Presentation

It seemed to have been rather taxing before the presentation, due to the fact that our group was far from being fully prepared. Luckily, we managed to pull through. Initially, I wanted to create a more creative form of infographics, but it just seem like I don't have enough resources and time. I guess we will have to settle with the current layout. This is the rush hour.

Our current progress: finished the infographic and finishing the report
Hope to finish it by tonight and submit tomorrow!

Class Exercise (Yahoo)

Cool session with the Yahoo guy, inspired a few new ways of representing data. Data set was also interesting. Class exercise was well received and constructive feedback were given by him. I think for him, choosing the interesting and relevant question is very important, he never failed to re-emphasize each groups' focus and what information they could have obtained if they were to conduct a visualization project. Pretty slick. Each group came up with different ideas, like activities on weekends, colours, food etc. The good thing about the class exercise was that we were given an imaginative data set to work with. With no boundaries, students can ask anything and have everything to work with. Perhaps, my takeaway is that if there isn't sufficient data and openness for data visualization, creative works and discoveries won't be made. Since a visualization should tell a story, it is only necessary for the story to have content.

Class exercise

I think this is long overdue but here are my definitions of data visualization and infographics:

Data visualization: huge data, multiple data, complex graphs, open for interpretation, simple, allowance for multiple understanding, freedom of users to interpret, derived information.

Infographics: appealing, interpreted data, numbers, simple, comprehensible graphs, single interpretation but allows users to use the interpreted data in their own ways, fed information.

There is a thin line of difference between data viz and infographics, but a good informative design should incorporate both to make data more comprehensible and yet interesting.

Fat/Cholesterol Per 100g of Chicken cooked in different styles

Bar

Fat Contents Comparison by Cooking Methods

Fat Contents

A3 Infographics

A2 Draft

Based on what I did for A1, I continued the same style and designed A2.

However, this time round, i added a much stronger singaporean feel to the poster. I guess that makes my infographic unique. the pastel color seem to blend in well with each other. black background brings out the colour contrast well. The graph is not readable but if its printed at A3 size, it is possible to read it. 

A1 Is finally completed!

Okay, I was exploring to find my style of infographics during the past few weeks. So i did quite some experiment.

In the end, I did 2 graphics for the same data. I kind of liked the second one more. My A2 is based on the same layout or so. clean and clear. 

A1 Draft

Took me some time to do this data compilation, kinda wasted a lot of time on what should be what. No idea what was required of the project as well, but this was what was made. Simple colour combination letting users interpret the data on their own, assisting and emphasizing using bold fonts. Not sure if I should explain more or simply leave it be. I don't think I should treat the reader as a dumby. 

CHOO EE HWEE'S Comment: 

Your infographic is pretty attractive but I feel that maybe a few changes would make the data clearer. I have noticed that you bolded certain percentages in the first half on the infographic, is there any reason for it? And I think the bolded percentages would be more obvious if they were of a larger font size?
 
As for the graph in the second half, I think a smaller scale with increments of 2 would make the data clearer. As of now I can’t really see the lines from 0-5.


Yup, have to agree with her, would probably upsize the font if it doesn't affect the aesthetics. It is to emphasize which country contributed most to which category. As for the graph, yup definitely. I will try to increase it as much as possible. However the main purpose isn't for them to read the data but just seeing how the contributions from USA increased so much over time. Maybe I should write some stuffs nearby to make it obvious. I think I should explain some parts of the graph as well. 

Exercise 1

Analyze Singapore General Elections 2011 tracker (http://ge.swarm.is/)

This tracker allowed users to:

1) See which issues rose in popularity during the election
2) What are the concerns of Singaporeans
3) When did the issues picked up pace in popularity
4) How fast did the news spread
5) How quickly the news died
6) Agenda settings by the media

However, it was useful to a certain extent since it only seeks out keywords. Yes, we do know that PAP is the most talked about issue in Singapore during the election however, how much of these contents are in favor of PAP or against PAP were not shown.

NM3228 - NM3229

This blog has officially changed to the learning blog for NM3229 Data Visualization for this semester! Yeaaahh

Final Project

Project is finally about 99% done. All that is left is some minor editing!
It's been a really tiring journey but it has been a wonderful and enjoyable experience for me. I'm really lucky to get two great teammates for this final project. Hahahaha. We had lots of fun talking cock. Despite that, we accomplished our "seemingly too ambitious" project albeit not perfection. There are definitely things that we can improve on. Our artwork. Storyline. Grammar. Programming. Effects. I'm pretty sure if we were given more time to work on these, we might just be closer to perfection.

Class exercise

Basically, we tried doing up a webpage for us to place our drawings.  It was relatively easy, thanks to dreamweaver's newly added function. However there were still problems like alignment etc.

We also tried using "anchor link" for our final project. It was confusing at the start but I sort of got it at the end. Looking forward to final project :)

A3 Critique

I was the last for critique this time round. I personally felt that it was really cheesy. So this time round i will make it into a more dramatic comic! Look forward to it :)

Overall comments:

Cut the last part with the umbrella thingy -> Less cheesy and ambiguity?

End at the pouring down scene -> dramatic, ambiguity?

Confusing -> i will try to simplify

Flow: Okay

Panels lineup: Reasonable

Thought processes and considerations for Assignment 2

I took a leap of faith, jumping into a comic which I have not showed the class for critique. instead of all the long comics that the class have drawn, I decided to draw a series of short comics instead. 

