Critic #1: Kito
Emulation feedback: Kito was satisfied the way I'm emulating my Color Model within my Numbers Element (2), having the dark background with vibrant colors that shows the information. Critiques for my first element were the orange text color over the gray box, here he recommended to use a black text or completely remove the box and show the overall cost in a different way. For the second element its easier to put it into perspective of how much each of the components cost since they are in a "decreasing" order. The only critique here is that the "Overall Cost:" seems a bit odd in the bottom right corner. Either place it somewhere else (above the components legend) or create an outline around it.
Based on Kito's feedback I changed the layout of the numbers (2) element by removing the legend and incorporating the descriptions within the different box charts. By having this extra space I was able to draw a line around the "Overall Cost" very similar to my Visual Language Model, but instead of using a lightbulb I included the Overall Cost. I still yet have to figure out how to introduce glowing into my infographic.
revisions:
Critic #2: Sean
Emulation feedback: Sean liked the way I emulated my Visual Language Model especially for the second element, very similar to the structure and color layout of the battery. The first element has a few odd elements such as the sticking out segments, it seems a bit inconsistent and disrupts the flow of the donut-chart. Sean recommended to either put it back in place or pull it out completely and label it. For my second element the colors are a nice match and it clearly highlights the different segments, meaning that they don't blend into each other. The text of the legend seems a bit small compared to the whole infographics so I should go back and make sure the Typography Model is matching with my element.
By following Sean's advice I re-visited my Typography Model and imported the correct size's onto my element. I made the title font-size 3 points larger while then I modified the description font-sizes to increase it by 2 points. I also made sure to incorporate the component's cost within the the charts thus now it shows both the description and what the costs are for those to build a fully functioning Falcon 9 rocket with the first/second stage and the fairings included.
revisions:
Critic #3: Andre
Emulation feedback: Andrew complimented my typography, he never heard of the Pragmatic font before but its a good typekit when it comes to showing applications, illustrations or even blue-prints which is the vibe of my infographic. Andre suggested that for my Donut-Chart I should place the segments into an increasing order instead of having them in an unordered way. For my second element he critiqued that I should use white text throughout the box charts to create a static display. Right now I have a mix of white font and black font depending on the contrast of the background but Andre is right, I don't have a black text that my Color Model is using. Some of the legend descriptions are unclear if a person who are not familiar with rockets looks at it so he advised me to add more details to what the Merlin's and type of materials they are using for the Falcon 9.
I followed through with Andre's critique by changing all of the text colors to white within the box charts and I switched it to orange and blue for the text's that could not fit within the small boxes. This way I was also able to further emulate my Visual Language/Color Model where its using blue and orange text around the battery where text could no longer fit. I also made sure to create more visual guides for the readers because some of the descriptions are unclear for the people who are not familiar with rocketry terms and components, thus I added models of each of the charts, such as the first/second stage, fairings, and the Merlin Engines.
revisions:
Critic #1: Aisha
Emulation feedback: After Aisha inspected my Models she found it quite similar to my current element and she was happy to see the first revision progress from the original one. She critiqued on the message that I'm meaning to send with this element since right now I no clear indication on how much 62 million is actually is. I should look both the internal (The engine costs a lot of money to make!) versus the external context's (So the engine might be expensive but is it really compared to the other rockets on the market). I should find a way to incorporate these illustrations so people will have an idea if this is an affordable or expensive price to build a Falcon 9 rocket, one way to do this is by adding the currency with the numbers.
revisions:
Critic #2: Henry
Emulation feedback: Henry approved the change I made to my color's to better present my Color Models without introducing foreign colors to my infographics that is not related directly to my models. Since the legends are removed the colors don't have to relate to a specific component as long as I have the descriptions inside the box charts. One critical advice is to prevent colors blending into each other, this could be done by either separating the tiles with a static color (white) or don't let same colors collude with each other. Adding shapes to further support the visuals was a good idea but Henry's critique was the size of these shapes and how it resembles the real size's of the components. He also recommended to create shapes/models to the "Personnel", "Transportation" and "Propellent" tiles to make my element consistent, since it looks incomplete with those tiles being empty.
