Critic #1: Benny
Very simplistic approach to show the numbers element for my infographic. The first model really gives the perspective just on how powerful it is compared to any other rockets, more than double the payload they could deliver. Here Benny suggested to align the bars in an increasing order rather than using the alphabetical order. This would create a nice flow to it. On the second model the colors seem a bit off, meaning that it doesn't really portray the colors that my Color Model has, this goes to the first model as well.
As per Benny's suggestion I applied my Color Model to my Number (1) Element. I made the titles and the label texts white while the x/y-axis texts are gold. x/y-axis lines are orange to show protrusion and clearly visualize the borders. Finally the bars have a light-blue fill to give that light contrast from the background.
revisions:
Critic #2: Jacob
Jacob liked the idea of showing how much payload each of the launch vehicles can deliver, including the weight of the maximum payload truly puts it in perspective on just how much those rockets can lift. For the first model he suggested to change the color of the bars to a color that doesn't conflicts with my background color. I have not yet applied my background color yet but once I do these two colors are going to be very similar. The space between are a good length, however for my second graph the gap is just too long, if I decide to use it then I should compress it, which will also save space.
I followed Jacob's critique by incorporating my Color Model, this way the color of the bar no longer conflicts with the background color. I also made the titles and the label texts white while the x/y-axis texts are gold. x/y-axis lines are orange to show protrusion and clearly visualize the borders. Finally the bars have a light-blue fill to give that light contrast from the background.
revisions:
Critic #3: Estelle
Estelle liked the first model due to its minimalistic style yet it still illustrates the key components of what the information is trying to present. Only suggestion here would be changing the order from an alphabetical to an increasing order and change the colors for either a gradient or a vibrant static color. However the second model is a bit redundant, its very similar to what I'm portraying in my Time Element, instead of just using rocket I'm using bar charts which is less visually satisfying. She also recommended to compare engine performances with other launch providers. Example; Merlin Engine vs Space Shuttle Engine
Just like Estelle suggested I changed the order in which the rockets are aligned. Now its in an increasing order depending on how much cargo they can deliver to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) mostly to the International Space Station which is located in LEO. I also fixed some of the bars, now all of them should be displaying the right information which was sourced from the SpaceX and NASA's website and launch manifest.
revisions:
Critic #1: Jessica & Esha
For our weekly check-ins I received great critique from Jessica and Esha. The first critique I received was that there's no clear label on which bar relates to SpaceX. Each of the bars represents unique rockets made by different U.S. and Russian companies and governments. Unless the reader knows the names of the rockets that SpaceX is manufacturing and launching then its not a problem, however I must assume that the reader is not familiar, therefore I will have to change the color of the bars that illustrates the payload capability for SpaceX and also include "SpaceX" in parentheses under Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. Another tip I received is instead of using bars I can use trace over different rockets and use those outlines/icons. I've been using rocket models for my previous elements so this would be a fun way to continue that trend.
To incorporate Jessica's and Esha's critique in my element I changed the bar graphs into the silhouettes of space-crafts where one spacecraft represents how much weight they can deliver. (10K per rocket). Fractions of the rockets are also present within my chart to show accuracy of how much they can deliver without scaling down the rockets and distort the flow. Since I'm focusing on SpaceX I highlighted their launcher platforms (Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy) with a realistic white silhouette that differentiates it from the other non-SpaceX rockets that only use a dim-blue filled silhouette.
revisions:
Critic #2: Benny
As per Benny's request I changed my placeholder colors into the Color Palette's that my Color Model is using. I used a dark-blue background color, white outlines of the x and y axis lines and also for the numbers, descriptions and titles. For the filled silhouettes I used a dim-blue color to give a blending contrast with the background yet still be able to make out the shapes and the details for each rocket. I created dashed lines however I decided to remove them from my final iteration because I would like to keep my chart simplistic without adding too much background noise which the lines would create.
revisions:
Benny complimented the change I've made from my second version to the first revision, having the bar-chart in an increasing order makes more sense instead of having a disturbance right in the middle of the graph. One of the critiques I've received was fixing the way I use my Color Model within my Number's element. As my Color Model shows the x/y-axis lines are white instead of orange, the label texts on the side and top is also white which I got right, but because the focus is on the bars it deserves the most contrast, which in this case would be the orange color. Benny also recommended to incorporate the background dashed lines that my Visual Language Model has, it would create a blue-print looking grid which my elements already integrates.
