Information Design_FEB 2026 Exercise
Information Design — Exercise
INFORMATION DESIGN2/2/2026 - 22/3/2026| Week 01 - Week 7
LONG BOJIANG / 0375362 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Information Design / Taylor's University
Table of Content :
INSTRUCTIONS
LECTURES / Class
Exercises
·Exercise 1
: Quantify Data
·Exercise 2 : L.A.T.C.H
REFLECTION
INSTRUCTIONS
MIB for Information Design 2026
LECTURE
WEEK 1 LECTURE：
For our first in-class group assignment, we made slides explaining "What is an infographic?" This practical experience helped me better understand visual communication. Unlike passive learning like lectures or textbooks, this task required active research, content organization and presentation, making learning more engaging.
At first, our group was confused—we couldn’t define infographics clearly or tell them apart from regular charts/posters. After discussion and research, we agreed: infographics combine text, icons and charts to convey complex information simply. This process helped us grasp key points and improve analytical skills.
We followed the 3-6 slide requirement (excluding the cover), covering infographics’ definition, types and uses. Reasonable task division boosted efficiency: some found examples, some sorted type features, others designed layouts. For instance, we used a bar chart for statistical infographics and a linear icon layout for timeline ones, realizing presentations should reflect infographics’ core—clear visuals.
We had small issues: too much initial slide text (we cut redundancy and added icons) and confusion between hierarchical and list infographics, which we clarified by comparing examples—hierarchical focuses on ranking, list on parallel information.
Besides learning infographics, I gained from group cooperation. Dividing tasks and communicating helped us finish efficiently. I also realized combining visuals and text simplifies content and boosts audience interest, useful for future study and homework.
Our presentation had flaws: simple examples (no in-depth visual analysis) and nervousness leading to unclear key point explanations. Next time, I’ll polish content and practice presentation skills more.
Overall, this exercise was meaningful. It helped me fully understand infographics, improved my practical, cooperation and thinking skills, and laid a foundation for future visual communication study.
WEEK 1 TUTORIAL：
During our tutorial, my group and I worked on an exercise where we had to put together a presentation analyzing three good and three bad infographic designs. When we first started discussing, I struggled a lot with telling the difference between good and bad designs—there’s such a thin line between them, and most of the examples we looked at had both positives and negatives.
At first, I also got confused between infographics and posters because they both use visuals and text. But after we talked through it more, I finally got it: infographics are all about clear data, logical structure, and organized information hierarchy, while posters are more about eye-catching visuals and promotion.
This exercise really helped me get better at evaluating infographics and boosted my ability to think critically about visual designs.
By comparing the three good and three bad infographics, I figured out what makes a design effective. The good ones were clear and well-structured, with strong visual hierarchy, suitable colors, and organized data that led viewers through the information easily.
The bad ones, however, had too much information, messy hierarchy, confusing layouts, and extra decorations that pulled focus from the main message. I learned that a good infographic isn’t just about looking nice—it’s more about being clear, readable, and getting the message across well.
This exercise showed me how important it is to balance aesthetics and function in design. It also made me realize that when creating visual content, we should always keep the audience’s understanding in mind first.
WEEK 2 LECTURE：
In today’s lecture, our teacher introduced Exercise 2 and the LATCH framework—a method to organize information effectively. We discussed how LATCH, a basic information design principle, helps designers arrange data logically for easy audience understanding. For this exercise, we need to make a short presentation explaining LATCH and its key parts.
LATCH has five main components: Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, and Hierarchy. Each is a unique way to organize information, based on context and audience needs, ensuring data stays organized, meaningful and visually consistent.
Our presentation focuses on LATCH, a key framework for infographics and information design. It stands for Location, Alphabetical, Time, Category, and Hierarchy—core to information architecture, organizing content structurally and meaningfully, and connecting related information clearly.
Each LATCH principle has its own use: Location uses spatial relationships (viewers understand via layout, not just linear reading); Alphabetical organizes by letters/names for easy searching; Time arranges data chronologically to show progress.
Category groups information thematically without ranking, while Hierarchy organizes by importance, rank or size. We used visual examples (maps, timelines, regional data, pyramid layouts) to show how each principle works in practice.
These examples helped me see LATCH can be used alone or combined for clear, effective infographics. Overall, learning LATCH prepared me for Exercise 2 and improved my ability to organize information in future designs.