So, I took awhile, thought about the contemporary issues that is happening in Singapore. All the stuffs about flash floods, fogs, hot weather, overpopulation, I came out with my own response to these problems. I don't think "deep" comics are my style of drawing, I prefer these short and sweet, slapstick comics. Since, I am no deep thinker by all means. 

The comic style I am heading towards is slapstick comedy, with slight injection of irony, which I used to provoke thoughts among readers. These exaggerated actions, thoughts, behaviors and activities exceeds the boundaries of common sense. For example, swimming or surfboarding in the flood, or peeping using the fog as disguise, that is just unthinkable. However, my point is that, I emphasize, injecting a humor into our daily problems, hoping that people will just joke about the problems we all faces, NOT forgeting the problems, but just looking past the problems so we won't feel sad all the time. 

I used a lot of Singlish in the comic as I think that it is what makes a reader familiar with the comic. Since the context is Singapore, how can a comic without a slight injection of Singlish be a comic about Singapore? It is, I guess not very suitable for global scenes but it also raises the question of whether Singlish is indeed, a form of Singapore identity. 

I used HDBs in all the second panels because I feel that HDBs are one of the Singaporean identity, which makes us stand out from other countries. All these blocks houses more than 70% of the Singaporean population. It is also the group who will be affected most by whatever problems which Singapore faces, be it, over population, economy crisis, job unemployment, income inequality etc. They are in fact, probably the most unhappy group in Singapore. (assuming the riches aren't really sad about being rich)

A2

A proper breakdown of my comic: 

Title: I prefer looking at things from the other perspective. Especially when life gives you shit, you just got to see how great that piece of shit is. That is the reason why I drew this comic. I named this comics, Looking at the bright side of Singapore. That is to say I admit, yes, we have all the problems, but there is definitely something good about these problems that we have failed to see.

So loving it: Addressing the issue of flash floods. Irony injected through phrases like, "floods rock" "no wonder the government does nothing to fix it" "hope it floods everyday". It is simple to understand because, we don't want it to flood every single day, in fact, don't flood at all please. But I guess it is an unique experience for people who haven't seen a flood before, cause you kind of can do a lot of fun stuffs. For example surfboarding (exaggerated), but you can actually swim or splash water at friends or even fold paper boats and let it float on the water. I guess Singaporean kids nowadays have lost their childhood and care more about their ipads and phones etc. Oh, and probably because of all these devices, we can't even surprise a person by pouring water at him. (yeah, because the phone will get wet and spoil)

Benefits for everybody: Addressing the issues of fog. Slapstick humor with a bit of sexual and idiocy in the comic.  Modified the characters in 1,3 & 4 panel with masks. They actually think they can hide themselves in the fog and enter the female toilet without being able to see yet be able to see naked girls. That is dumb hahahaha. Why I named it benefits for everybody: because isn't it great to be able to hide your presence?

The hotter, the better: Addressing singaporeans always complain about the hot weather. Slapstick humor with a bit of sexuality and idiocy. Girls are challenging the limits everyday, wearing shorter and shorter skirts or shorts as each day passes. I am no moral police but sometimes, isn't it better to not expose so much skin. I drew this to raise awareness that "GIRLS, GUYS ARE WATCHING WHAT YOU WEAR.", unless you really want to show, then so be it. One can look hot without exposing. 

Heart-warming Singapore: Addressing overpopulation and foreign "imports", Irony injected in "Heart-Warming" and cosier place. The word play was intended, with more people, we will feel more warmth (body warmth since we are living in such close proximity). 

End: I did want to address the issue of happiness in Singapore, like my failed comic attempt at the critique session. Why did I say its complicated? Because you can see, there is no clear cut answer to that question. Life isn't as simple as - you give me an apple and I'm happy. Instead it goes like - you give me an apple but stole my pear and grapes, so am I happy? It is complicated. But the answer is within how one sees the world. The blue character suffers from a dilemma because on one hand, living in Singapore has its perks and on the other, it has its woes. SO i named my comic, looking on the bright side of Singapore. 

A2 Critique session

One of the main critique that I got from the session was that the issue I wanted to address, I wasn't able to fully answer it properly. Singaporean's unhappiness can come from anywhere and it is subjective thus it is very complicated. I thought very hard, and tried very hard to figure out what exactly does it mean to be happy for me, and for other Singaporeans, but I realized it is quite extreme to portray it in a short comic.

Ms Chiang suggested that I show a broader sense of knowledge by drawing how Singaporeans want more and more and is never satisfied, and how, even when they reached the paramount of "success", what is next? The issue of being happy touches on too many difficult issues which I myself, isn't clear of what it means to be happy. I originally thought happiness is to be able to find someone we care for but it isn't so simple. There is so many factors and life is so difficult, finding our true love is not necessarily going to make us happy. That perhaps, explain the high divorce rate. Perhaps the comic will be more suited if the main character was an old grandpa, who lived most of his life, went through thick and thin with his spouse, I think that would make a more convincing comic. However, one of the main takeaway from the critique session which I felt was most important is, I am not suited to draw such deep topics. I guess I lost myself while trying to impress people with my "knowledge".  My field isn't at drawing such deep comics (inspired by Some people), I guess I should stick with slapstick humor, which I'm more comfortable with.

Thus I started to redraw the entire comic.