Exploiting the visual potential of location
From both displays, viewers should get the message that mass shootings happen all of the United States. In the first display, the viewer should recognize that there are mass shootings everywhere, especially in higher populated areas and that the mass shootings have a large number of injured/killed individuals. In the second display, the viewer should see that only a few states have not had mass shootings and that there are many states that have a lot of mass shootings compared to how many inhabit the state.
I am exploiting the visual potential of location by using a map to show the locations of the mass shootings. In the first display, I am using size encoding to show the size of each mass shooting. In the second display, I am using color encoding to show the number of mass shootings in each state per 100,000 inhabitants.
I am emulating my visual language model with a solid colored map with not much detail. The first design features circles and has a legend based off of a display in my model. The second display features three main colors and a legend based off a display in my model. The title, subtitle and legend follow my typography model.
I am emulating my color model in my first display with the tan background, blue text, blue map, and red circles. The blue and red are used frequently together in my color model. In my second display, I am using the blue text and different shades of blue that are used together infrequently in my color model.
Critique
Joy
For both displays Joy reads the title and subtitle first. For the first display, her initial reaction is "wow". She looks at the map and notices that a lot of mass shootings happen in highly populated areas. She likes that that point gets across as some may assume that mass shootings happen where a lot of guns are. She reads the legend and notices that it looks like a target which is fitting for a topic related to guns.
After reading the title and subtitle on the second display, Joy reads the legend. She is kind of confused and I have to explain what the different colors represent. She sees the light blue states, medium blue then dark blue states. She is surprised by which states have the most mass shootings. She recommends I make the labels and subtitle clearer. She likes the missing states.
Joe prefers the first display because the point is very clear about where most of the mass shootings happen. She says it has a better emotional impact.
Joy sees where I got the target design from my visual language model. She sees the ribbon tag usage and the usage of circles on my visual language model. She notices the typography as similar in terms of font and a capitalized title and lower-case subtitle. She recognizes that the red and blue are used frequently together, the blue font is used frequently, and the background color is the same in my color model.
Response to first critique
I combined the two displays to have the emotional impact of the first but cleaner like the second display. I made the labels clear that the red states have had mass shootings and the blue states have not.
Simran
Simran is drawn to the red spots, particularly on the left of the map because there are more circles. She goes to the title and subtitle. She says the size is kind of confusing. For example, in nevada she is not sure if the two circles are supposed to represent the same mass shooting or different ones. She looks at the legend and says that it look appealing but is not totally inherent on what it means.
For the second display, Simran sees the darkly colored states then looks at the other states. She reads the title and is unclear what the map is showing. She says that she has to dig deep to see what it is about by reading the subtitle and the legend and thinking about it a bit.
Simran prefers the first display because the depth and impact of the situation. The visual is clearer and she can see a problem. The usage of red and the color contrast is very clear that an issue is happening in the US.
Simran says that I am straying from my visual language model because there is no map but she says for my topic it is a good deviation. She notices a lot of circles in my model. She says I emulate my title and subtitle that is used frequently in my visual language model. She says that the legend is always at the top under the subtitle on my visual language model. She says the blue and red are used a lot together in my color model and the contrast works well. In addition, the fonts on my model use a lot of blue.
Response to second critique
I got rid of the circles and made the display simpler by not highlighting the particular mass shootings but instead highlighting the states where mass shootings have happened. I made the legend clear so that it is easier to understand over the second display. I kept the legend under the title to match my model. I kept the red and blue to match my color model and made most of the font blue.
Jessica
Jessica reads the title and the subtext and understands what each circle represents. Ashe looks at the legend. She says she may have assumed that every circle was how many shootings not the number of killed/injured individuals for a particular shooting. She says the information is clear even though there are overlapping circles.
Jessica reads the title and subtext. She says that the message is clear in the title. She gets that it is a ratio but has to read it a couple of times. She says that the key does not tell very much . She recommends showing calculations or just saying "low" to "high". She says it is clear, clean and understandable.
Jessica prefers the second one cause it is easier to interpret right away because of the clear map and title. However, Jessica does like the color contrast of the first display.
Jessica notices a lot of one-colored and simplified shapes. She does not see a lot of use of online in my visual language model but I use the states as an outline. She sees different shades of blue and sees a lot of the dark blue and red in my color model. She sees the same background color and blue text color. She says that it looks like all the colors are used in the sections together and the blues are rarely used together on their own.
