Layout

This infographic is about yoga facts, I am doing 2 things: 1) introduction of yoga. 2) showing stats on the growing yoga practice in the US. With these, I am hoping to help more Americans to learn about yoga and become interested in trying out yoga as a healthy exercise.

In the first display, I first attracts viewers attention with the images of common yoga poses in the middle. Then from the left-most column to the right-most column, as viewers read from top to bottom within each section, people will learn about the meaning of yoga, the age and regional distribution of yoga practitioners and the history of yoga.

The second display also uses a 3 column layout and is telling the same story, the difference is that the middle section is replaced with 3 main facts about yoga that may get viewers to become more interested in yoga.

All section works together to educate people about the knowledge and benefit about yoga, and each of them can be viewed individually for quick glance as well.

I stick to 3 columns layout as my layout model for formatting my infographic. I put my title section in the top left corner in the page to follow the model. For both versions, I kept 3 main sections in the left column and 2 big sections in the right column. For the middle portion, I used subsections to occupy the entire area to emulate the hand in my layout model.

Critique

Christine

I see this infographic teaches me about yoga. I see this display is about the overview of yoga and its popularity in US. There's information about the age, regional distribution about yoga and I also see a detailed timeline on the history of yoga. This is very informational!

I like the second version better, the map fits nicely in the small region and I can still easily to tell since it has large color chunks. I think switching the bar chart and data to a bigger section makes it feel less crammed. I like the yoga poses in your first display, but it seems to be a lot of white space around them. I like you have more information in the second one, but I would like to see the yoga poses on the second display as well.

You are emulating the visual language model well, there's the same use of the person icons and the bar graphs with the numeric model, and you use a good amount of circles as your model.

For the color model, I can see you are using the same light yellow background with grey boarder in yours, and the use of orange and green is used in all parts in your infographic. You are able to match your layout model very well, fitting everything into 3 columns. You are emulating the bolded text for the big subheadings, and using thin light font for the smaller texts.

Response to first critique

Christine commented that my second display is more appealing as it has more information and made the whole infographic feel more tight and compact. So I kept the additional information presented in the second display and move around the sections to make the entire page more balanced. In response to Christine's comment on adding the yoga poses onto the second display but avoid the white space, I managed to put it in the middle of the page and added additional information to fill up the empty space. Adding this pose helps make the communication of my topic more transparent, but enriched the information I am able to present as well.

Wendy

I see the poses and map first since the color blocks really stands out. Then I look at the columns from left to right. I learn a lot about what yoga is, and its distribution in the US. I see the profile of yoga practitioners and see how it's beneficial to health and the general economy.

The first one feel more balanced, however, content wise, the second display feels more enriched and informational. I like the yoga poses you have on the first version, but also like how your second version has less white space int the middle part and includes more content.

I suggest you put more stuff in the bottom right section in your second version, and add one or two yoga pose to it. I think having the yoga poses on the infographic is more eye-catching, and shows me that this infographic is about yoga.

You may also want to make the title bigger so the topic stands out better.

Your infographic is good match as your layout model since it follows the three column format, and you also have three small parts in the left section, and 2 big parts that consists the right section. For the visual language model, you are emulating the flat design and used the same image for the person icon and used a lot of rounded shapes. All graphs and images have minimal design. The use of color is a good match as your color model as you're using the same background color with a boarder. You used the same bolded capitalized text for the subheadings and thin font for the smaller text and labels, which match the text model very well.

Response to second critique

Wendy pointed out the bottom right section in my second display feels a bit more empty, so I rearranged the sections and put the map in there to occupy the empty space better. I chose to shrink down the map a bit to fit into this part since viewers can still read the information clearly with the big chunk of colored area(According to Christine's critique).

Same as Christine's comment, Wendy also like to see the yoga pose added to the second version, so I added the dance pose back with minor tweaks on adding labels so the empty space is filled this time.

I decided not to enlarge the title since now with the big yoga pose in the middle of my infographic, people can tell the topic of the poster is yoga by the image itself. People don't have to reply on the title anymore, so increasing its size is unnecessary.

