Phoebe – Project – Draft 1

My topic is Bone Regeneration, in this piece of visual explanation informational design I am explaining the scientific process of bone regrowth and regeneration after a break. I wanted the entry point of the piece to be the title (level 1), followed by a subtitle (level 2) in a smaller size and muted color, but the same font to suggest their connectedness. The title I chose to be short and sweet, but still make it clear what the visual will be explaining. The subtitle clarifies the use of the word ‘Regeneration’ in this context, which I thought would be helpful and informative for the reader as well as give them a better basis on which to put the coming information in the piece. I then give a lead-in to the steps by saying that these events cover a simple break that needs no intervention. The attention then moves through the four stages in which I outline the scientific process of bone healing. The number (level 3), the written information (level 4), and the graphic explanation (level 5) help to create a surface-level understanding of the process quite quickly. The written explanations and diagram labels are in a simpler, San-serif font than the Title and Subtitle. I wanted to make sure that the design did not detract from the information, but that it supported it as well. I believe that all of the included graphics are helpful for understanding and not at all simply decorative. It is important that they aid the learning process, and these graphics are crucial for that in my piece. The diagrams change for each step to illustrate what is going on, and only key things referenced in the text are labeled in the accompanying diagram as not to confuse the reader by presenting new information. When deciding how to phrase the written information, I was consolidating a great deal of complicated medical jargon into one or two simple and clear sentences per step. I avoided the specific medical terms as much as possible and instead used descriptions of what they were to avoid extraneous explanation. I think this gives a better deep understanding of what is going on, as scientific terms can confuse an unfamiliar reader and even ostracize them. My color scheme was the coral red and blue that is also shown in the veins in the diagram. I attempted to keep the coloring relatively neutral to direct focus to the diagrams. The grid of my piece is quite large as I have stuck to a standard format of diagram and text with each step. I started, actually, by placing a grid on the paper before I began and working within that to ensure that alignment was achieved throughout the piece once the grid was removed.

I think in this piece what works is that the graphic elements are an aid and not an extra element in combination with the written sections, and that I strove for simplicity in trying to explain a complex scientific process. By distilling the information down as much as possible and substituting scientific words with brief explanations, I think I made an effective piece for understanding. 

One Reply to “”

  1. Structure:
    I really like your design! I think the overall structure is easy to look at and clear; I wasn’t overwhelmed in any way when I looked at it, which is great. I think white space is used in a balanced way, again because each section has enough room to breathe. I would maybe just add a tiny bit more margin space between the main title and the subtitle/intro paragraph (because the g is so close). I will say though, because of what I just mentioned, it did have a first appearance of seeming a bit sparse at first glance.

    Structurally, because the graphic for step four is made larger than all the others, it suggests that it’s most important. However after reading it I don’t sense anything particularly significant about the last step. Was this on purpose? If you weren’t trying to emphasize importance, it might be worth re-thinking the size. Also just a preference I think, but for some reason the stretched paragraphs of text don’t seem as visually appealing to me, as in the introductory paragraph and that last step 4. Maybe if you restructure you can find a way to keep each step consistent in the way of making their little paragraphs generally similar in length and width like the first three? Up to you!

    Here the sectioning isn’t by topic but rather each step is a “section”, which is made clear by the numbering and healthy margins between each step. I see each level that you explained; title, introduction information, numbers, explanatory information, and graphics. By the way the graphics look great! I appreciate the tiny labels to help distinguish the different parts of the bone.

    Content:
    The title is not necessarily attention grabbing, but it is straightforward and to the point. I know right off the bat that the topic is bone regeneration and that you will be showing me each step involved. The information below the title is helpful to contextualize the topic and define regeneration. It might be helpful though to use more subtitles, as in adding a title to each step to make the breakdown of the process even more clear. An example for step one would be “Blood Clot Forms”. I appreciate that you truly did simplify the explanations and tried to limit medical jargon– I think it really is easy to understand! But for the few terms that are in there, a possibility could be to rearrange some things and add a section of the design where you define some terms, like “osteoblast cells” and “lamellar bone”. This would also help with what I mentioned earlier about the overall look not being very robust.

    Design:
    Design decisions are consistent throughout! There isn’t much going on which keeps it simple; you have your serif font for the title and introductory paragraph and then the sans serif for the explanations consistently. I agree that using the red color for the titles and number that matches the blood vessels works well and isn’t distracting at all. It helps to create a cohesive look. Since everything overall looks good, here is just a nit-picky thought: it looks like the numbers are not quite centered in the red bubbles, so that can probably be fixed easily.

    Overall this is great and I look forward to seeing the final product!

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