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Part2-DesignVariations.md

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PART 2: DESIGN VARIATIONS

TLDR

CLEAN UP YOUR DATA (IF NECESSARY)

Data is rarely in the exact format we need and often contains gaps or othe problems. We'll look at ways of manipulating and working with your data throughout the semester, but for now just clean it up so that it can be used. You can use Excel for this and the commands will mostly be the same, but for our demos we're using Google Sheets.

Some things to consider:

  • Add headers in the first row to label the data
  • Remove columns of data that don't apply to your visualization
  • Convert data from one unit to another (ºC to ºF, percent, etc)
  • Merge your dataset with another
  • Cut entries that you don't want to include (ex: date ranges that aren't important to the story you want to tell) or that are missing key data

But most important: save a copy! You always want to preserve your original data. If I'm going to make changes to a dataset, I like to duplicate my file first, that way I don't accidentally overwrite something important (ask me how I know).

ROUGH VISUALIZATION IN SHEETS

The visualizations Sheets makes aren't amazing, but they are super fast and that makes them perfect for prototyping. Use this as a chance to explore the data, extending our work in class. What parts of the data are most interesting? What data should be assigned to which axes in your chart?

The results will definitely not be finished, but the goal here is a good starting point to work from in Illustrator. Once you have something you're happy, export the chart as an pdf format and open it in Illustrator.

CREATE 2–3 VARIATIONS IN ILLUSTRATOR

In Illustrator, place the PDF file and start playing with it. To access all it's parts, you may need to:

  • Ungroup (right-click → ungroup...)
  • Release clipping mask (also right-click)

You might need to do these steps several times in order to fully release all objects in the chart.

The goal here it to explore color, formatting, typography, labels... all the things that come together to tell a story through your data. If you've used Illustrator before, try pushing what you can come up with; if you haven't use this as a chance to learn about the selection tools and changing an object's style.

When you find something you like, duplicate everything and work on two more variations in the same file. This kind of exploration is really helpful to try things out and get useful feedback.

Either take screenshots of your variations or export them as PNG or JPG, then upload them to Canvas (please don't upload the Illustrator file). No need to turn in anything else.

HAVING TROUBLE?

Data visualization can be confusing and frustrating at times, even if you've been doing this a long time! A few resources to look at:

  • Peer tutoring via VA&T Discord (email me for the invite link)
  • Email me for help or come to student hours (day/times on Canvas)
  • Google search is such a key tool for this kind of work! Getting good at search terms and finding answers is invaluable
  • Join up IRL or on Zoom to work together! Even if you're doing different assignments, the creative energy of multiple people in the same room is real