Information Design: Project 1

21/2/2023 

ALTAIFI, LEEN MAAN A (0367698)

Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media, Taylor's University

Information Design

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Table of Content

1. Instructions & Tasks

2. Reflections

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1. Instructions & Tasks

Project 1: Instructable Infographics Poster

An infographic poster for ONE recipe selected from Pasta Grannies. Study one video, break down, and chunk the preparation and cooking process into an instructable poster. Try to capture each Grandma’s personality and unique dish identity in your poster as part of the narrative structure. Your job is to transmit a set of instructions and at the same time educate the audience. Infographics should be fun, it should simplify the context while representing information graphically. 

Theoretical (Information Design Framework) 

• Information type 
• Device 
• Principles (LATCH etc) 
• Aesthetics i.e: isometric, simplified illustrations

Requirement: You will need to reflect the following (assessment criteria): 
Practical - Adobe photo editing/illustration software

• Graphs, charts, and diagrams
• Poster size: 1240 × 1750 pixels or 2048 × 2048 pixels

Recipe: Maria's Pasta (serving enough to sell in a shop)

1. Spinach Dough: 

- 100 grams of fresh spinach, removes stock.

- 1kg of 00 flour. 

- 10 eggs 

Knead dough till it's smooth, then should rest at least 30 minutes before rolling. After rest, it should be rolled in thin sheets.

2. Pork Ragu: 

- 50g of finely diced pancetta is fried

- 1 kg of diced pork is added after

- Add olive oil so it doesn't stick

- Chop 2 cloves of garlic and 2 sage leaves

- enough beef stock to cover the meat

-100g tin of tomato paste

After adding all the ingredients, it must simmer for at least an hour.

3. Bechamel Sauce:

-1L full fat milk

-100g butter

-100g flour

- plenty of nutmeg and seasoning

The sauce is whisked throughout the whole process till it is thick enough.

After that, the pasta dough is cut into pieces same size as they trey, and cooked for 2 minutes in boiling salted water, then it is spread flat on the table to cool. 

A thin layer of ragu is spread on the trey, then a pasta sheet on top. Then more ragu, followed by spoons of bechamel sauce and parmesan cheese. This layer process is repeated until the trey is nearly full, there should be 7 layers. The layers are finished with bechamel, parmesan, and dots of butter. It then goes on to a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

References: 

I compiled references of existing lasagna recipe infographics I found from various sources such as google or pinterest that inspired many ideas for the sketches.

Fig. 1.1: Reference Compilation 1

Fig. 1.2: Reference Compilation 2

Sketches:

I sketched out 5 ideas for the same recipe but different designs and layout. I'll eventually choose one idea and finalize it, as these are just loose and rough sketches of the base of it.

Fig. 1.3: Sketches for the Poster

Fig. 1.4: Sketch idea for the Poster

Digitizing:

I chose to go with sketch idea number 2 to digitize, so I gathered all my references and started working on Illustrator. 

Fig. 1.5: Process 1 (2/24/2024)

I started by illustrating the Lasagna layer by layer using the pen tool and warp tool. 

Fig. 1.6: Process 2 (2/24/2024)

Then I illustrated the dough, ragu, and bechamel sauce as well as finalized the poster. 

Fig. 1.7: Process 3 (2/24/2024)

Final Recipe Infographic Poster: 

Fig. 1.8: Final Recipe Infographic Poster (2/24/2024)

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2. Reflections

In the process of making this infographic poster, I learned how to pay more attention to the hierarchy of information and how to organize it using L.A.T.C.H principles. 

I realized my typical workflow didn't include much brainstorming ideas or much sketches in the ideation process, so in this project, I focused more on exploring ideas and get the creative juices flowing by just sketching out roughly on paper. And to my surprise, I had a lot of ideas to sketch out.