Response to third critique
I kept the color contrast of the first display and the simple-ness of the second display. The shapes are simplified and I got rid of the outlined states. Since the blues are rarely used together on their own I made the new display only the red and blue which are used frequently together.
The message the viewer should get is that over the years the number of states with mass shootings have increased to the point that almost no states are immune to mass shootings anymore.
I am exploiting the visual potential of location by using a map to show the locations of the mass shootings. I revised my displays by combining the emotional impact of using the colors of the states to highlight what states have had mass shootings and the simple-ness of only highlighting states and not individual events.
I am following my visual language model by not having as many details on the map as I previously did with the circles and the outlined states. This follows the simple icons. I matched the title with the dotted line, the legend under the title with the small circles, and the flags to show the decades.
I am following my color model by using the red and dark blue together which are frequently used together. I have used the blue as the font for the title and legend. I have also used the tan as the background and as the font against the blue to match my color model.
Critique
Autumn
Autumn sees the maps, reads the title and legend and looks at the flag labels. She notices the trend of the increased number of red states and says that the message is clear. She likes the title.
Autumn likes the revision and says that the information gives you more of a picture of how it changes over time. She says it gives more information related to years.
Autumn says that the maps fit my visual language because it does not have as many shades and the maps don't have a lot of details. She sees a lot of red and blue which are prominent colors in my color model but notices that the light blue is used with the dark blue and red frequently. The banner on my visual language model has an extended bar and my display does not. She sees the key used in my display in my visual language model, she sees the blue text used in my display in my color model and sees the background color from my color model and dotted line from my visual language.
Response to first critique
I added the bar behind the flags to match my visual language model and changed the color of that bar to be light blue to match my color model. I added the light blue since it is used frequently with the dark blue and red.
Michael
Michael sees the four maps and his initial reaction is "yikes". He reads the title and reads the labels. He reads the flags and associates them with decades. He asks about the definition of a mass shooting.
Michael likes the new one because it is more dramatic and tells a story over time about how the US got progressively worse. He said it makes him think about "why?"
He searches for the flags and sees them featured in my visual language model. He says the font on my labels and title match my typography. He notices that there is no location display on my visual language model. He says that the icons on my model are simple and rounded which is different than my display. The visual language model has displays that are closer together and more compact and mine seem more spread out.
Response to second critique
I decide not to change the map to be more simple and rounded because of the small map at the top of my visual language model that has a lot of details in the shape. In addition, by just using two colors on the map I am keeping it simple and consistent with my models. I made the display more compact by spreading each map and subtitle to stretch further across the page. This matches my visual language model. In addition, I made each map section closer together.
Harry
Harry sees the four maps with different states highlighted. He reads the legend and associates blue with good and red with bad. His eye is drawn to the red on the 2011-2019 map. He sees a clear progression. He can tell what state is what state without the border.
Harry likes the fact that the display only has two tones because it is simpler. He says the new display focuses on location and likes the progression. He says there is too much information on my first display and does not know exactly what city the circles are on.
Harry says the red and blue are used frequently together on my color display. He sees that there is no big location display on my visual language model. I point his attention to the small map at the top of my model and he says the details on the edges match my display but the rest of the icons are not as detailed.
Response to third critique
I keep the location display large because it is important for my topic. My topic is mass shootings in the US and I believe it is necessary to show the locations in the form of a map even though my model does not feature a map display in such a large scale. In addition, there is a map on my visual language model of the US and I am following the layout of a display on my visual language model with the 2x2 area.
I made my display more condensed to emulate my visual language model. By making the maps closer and spread farther across the page, it fills up the area like my model does. In addition, adding the bar behind the flag separates the sections and emulates my visual language model.
By making the color of the bar next to the flags light blue I am following my color model. This is following my model because most of the time when the dark blue and red are used together the light blue is also featured. Frequently, it is not used as much as the dark blue and red like in my display.
The message the viewer should get is that over the years the number of states with mass shootings have increased to the point that almost no states are immune to mass shootings anymore.
I am continuing to exploit the visual potential of location by making the maps larger. In doing this it puts more emphasis on the locations. In addition, making the display more condensed allows viewers to easily glance from map to map. Adding the light blue bar behind the flag emphasizes the decades so that viewers can grasp how the locations of mass shootings has grown over time.