Group Final Project Rational

When deciding what to do with our group visual we had trouble coming up with an idea at first. We wanted to make some thing that would showcase what we learned this year, but we did not want to make a 3D replication of any of the maps we did this year because we did not feel it was original enough. As our group walked around the craft isle of the store, we decided to look at the kids games for inspiration. We saw an array of bright colors, characters, symbols,and numbers. We threw a few ideas in the air, including a dart board and 'the price is right' game, until one of us saw the game Yahtzee on the shelf. We then decided we would make a giant dice and turn our presentation into something fun rather than just a lecture. As we started to build the giant dice, we discussed how we would incorporate what we have learned into our presentation while rolling the dice and landing on numbers 1-6. We discussed dual coding, and how we should use symbols as well as words to explain to the class what we have learned. We finally came to the conclusion that we would make a colorful poster with the numbers 1-6 to go along with the dice, and as we roll the dice we will select whatever image is behind the corresponding number on our poster, and explain it to the class. When putting together our presentation we used color, symbols, and numbers, along with a little bit of talking aloud to help the class dig into their long term memories. We hope that with our presentation,the class will be able to recall what they learned about each of the maps that we select, and that we will decrease the cognitive load with our simple visual. By using "the least ink" possible, our message will come through clearly, and our fellow students brain's will not be cluttered with information and confusion during our presentation. In the end, we realized that our visual is pretty simple. However, we feel that being clear and to the point demonstrates everything we've learned this year.

Individual Evaluation

I thought we did a good job coming up with a unique presentation to present to the class. I enjoyed working with my team and I thought we worked really well together. The hardest part was coming up with the idea of the dice and game board. We all worked hard on putting everything together. I thought at first it was going to be more difficult working with my group but we came together and got it done. Meeting with each other a certain time worked out fine and sometimes in group projects this is the hardest part. Overall, I feel that this project was successful and I feel I learned a lot.

Reflection

I really enjoyed doing this blog and participating in this class. I learned a lot about visual thinking. I never thought that there was so much to know about that topic. I find it very important as a PR major to learn about this stuff. It makes think on a different level and being able to figure things out in a different way than others. It is just a whole other perspective on how to think things through and process them. It definitely makes you use your other part of your brain and as well as the part that your use to using. I feel that I am more educated in visual thinking than I ever was before. I am a very visual thinker and from being involved in arts my whole life I was really able to process this very clearly and get the point quickly. However this is very different than visual arts but kind of has the same mentally in a way. I over all would recommend this class to all communications majors.

Multivariate Display

I decided to my multivariate display on information that was easy get and that was interesting. I used the info of how many DUI arrest are made in Bristol RI from August to November. This is when we are in school and many college kids are driving around. It seemed that the months that we were here that there tends to be more arrests. The month of October was the highest. I am assuming that because of halloween and it being a full month of school that is why is had the highest percentage. November was the least amount I feel because we are not here almost a full week of school and with the Thanksgiving break people tend to be less focused on partying and just plan on going home. This information was really interesting for me to find. I thought by displaying it in a bar graph and a pie graph that we would be able to see the whole picture.

Story Board

Four young boys all grew up together and loved to play soccer. They were all best friends since they could remember and loved each other like brothers.

Soccer was their favorite thing to do and they have been on the same team al their lives. One day they were playing a rough game and when defending their team someone came on to the field and starting shooting all the players and their family. It was a very tragic day in their town.

One of the boys survived out of the four and every year on that same day he prays that they are safe in haven. He remembers that day like it was yesterday and can't believe that it ever happened.

He still plays soccer to remember his friends but will never return to that field again. He now goes to a peaceful place where he can play soccer on his own and think about the good times they had together.

Four boys leaving in there own house at college could be a lot of fun but also has its risks. They all love to cook and be active in the kitchen.

One day one of the boys left the oven as they finished cooking breakfast and the all went to class. It set the whole house on fire and burned it to pieces. Losing everything the had.

