top of page

Critic #1: Julian Boss

Emulation feedback: For my first model Julian recommended to switch the land color with the transparent color of the water. When he first looked at the model he thought that gray represented the water, I'll invert the colors and see which one will fit better. He also suggested using a lighted shade of blue for the Ocean. The only critique for my second model was that the text sizes are being inconsistent and a handful of my illustrations are not lined up properly.

For my revision I made sure to change the sizings and the alignment for my models, especially for the center panel. I also modified which way my arrows are pointing, because previously they were inconsistent, pitting left and right which broke the flow of my process. Now the arrows are only pointing up/down/right, no longer breaking the order.

revisions:

Critic #2: Sean

Emulation feedback: Sean recommended to remove the outer-layer slides from my first slide, since its difficult to tell dark-blue line from the black line. Removing the background that represents land and the curvature of the Earth is also recommended because it's hard to tell the dimensions of how high the rocket is traveling up. Sean thought that the rocket is only reaching the height that airplanes travel, therefore this needs to be either removed or changed or make it 3D. For the second model I should only use the red outline for the objects that are being highlighted.

I followed Sean's advice and I changed the random order of black and orange colors to a more organized order. Now the only shapes that are outlines is the one that is either being processed or highlighted to show which piece is currently "active", new or about to get attached to the main structure. I also made sure to fill some empty spaces therefore I made my models larger and I duplicated the grid-fins. 

revisions:

Critic #3: Bryce

Emulation feedback: Bryce suggested instead of using arrows I should incorporate the actual rocket model to see when its firing, separates, turns around to do a boost back burn and finally land either on the barge or on land. This would be a more efficient way to visually communicate the process, because right now its challenging to tell what is going on. For my second model I need to change the size of my texts because they are being inconsistent at the moment. Finally I should use a different style of representation for attaching pieces and transporting them. I could use dashed lines to illustrate attaching.

To follow Bryce's recommendations I decided to reshape some of my models to show precise details. This allowed me to rearrange the arrows so they won't be disorganized and I'm able to show the skeleton of the Falcon 9 where SpaceX applies sheets of aluminum to add structure and shield the inner components. Finally, I changed some of the text sizes to match the other sizes throughout the process.

revisions:

Critic #1: Andrea

Andrea's critique was to change the shapes and the sizes of the arrows entirely. Right now they are too large compared to the other shapes and outlines I have and it also goes against my visual model since the strokes are much thinner there. I should also change the directions some of them are pointing at, for example, the engine bell that is pointing towards the body of the rocket is difficult to understand since it is pointing towards the top and not the bottom part. Here I could either flip the rocket 180 degrees or flip it on its side.

In order  to incorporate Andrea's critic I made sure to change some of the lines, texts and the layout of the arrows. However when I was iterating these changes it didn't corporate well with my Visual Language Model. Because of this limitation I didn't apply the changes  for all of the elements within  my designs.

revisions:

Critic #2: Bryce

Get a different visual model, and a different layout model. You should have this be the main focal point of your final poster. Text size is difficult to see, and the arrows should match your language model better. The engine being put onto the top of the rocket confused me about where the engine was going. Try to make it clearer that the orange represents a new object being added, because it's not super evident. Otherwise, it's very clear what's happening, and I can see how the rocket is being made and constructed. 

I followed Bryce's feedback by making sure to increase the size of my texts to not only make it more visible but to also make them consistent sizes that follows my Typography Model. I also cleaned up the parts that are outlined with an orange color to represent what is being added or incorporated (components) to the main structure (Which in this case the rocket itself).

revisions:

Critic #3: Benny

Benny recommended to change the rest of the Falcon 9 models to within my process diagram due to the different shapes colliding and does not resembles similarity between the two shapes. The colors of the lines also switch between black and dark gray which is easily noticeable once its closely inspected. The solution for this critique would be to entirely scrap the rest of the Falcon 9's and trace one using the body of the first to rockets, while also pronouncing the different shapes and components. Last but not least I need to fix my font sizes and keep the constant throughout the diagram since they are hard to read. Benny recommended using the size of the location names at the bottom of each of the layouts.

Benny's critique was quite useful but also difficult to change. Throughout my reiteration I ended up changing the entire model of all stages and components of the rocket to no only give a clear relationship to my Visual Language Model but to also make the model look realistic. I did this by using strokes to represent the curvature of the engine bells, fairings and the landing legs.

revisions:

Relationship Element & Critiques

The following models illustrates two kinds of processes that is a critical component for SpaceX to build, test, launch, and re-launch their rockets.

"Process of The First Stage Sequence Diagram" presents the sequence of events starting from the beginning of the launch journey. First Falcon 9 launches from its Launch Site, after about 3 minutes 1st and 2nd stage separates, 1st Stage land back to Earth while the 2nd Stage delivers they payload to orbit. After the landing of the booster it is recovered, shipped back to the testing site for checks then if everything is nominal it is re-launched. The second Network Diagram illustrates the processes that the Falcon 9 must go through before the launch. All of the components are manufactured in Hawthorne, CA then its shipped to McGregor for testing and finally it is shipped once again to the Launch Site to lift off.

​

How this element exploits the visual potential of relationships: The first model I used different shapes and colors to represent geological surfaces and the events that the rocket is experiencing throughout its journey. The gray outline represents the land, the red lines within the path represents when the engines are fired and last but not least the blue line within the path represents the sea transportation back to the port. The visual potential of relationships is exploited to convey the processes that is a critical component for SpaceX to build, test, launch, and re-launch their rockets. This Network Diagram illustrates the processes that the Falcon 9 must go through before the launch. All the components are manufactured in Hawthorne, California then its shipped to launch site for static fire, payload integration and launch. On the x-axis time is represented which divides the categories into three different sections that goes into a much more in-depth view of which of these facilities specialize in throughout the manufacturing process. This element also ties in to the Capabilities and Services element above which incorporates the cost factor to build these components, such as the fuel cost to test and launch, and the cost of personnel that is responsible to manage these three segments in order to build a satisfactory Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy.

​

How this element emulates the models:

To emulate my color model I used red to represent the critical stages firing towards space and back to Earth for Boost-back Burn and the Landing Burn. I also used blue to represent the drone-ship that the 1st stage lands, this transports it back to the port through the ocean for further refurbishments. Gray is being used to fill in background shapes.

To emulate my visual language model I made sure to use the same shapes and diagram. Here I emulated my rocket figures with a thin outline while I left the interior transparent and only showing the components that makes the Falcon 9 unique from other rockets. This will help it with identifying. The only fill I have is to show the exhaust of the rocket that shows when the rocket is active or inactive, this can be either seen at the testing process or at the launch.

To emulate my typography model I used the Pragmatic Font while I made sure to have the same size and weight for my title's and subtitles. Finally I highlighted key words that illustrates what is happening within the models.

>

​

Sources/Credits:

http://www.spacex.com/falcon9

http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/06/24/why-and-how-landing-rockets

bottom of page