenever I go driving down these roads I see myself running down them or remember running them last season.  Not running cross country this season has also had a huge impact on my life, I do not feel like I am the same person, and I really miss being a part of the team and having something to motivate me.
     In conclusion, maybe this map really did have more of an impact on me then I thought it would have.  I guess I drew it for a reason, and that was because I miss running.  Bristol is also what I would consider to by me new home, where as last year it was just a place where I went to school.  Bristol is a part of me and so are the destinations I chose to draw on my map.



Mind map #2

MAP 2

     For my second map I decided to branch off on the idea of food.  I am not sure why I chose this idea, maybe because I am constantly thinking about what I am going to eat next and I thought that it would be an easy thing to keep talking about, especially because there are so many different foods.  When I started to draw this map, the first thing that came to my mind was a hamburger, so I drew that around my central idea.  Then after I drew that everything that was in a hamburger/cheeseburger just seemed to branch off of it after that.  And once I started thinking of the little things that are in a hamburger, like tomatoes, I started thinking of things that tomatoes were in; ie: pizza.  Then there were other concepts that I used, like cheese, where I thought of all the different kinds of cheese and in the end started to talk about America.  Talk about random.
     The only reasoning for "applying what I know" would be all of the foods that I  know are in a hamburger and what other foods are made from the foods within, and this would more or less be because of what I eat or like to eat. But there is an exception, the word "pickles."  When I saw this word for some reason it made me think of the television show "Rugrats" from when I was little; Pickles was the family's last name.
     Again, I can say that I learned there are many different ideas, words, concepts that you can associate with other words, ideas, concepts without really even knowing.
     

Mind Map #1

For my first mind map my central idea was "love."  I found it very easy to write down most of the things that I love, seeing as "love" is such a broad topic.   A few things that came to mind when scribbling down words for the twenty minutes were things that I do or think about on a daily basis.  For example, "family" and "exercise."  I talk to my parents usually everyday and are always seeing things around me that remind me of them, and exercise came to mind because I am constantly moving.  I love going to the gym, working out and feeling good, so why not put that on a map of  "love." 
     I found that as I branched out from each of the categories I started to think differently.  I found that the things I was thinking about got more random or even more specific. But if they didn't get more specific I could see myself branching off and talking about even more things, so I had to stop myself before I started to create another mind map of its own.
     I applied what I knew because I used common words and ideas that I do or think about everyday, as I said before.  Some things though, like when I started to talk about drawing and branching off on the subjects of color, they were more ideas that related to things that just came to mind when thinking of that specific color--nothing that I loved or really seemed to think about everyday--just maybe things I would see everyday.
     After doing my first mind map I realized of all the different ways I think or come to think (if that makes sense).  I also noticed all of the "things" that you can categorize with other "things" and how they can either have a close relation or none at all.