First Number Element & Critiques
Critic #3: Sean
Sean suggested to remove the x and y axis lines and numbers and instead insert those details into the rocket models that I'll be making. This way my chart is going to maintain a minimalistic aspect without creating too much noise with unimportant data and lines. Sean also recommended to cut down on the number of launch vehicles since 7 of them look very lookalike, it doesn't really seen to have a purpose other than including different companies with approximately the same stats rockets. Perhaps I could include the lower-end rocket (Atlas V), keep the Space Shuttle since almost everyone is familiar with it, the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy for reference.
I followed Sean's recommendation by removing a few rockets from the x-axis to make more space to the other and so it won't pollute my data with similar data. There are two other rockets Atlas V, and Titan IV B that offers no beneficial data other than prove the fact that rockets at this range can deliver approximately the same amount of cargo -/+ 5K kg. By removing Atlas V and Titan IV B it creates a much fluid increasing scale.
revisions:
The first Numbers Element displays a comparative information about the payload that SpaceX can deliver to Low Earth Orbit versus other Service Providers such as United Launch Alliance and NASA. I've chosen a visualized bar chart where the x-axis represents the Launcher Platform where its categorized by two parts, one to show the United States Launchers and the other part to show the comparison to foreign launchers. On the left side of the canvas the y-axis is presented which illustrates the cost of the payload to Low Earth Orbit as Kilograms for measure of units. As the my element shows it is unmistakable to show that the Falcon Heavy is superior compared to other rockets in terms of delivering cargo. The chart also shows that the Falcon 9 and the Space Shuttle is almost head to head meaning that the Falcon 9 can provide just as much critical cargo like the Space Shuttle did before its retirement, however it is important to note that by no means it can deliver the same size of cargo or even astronauts just yet. The visual potential of numbers is exploited to convey three critical components, first the y-axis is represented as the amount of kilogram of cargo each of these rockets can deliver to Low Earth Orbit then the x-axis represents the names of the launch vehicles and their height. The most widely known rockets are being incorporated to compare them to each other.
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How this element exploits the visual potential of numbers: The approach I was taking to show the weight that each rocket can launch is by using silhouettes of the rockets named on the x-axis, and apply those individual silhouettes depending on how much they can deliver. For example, the Ariane 5 rocket can deliver almost 20K kg of cargo so I illustrated one fully rendered Ariane 5 sillhoute while I used 4/5 of the rocket one above it. For the Falcon 9 since it can deliver approximately 23K kg of cargo the way I illustrated it is by having two full scale Falcon 9's rendered and 1/5 of the actual Falcon 9. Because I'm working with large amounts of numbers I decided to use the "K" abbreviation to a thousand which helps me save some space instead of cluttering it which a handful of 0's. To give a short summary to the viewer I made sure to include a sentence about the the information I'm illustrating.
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How this element emulates the models:
To emulate my color model I used a dark-blue background color, white outlines of the x and y axis lines and also for the numbers, descriptions and titles. For the filled silhouettes I used a dim-blue color to give a blending contrast with the background yet still be able to make out the shapes and the details for each rocket. To highlight the SpaceX rockets I used a special skin for them to present more details and to make the distinct from the other static silhouttes.
To emulate my visual language model I used the same weight for the x and y axis lines while I followed the placement of each of the descriptions and titles just like my visual model has it. Only the SpaceX rockets are fully designed while the other ones have a light-blue silhouette and an orange outline. Behind each of the rockets there's a dark-blue bar representing the amount of cargo the can deliver to Low Earth Orbit.
To emulate my typography model I used the Pragmatic font throughout my Number Element and used the same text size and weight to match the titles, descriptions and number.
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Credits/Sources:
http://www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy
http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/fhgraphic_updated_20170404.jpg
https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/eelv-contracts-after-the-merger-02818/