The boys came back from class and saw that their house was on fire and that their was nothing they could do. They tried running in and saving what they could but it was too late. They came out of the house with smoke in their eyes and chest. They walked away as four boys with no where to go.

After all the damage to their house, a couple weeks later the boys found an apartment with some friends and they all moved in together. The only thing was that all the boys had to be extra careful not to leave anything on again and look out for each other.

When doing the stories it was interesting to put all the pictures together and make a story out of it. The way your mind thinks and process it is different because you have to use your other side of your brain to be creative yet make the story flow together. I had fun picking out different pictures to go with the story. They images that you gave us were kind of hard to work with but it was a good challenge. I think both my stories made since and the one story was sad but I thought it was clever. When doing my slide transitions I used Scene to Scene and Subject to Subject in both stories. This made is flow better and made it have a better transition in between frames.

Being able to think on the spot and put stories together like this is good practice for being a goof PR writer. I felt that it was fun and kept my mind thinking at the same time.

Simple Tables to Graphs

For my table and graph I chose to look into the differences of where students are from at RWU. I looked up percentages and formed a table graph then a line graph. It was interesting to see that most of the students are from the New England and also that we have 2% of international students. We also have a large amount of students from the Tri-state area, which is New york, New Jersey, Connecticut. I found all these results interesting because I am from California and there is a small amount from the west coast. It is interesting being from a totally different area and from a completely different coasts. The people are much different and I get asked the same question almost more than once a week, "Why did you come all the way from California to RWU?" I get asked this question all the time. Sometimes it just gets too much or too funny and i get sick of answering. Overall, It was fun too make the two graphs and see the difference between them.

Flow Chart

The flow chart that I did describes the thought process of buying a book on Amazon.com. In the chart I had two decision diamonds that asked the questions of buying a book and then the distraction or temptation of buying a new phone. I felt that when you are on website looking to purchase things you can easily get distracted but another product. This flow chart ends up going back and making the right choice of buying the book. I thought this was an interesting way of thinking and processing a action. It took me a couple of tries to figure out the right pattern but it made me think a lot about how to perceive steps and process them correctly.

Visual Essay Images

A Poor Example of How Tourette Syndrome Effects the Human Brain

A Good Example of How Tourette Syndrome Effects the Human Brain

In the first image I showed a poor example of how Tourette Syndrome effects the human brain. It only shows you the small image of the Basal Ganglia which is a very crucial part of your brain. It does not go into detail about the Basal Ganglia and what are the different parts of it. In my representation of how a good example of how Tourette Syndrome effects the human brain. I go into detail and show the Basal Ganglia inside a human head so that you can see where it is placed. Also, I labeled the different parts and structures of the Basal Ganglia to show you how detailed it is and how there is just not one part to it. The Basal Ganglia is a part of the brain that is responsible for learning, emotions and cognition. Each part of the basal ganglia controls a certain function of movement or emotion. This is a very crucial part of where Tourette Syndrome and other diseases such as Huntington's, Schizophrenia, mental and physical disorders come from. From dealing with Tourette Syndrome all my life I felt that it was important to recreate a good representation of what the Basal Ganglia looks like.

Spaghetti Paste

For my Spaghetti Pasta dinner I first made a quick sketch on a blank piece of paper to decide how I would plan out the steps. I wanted to show all the necessary materials and cooking supplies that you would need. Then I went ahead and drew the steps. It was was hard to make each step flow correctly but feel that I managed to do it as best as I could. I wanted to have meatballs in my pasta but I could not figure out a way to show the process of making meatballs. My favorite part of the drawing is pouring the tomato sauce on the spaghetti. I then also showed a final picture of what the dinner plate would look like. I had fun drawing this sketch and then after I finished I actually made my self a paste dinner, but with meatballs.