Based on Henry's first critique which mentioned that different colors are blending into each other I corrected that by dividing every block with a white line to clearly show the division between each of the tiles. I followed through with his second critique by making two stick figures for the personnel tile to show how they income the people make for each of the Falcon 9 built. Lastly, I also added a Strong Back to show the transportation cost (From the factory to the hangar and finally to the launch pad). Also added fuel droplet icons to the propellant (LOX/RP-1) that fuels the rocket.
revisions:
In order to follow up on Aisha's suggestion I incorporated the dollar sign ($) to the beginning of each of the numbers that I illustrate throughout the different boxes. This marking helps the viewers understand what the digits are representing and in what currency it is currently displayed. Before the only suggestions they had that this is the cost diagram is the title and many mistake it with weight. I also made sure to include the "Propellant" within LOX/RP-1 to enhance the clarity for those who are not familiar with rocket fuel terms.
Second Number Element & Critiques
Critic #3: Yuliya
Emulation feedback: After my quick elevator pitch and description of my infographic and Yuliya inspecting my emulations she was endorsing my choices to make similar designs that represents my models. She had two critiques for me, one where the 1st orange tile "9 Merlin Engines" doesn't really fits the blue/light-blue illustration, it creates too much of a contrast and it doesn't creates a natural process but more like that the design is trying to protrude from the tile. I should experiment with different colors or even with different designs instead of using the octa-web layout of the engines. Her second critique was the "Overall Cost" section. While this part looks much better in the first iteration than from my second version previously it still seems out of place and the lines doesn't do a good justice to illustrate the overall built cost. She recommended to perhaps draw a line around the entire chart and label that, this would create an illusion that the overall price contains the entire box chart and not just the right side of it.
By following Yuliya's advice and experimenting with different colors I changed the first tile "9 Merlin Engines" to a dark shade of blue to remove that over-exposured orange background color while keeping the light-blue outline. This not only allowed me to enhance the octaweb design but to also outline the engines in orange and apply an inner glow to them to show a bit of dimension to the cylendrical engines. To draw more detail to my "Overall Cost" section I outlined the entire tiles with a white outline and connected them on the right side of my chart where the cost is illustrated in a glowing globe. This helps to show that in order to manufacture a Falcon 9 on Earth to launch it into orbit it will costs approximately $62 million. Once SpaceX starts launching trips to Mars then the Earth Icon will be changed to Mars depending on how the prices will go down over time.
revisions:
The second Numbers Element displays a comparative information about the cost of production of a Falcon 9 to really emphasize the benefits SpaceX can offer with their reusability and reduced costs compared to other launch providers. I started with two initial charts, one is focusing on a Donut-Chart and the other is a Box-Chart both of them is focusing on the same concept, showing the cost of a single launch of the Falcon 9 by broking down by cost of fuel, cost of rocket materials and cost of personnel. The statistics prove that currently SpaceX is in the lead of making the most affordable rockets while their reusable Falcon 9 is even cheaper with a 10% discount. So far there has been only one refurbished launch with a couple more scheduled for 2017 and eventually SpaceX's goal is to make both the first and second stage, as well with components fully reusable. The visual potential of numbers is exploited to convey the different version of the Dragon, and how they compare or differentiate from one other, in terms of cost, capacity, and crew. The second part displays a comparative information about the cost of production of a Falcon 9 to really emphasize the benefits SpaceX can offer with their reusability and reduced costs compared to other launch providers. Taking all of the factors into consideration the Falcon 9 costs approximately $62 million, making it one of the most affordable rocket, that is not factoring in the discount they give for re-flown boosters.
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How this element exploits the visual potential of numbers: The Box Graph is broken into 9 categories all of them which are critical to illustrate the cost of a single launch. The total cost for the production of one Falcon 9 is approximately $62 million where the boxes represents different sizes depending on the cost of those components. For the donut-graph the same labels apply but it uses color filled area to show what it takes to build and transport the Falcon 9. Each color represents different components such as the 1st stage, 2nd stage and propulsion which is also visualized within the legend. To give a short summary to the viewer I made sure to include a sentence about the the information I'm illustrating below each of the infographic.
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How this element emulates the models:
To emulate my color model I used a dark-blue background color, applied all of the available colors that I could extract from my Color Model, and also used white outlines for the numbers, descriptions and titles to match both my Visual and Color Model while for the donut chart I applied all of the available colors that I could extract from my Color Model where the legends are labeled by their colors with white text.
To emulate my visual language model I used the same weight and format for the fractions and the boxes while I followed the placement of each of the descriptions and titles just like my visual model has it.
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.parabolicarc.com/2013/11/18/xs1-summary/
https://jacksci.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/lowering-the-cost-of-space-travel/
http://spacenews.com/spacexs-new-price-chart-illustrates-performance-cost-of-reusability/