Emily

I see the middle part first, which tells me 3 facts about yoga, and then I read from left to right, top to bottom. I learn about the meaning and history of yoga, and the distribution and profile of yoga practitioners in the US. I see this is a popular exercise and it is good for people of all ages.

I prefer the second version, since it feels more occupied and organized with more information you put it. However, the bottom left section feels a bit empty. And I wonder if you can put the yoga poses you have in the first version to the second version as well - since the poses help with showing the topic of your infographic is about yoga.

You are using the same level of detail in your icons and graphs as your visual language model, and your are following the same orange and green in your color model throughout your infographic. You used the same bolded capitalized text for the subheadings and thin font for the smaller text and labels, which is a good match as your text model. Your infographic displays in three column layout which matches your layout model as well.

Response to third critique

Same as Wendy and Christine's comment, Emily also suggested filling up the empty space in the bottom left corner and adding the yoga pose back. I was able to achieve both through a long process of experimenting different placement of the displays and creating new ones so they fit the degenerated area on the poster perfectly. In the revised version, I have the yoga pose back to the middle, with label showing the benefits of yoga to avoid too much white space, as that's what people don't like about in my original version. Splitting the bottom right section into two parts helps filling the area and resolves the problem of not having enough displays to fit into the entire section.

Last but not least, although no one mentions this, I redesigned the icon for the yoga mat in the top part of the middle section, so that it uses fills and no outlines to better match my visual language model, where shapes all consists of color fills.

With this revised version, I am telling a story that introduce yoga and its practice in the US, in the hope of getting more viewers, especially Americans to get interested in yoga.

For the layout, I am assuming people will first be attracted by the big yoga dance pose that shows the benefits of yoga. This section is aimed to both communicate the topic of my infographic quickly and intrigue people to learn about yoga.

Then viewers can start from left to right, top to bottom to first learn about what yoga is and its popularity in US, moving to the more in-depth knowledge on the history of yoga and the specific statistical data about the age, gender and geographic.

I followed the same 3 column layout used in my layout model. I kept 3 sections in the left column with the title section in the top left corner. For the big image of hand in the middle of my layout model, I used a big icon of the yoga pose and a small section to fill up the area. Finally, for the right part of the right, I also used 2 big section on top of each other.

Critique

Branden

I see the title and what yoga is, then you go into the prevalence of yoga in the US. After that, you go in-depth about the history and demographic of the yoga practitioners. There's small typo in the second subheading "prevalence".

I'm going down the columns from left to right, top to down. The first I see is definitely the center piece. I like the centre picture and it really catches my attention, showing me the main idea of the piece at first glance.

I think the new display better - the way you go about it makes more sense, I really like the center piece and since it's a big picture, I know this is what I should be looking at instantly. This version also have a better balance of white spaces and texts. There's also a lot of same rounded icons with orange background colors, so you did a good job keeping unity in your infographic.

You are emulating the visual language model well as you kept the same use of the people icons and the bar graph. There is a good balance of color and the placement of each section. You are clearly following the 3 column layout and you also have a large image in the middle as your model. To make the center piece more prominent, you may want to consider making the yoga pose even bigger and the icons around it smaller. The text inside the the pie charts should be enlarge to it's easier to read.

Response to first critique

Branden pointed out that having a big yoga pose in the middle is really good for using something he can recognize to show communicate the topic. Following his suggestion, I made the center piece even bigger and decrease the size of the icons around it. This helps make the center piece even more prominent in the visual hierarchy and helps create a clear indication for the reading order. I also enlarge the font size for the text inside the donut charts, and make sure all text are at least 12pt so it is big enough to read.

Mady

I see yoga facts, my eyes are immediately drawn to the center piece and it's very obvious that the infographic is about yoga. Then I see the title, the introduction of yoga, and it's popularity in the US. Then I see the eras of yoga and the history. Finally, I see the profile of the American yoga practitioners and where they are from. I'm surprised to see they are so many people doing yoga in US and they're so equally coming from different age range.

I prefer the new version better. Putting back the yoga pose in the middle is very success move in emulating your layout model. You are able to match your layout model pretty well, fitting everything into 3 columns. I see you are using the same yellow background with grey boarder as your color model, and the use of orange and green is used throughout the poster.