Lawn Care

For this graphic it was hard to come up with an idea of how to show the steps with out any words. I woke up one morning and the idea of a chart popped into my head. I think it is the best way to describe the process. It took me a while to get system down of all the steps that were described in the instructions. After doing a couple quick sketches I narrowed it down to this chart and then put in a lot more detail so people could follow the process easily. I had a hard time drawing the bugs but otherwise everything else I felt went great. I thought that this was an interesting idea to follow and learn because there are a lot of people out there that can not read or understand english. I feel that I am learning a new way of how to perceive and describe things to a whole other audience.

Collage

For my Collage I quickly put it together with the best intentions of making it flow. There are different types of women and in their pictures their stance is very powerful and makes a statement. I tried to chose pictures that women were brave and had the inner beauty. There are also some male pictures on my collage just to compare and contrast women to men and how sex sells in different ways. My favorite picture is the women on the horse. She seems so strong and her beauty glows as she looks so graceful on the horse. If I had more time I would try to fill up the whole page and leaving no blank space. Also, maybe using a black marker to high light some features or leaving my own comments to make the collage complete. In the end I really enjoyed doing this project. I thought it was a lot of fun and I got to learn how to put something to quickly with out even having time to think about it and it turned out pretty good.

Concept Map

To create this concept map I had a hard time figuring out ideas and a thought that I would base my map off of. I started to brainstorm and came up with the thought of “Shopping”. This is something I love to do and I really want to go shopping for some new clothes. Then as I was starting to think of things I really want I realized that I didn’t really need anything. I branched the map off into “Wants & Needs” Things that I really want is not necessary something I need. Where as thing I might need for school and too keep warm are more accentual items that I might need. Sometimes the stuff I think you need might be a little ridiculous, like a $150 Halloween costume. This is something I consider I need because it’s Halloween and everyone needs a costume. Could I find a cheaper one? Yes. But do I want to? No. Then it all comes down to if the parents will pay for these wants and needs. Most likely not but sometime I can persuade them and to buying it for me. I defiantly have a shopping problem and I thought by mapping out my ideas about shopping I could realize that there are a lot of things that I really want but just do not need. My other solution is to get a real job and start paying for some of my unnecessary items. However, my parents don’t want me to get a job because school is my job. I have two younger sisters and they both get whatever they want. My one 16 year old sister is a big horse back rider and every show cost about 2,000 or more. I think that’s crazy and just because shopping is my hobby and that’s what I want to spend my money on, my parents don’t understand and think I am crazy. In the end I know I am crazy and need to control my shopping habits. By mapping this idea out, I see what my problem is and it has made me think while processing the information more clearly. I can’t help that I love clothes but there’s a limit and have found it.

Mind Maps

For the Mind Maps that I did I started off with the thought of Travel and how I have been a lot of places. I went to Australia this past summer for 2 months and it was a great experience. The first mind map above I started with all the great places I have been too and went branched off from their about my experiences. I tired to create short words and sentences that would explain my travels. I mapped out my trips to Australia, France, Martha's Vineyard, San Francisco (where I am from) and my new trip in the spring to New Zealand. The process of thinking how everything connects and how your mind can go from one place to the other so quickly really interest me. Looking at the finished product and seeing how it flows from on city to the other and my adventures through out places I have been is all down on page, mapped out. It is exciting to see all the fun that I have had and using color to make things pop to stand out is fun to experiment with. Also symbols that represent things and places that only I understand is fun for me to know and for others to find out. The second mind map I took a piece of my first one, which I chose Home. This was hard to think of because I could of done some many different places but home to me is the by far my favorite place. Once I got started it became easier. San Francisco is the city the by the bay and the place that will always be in my heart. Then I branched out and did Sonoma, which is my home town in wine country. I have grown up in this area of California and I have also been to Santa Barbara and have had a lot of fun their. The thought process of this was fun for me and then to go back in and use color to high light ideas and things that I love. I really enjoyed doing this project and I found the mind maps to be very useful. They help you think and look at things a different way and explore the ideas outside your usual boundaries.