Creative Brief
Crafted Product
Link to → Generation Activist
For a multimedia storytelling essay about protest and politics, I created charts and illustrations. I worked closely with the team at Orb Media to make these visualizations in English. I also created them in Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese. In addition, I created social media assets to draw people to the essay.
Story
Data
Goal
Orb Media is an international nonprofit journalism organization. Orb is on the leading edge of journalism by offering rich data analysis, accompanied by multimedia.
Each story at Orb can be viewed in editorial mode, for a general audience, and in a data mode for an audience of experts. I designed illustrations and graphics for the feature stories Generation Activist and Fighting Blind, and I also designed the charts for the data reports. I also created the social media 'snackables' for both projects.
I also consulted with Graphicacy on the Plastic Question story for the feature illustrations and graphics and the data reports.
Role
My roles: Art Direction & Illustration (for feature story); Data Visualization (for data story); Graphic Design (social media 'snackables'); Foreign Language Production (for all assets in Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic).
- Orb's chief data analyst, Heather Krause, is well-known in the field of journalism, and in 2016, she co-taught a MOOC course at the Knight Center, University of Texas-Austin, Data Exploration and Storytelling, with the chair of the University of Miami data visualization program, Alberto Cairo. Thousands of students from around the world attended this course (including me). I was honored to work with Heather Kraus in visualizing the results of global surveys.
Process
Discovery
Observations
For this topic, I had multiple visual references. The first was the Orb style guide, for the font (Museo Sans) and color palette.
The second visual reference was Eva Lotta Lam's resource for visualizing inclusiveness and diversity:
Banksy
Finally, Banksy's artwork inspired the idea to make the illustrations appear on a weathered surface as if they were displayed outdoors. Typically, his work appears on the side of buildings in public spaces.
We hear a lot about the untapped potential of young voters, and intuitively, we imagine activists being younger. Seeing these notions confirmed, however, and summarized, turned out to be quite helpful in how I view political participation. They show that rather than apathy, these younger potential voters are participating in politics through informal activities.
Data summary be Heather Krause:
Data Summary
- Data was scientifically collected from 979,000 respondents from 128 countries. The data is included in nationally representative surveys.
- Statistical analysis of data included rake weighting and multi-level linear models.
- The data reveals a significant and growing generation gap between young adults and older people’s preferred means of participating in civil society.
- Substantial generation gap among those declaring an interest in politics
- Substantial youth voting power left on the table
- Strong relationship between corruption and willingness to vote among younger adults.
Initial sketch on the computer
This is an example of the type of conversation Discovery Sketches promote. I was very happy with my experience working with Heather Krause.
Concepts → Blueprint
Concept Sketches: Chartoons
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
Data Sketches (sample)
Blueprints
Snackables
snackables-text-draft1 (1).pdf3715.9KB
snackables-text-draft1.pdf483.2KB
Other languages
All of the assets I made for Orb also had to be remade in foreign languages. Below: a sample of some of these languages.
Snackables for social media
For someone used to working on complex stories, these simple graphics needed to be quick, visceral reads. I enjoyed getting to practice again using text, image, and space in an elemental way.
Reflection
I hadn't made illustrations including human figures in a long time. To get the right look and feel for the Story Chartoons, I usually make the Concept Sketches and then identify an illustrator who has a voice that matches the needs of the Crafted Product. Because I work on multiple projects at once, this type of collaboration also allows us to be efficient and meet client deadlines. Due to the budget and immediate deadlines, this was not an option.
Given these circumstances, I was happy with the results. But I recognize with more time and reflection, I'd improve these illustrations and make them more impactful visually. Thinking strategically, I think a 'Banksy' look for the illustrations would be an interesting path to explore. Or simply improved graphics that reflect Eva Lotta Lam's style more: a visual language that's at once universal and specific in its details and clear in its craft. I'd appreciate another opportunity to refine this work.