Over the course of creating the info graphic, I’ve managed to learn many things, which included procedures such as discovering techniques and being able to accommodate my group with the resources we needed. The project basically was just handed to us (the group) as a topic and in other words said, “hey, make an info graphic for the topic”. The topic came in wide ranges, in which we chose to work on “textiles”. Textiles was a big subject and broad. This gave us a variety of things to work with. Since the topic was so vague, it made the infographic harder to work on. In order to create this phenomenal project that we had on our hands, we all had to be able to work together and cooperate. This wasn’t easy as we all had different ideas and things in mind. Coming together and forming something tested our abilities to work together. Basically we all had to brainstorm our ideas and put them together, some had to compromise and sacrifice in order to get along. This wasn’t easy, as we all wanted our ideas to succeed. Now that we came up with ideas and a structure, which we had to start from scratch, we were to find a software that made inofgraphics. With the time limit that we were given, fighting about what to use wasn’t in our heads. Photoshop was one of our choices, but it became not a option as we realized that no one knew how to use it! As we came to find, there was a software called “glogster” and with this we proceeded into making our infographic. There are other websites such as visual.ly that helped us establish how we'd design our infographic.
Many ideas were thrown in when making the infographic; we had ideas such as focusing on facts only, a timeline based subject, or groups of textiles. It was hard to focus on these things as the topic was wide and gave us a lot to handle. We came across the idea of focusing on the groups of textiles knowing that it was a more challenging and interesting way to give the message across. The infographic was made the way it is in order to give people a timeline and an overview of how textiles have influenced us today. The way it is made is really interesting, which is why we included the procedures. Everyone in the team was responsible for their section, we divided up the work into sections responsible for; nylon, cotton, wool, etc.
The collaboration in the team was with effort. We all worked together in order to get this done, though we felt pressured by time, assuring each other that we’ll work at home to get this done is what made the infographic so successful. Throughout the course everyone had to make sacrifices and compromise, this is what made the teamwork together so well. Everyone was willing and helpful as well as understanding. Teamwork comes a long way, and the project sure displays and showed me that.
Coming into this, I’ve never heard of the word “Infographic”. I’ve seen it, but never knew that there was a specific word for it. From far, they seem rather easy to be made, which is why I expected the project to be easier than I thought. But going into this I’ve learned to not judge a book by its cover. Its harder than I ever thought it would be. In order to gather information and put it into as little words and a small context as possible was way more challenging than I thought. Infographics are made by knowledge and understanding of a concept and putting it together by using skills on the computer. Infographics are more than they look, they provide information as well as technology skills that cannot be found everywhere. Infographics prove to have come a long way ever since this technology was invented. Without the technology we have today, such successful infographics that we see everyday without really noticing wouldn’t be here. This is why I think the variety and how much we’ve worked with technology affects every individual today.
Throughout the course as a team we’ve learned to try everything. With that I mean putting together different things and doing other things in order to see what fits best. This is why I could easily compare our project to a “trial and error” process. We try different things and what was wrong (error) was taken out. This is why the process was so complex. We didn’t know what would work right away and we used different sites to use as guidelines. We checked websites such as “How to make infographics” and more that helped us guide the way in completing this project.
I believe that infographics are so popular today for a variety of reasons. Starting with people today. People today, are more into “seeing” than “reading” with the new society people don’t have time to read a page of facts. Instead depicting the information into entertaining posters has made the society more interested in reading. People rather see something short, non time consuming, entertaining, colorful, and entertaining. Technology has managed to shape the world today. Not only are people more involved on the computer and the Internet but also people seek for entertainment and interest in different things. This is why infographics are such a big part of the society today.
The project has taught me a lot including time management, sacrifices, and working with new technology. As well as discovering new things, this project was rather hard, as many components were required. As well I believe that many people had to come together and work as a whole. Much of the time was more given into trusting our decisions as well as trying to work together and still respect our group members. During the course many things have become rather stressing, such as; which information to use, or what software to chose. These all made the project an unforgettable one. The project managed to open my eyes to new ways of finding information. I believe I could take away so many things from this project that I can also adjust and use in other classes.