A few small things I suggest: add what yoga practitioner means so people are less confused about the term, one of the color encodings of the map is off. Overall, I love the new one - the center image it really communicates the topic without me reading the text. Getting yoga pose in works out really well.

For layout model, I can see you're emulating the 3 columns from the layout model. And there're subsections used in your infographic that are he same as your model. You also have the big display that draws people's attention. That's the first thing I see and it matches the model very well.

I love that you are using the same orange color with white icons in the infographic. The color really work well and shows both variety and unity. If I'm being nick-picky, The margin between the title and line a slightly off.

Response to second critique

Following Mady's suggestion, I added a sentence explaining what "yoga practitioner" means in the section to avoid confusion about the data. I also fixed the problem with the color encoding in the map. Mady commented that the margins between the text and line are different, which brings up a important aspect on alignment. So I took an effort to fix all alignment for each display, and made sure all text/shapes are aligned whenever possible.

Emily&Marilyn

I see the yoga pose in the center first, then I look at the title. For the other sections I read from top to bottom, left to right. I learn things about what yoga is, its popularity in the US and how stats on the yoga practitioners.

I prefer the revised version better. The center piece really stands out and I like how this version is more balanced with the new placement of different section. You also have a better arrangement of the content and now there's less white space. The middle piece and the title are really easy to spot so the visual hierarchy is much clearer.

Your are following the visual language since the shapes have the same level of details in your model. Your used the same typeface as your text model, though you may want to use a lighter text for the body so they're lower in the visual hierarchy.

For alignment, you may want to fix some minor parts so the texts are aligned in a more consistent way.

(notes on discussion with Marilyn)

Great job putting the pose in the center, it makes the center part less crowded, which matches the layout model very well.

Visual hierarchy help show things that are most prominent, so consider making the yoga pose larger, but make the icons smaller so the center piece itself is the most prominent.

Try to make the body text lighter, that makes it very low in the visual hierarchy, so it competes less.

I think it's a good idea to add a color filled shape around your subheading, same as your color or layout model. It's OK to depart from your visual language model a bit, since the rectangular shapes will make it easy to spot the title. It doesn't grab people's attention but it's easy to spot, so it's good layering. In your visual language model, because it has a dark background color, so special fonts are used for the subheadings to help viewer easily spot the titles. Due to the light background color in your infographic, it makes sense to use shapes to make the titles differentiate from the body. Doing this actually follows the feel of your visual model language.

Consider making the map a even a bit smaller so it's less prominent in the visual hierarchy, as the 3 shades of orange have gaps in the color model.

Response to third critique

Based on Emily and Marilyn's advice, I fixed the alignment in the infographic and matched the body text so it's less prominent in the visual hierarchy. In addition, I enlarge the center piece and the title to make them the highest priority in the visual hierarchy, I also shrink the size of the icons around the center piece so they're complementary of the center piece, but not competing for attention. In addition, I followed Marilyn's suggestion to add a color filled shape for the subheadings. Although this departs from my visual language a bit (as my model only uses different fonts for subheadings), the shapes help make the subtitles more recognizable from the body. Since my text model does not have the dynamic typefaces used in my visual language model, adding the rectangular boxes around the titles is a good way to make the titles easier to spot through layering without grabbing attention.

I also decrease the size of the map so it's less prominent in the visual hierarchy, I tried including gap between the colored regions but they made the map feels more scattered and the irregular shapes of regions actually draw more attention. So I decide to depart from the bar chart in my color model a little bit and keep the 3 shades of orange right next to each other.

I am attempting to introduce yoga and its practice in the US, in the hope of getting more viewers, especially Americans to get interested in yoga. In this final version, I paid more attention to creating a clear visual hierarchy - making my center piece, title and subheadings more prominent.

For the layout, I used the big center piece of yoga pose to first attract people with a image that they can immediately recognize and make them become interested about the topic. Then users will be attracted with the title, starting from left to right, top to bottom to first learn about what yoga is and its popularity in US, moving to the more in-depth knowledge on the history of yoga and the specific statistical data about the age, gender and geographic.

To emulate my layout model, I also used a 3-column layout and include a prominent center piece related to my topic. I put my title in the top left corner as my model, and managed to fit all displays into the same area size as my model.