WEEK 3 LECTURE：
Today’s lecture introduced Miller’s Law (also called chunking)—a new concept to me. It simply means people process and remember info better when split into small, meaningful chunks, not all at once. For our in-class task, I found real-world examples of its effective use in different designs.
This activity showed chunking reduces cognitive overload by breaking down complex info, making it easier to understand and remember. I also learned Miller’s Law applies beyond graphic design—like app interfaces, study materials, and daily communication.
In short, this principle is key for clear, user-friendly, memorable designs, and a useful guide for visual/informational design projects.
Our presentation explained Miller’s Law simply: the average person holds 7 (±2) items in working memory. In design, chunking cuts cognitive load, making content less overwhelming and more memorable.
We used examples to show its real-world use: a good infographic with clear chunked sections, strong visual hierarchy, short text, icons, and whitespace for easy scanning.
We also showed a bad web interface—no clear grouping, too many choices, confusing navigation—highlighting the downsides of ignoring Miller’s Law. An improved shopping list interface (grid layouts, visual grouping, limited items, consistent styling) demonstrated chunking’s value.
Lastly, a process example showed chunking structured, visual info helps people follow multi-step instructions. Overall, our presentation stressed Miller’s Law as a powerful tool for clearer, more usable, memorable designs.
WEEK 3 TUTORIAL：
Tutorial Task:
In class today, I practiced vector animations—this skill is super important for our final project. The exercise let me try out different techniques, tweak keyframes, and adjust motion paths to make movements smooth and precise.
It was mostly trial and error, but that gave me the freedom to mess around with the software more. I figured out how small changes can totally shift the whole animation, and I got more comfortable with the workflow little by little.
This practice really drove home how important attention to detail, patience, and problem-solving are. Even tiny tweaks to timing or alignment can make or break an animation’s quality.
Overall, this hands-on practice helped me better understand vector animation basics and feel more confident using these skills in my own work later on.
WEEK 4 LECTURE：
Today’s lecture introduced me to Manuel Lima’s Nine Directives Manifesto—basically a set of principles that push designers to look past just visual appearance when creating info design and data visualizations. Instead of only focusing on how things look, these directives stress that purpose, clarity, and meaningful communication matter most in design.
The manifesto makes it clear that good design should first focus on function, context, and making things easy to understand. Visual elements should support the message, not overshadow it. The nine directives include things like Form Follows Function, Interactivity is Key, Cite Your Source, and Avoid Gratuitous Visualisations—each one reminds us that design choices need to center on the audience’s needs and the accuracy of the information we’re sharing.
All these principles together push designers to create work that’s not just visually appealing, but also informative, responsible, and purposeful. By following these directives, we can make visualizations that help people understand complex info better—instead of just making pretty graphics that don’t offer any real insight.
Exercise 1: Quantify data (10%)
For our first exercise, I had to do a quantitative data analysis on my own. The task was simple: pick a type of item, count how many there were in each category, then arrange them in a clear, easy-to-understand layout or chart. After organizing everything, I took a photo of the final arrangement to submit as part of the assignment.
For this task, I chose “flower banknotes” as my subject. I picked different colored paper flowers, counted each type carefully, and then arranged them neatly so their size and type differences were obvious. Grouping and arranging them this way made the layout like a simple visual chart, so anyone could quickly see how the flowers were distributed.
Doing this exercise helped me realize that everyday items can be used to present data visually, making information easier to understand and share. Before starting, I did a bit of research on how to arrange quantitative info—I found some well-organized quantitative icons and arrangement methods on Pinterest.
| Fig 1.0 Building blocks Classification |
Fig 1.1 Fabric Classification
From the reference images I found, it was clear that even messy, random objects can be organized to present info clearly. Those references showed how to arrange objects in a structured way, turning scattered items into easy-to-read visual info—like using repetition, grouping, or patterns to help viewers interpret the data quickly.
For my first task, I took inspiration from the fabric arrangements in the reference images and applied that to my design. I arranged my flowers in a circular layout that expands outward, like a blooming flower. I also placed the paper flowers in a regular, systematic order—each circle stood for a unit to show the number of flowers, making their quantity easy to count and see.
Through this whole process, I turned ordinary paper flowers into a structured visual arrangement that effectively communicates data. The final result was my Quantity Data Exercise poster, which combines visual order, patterns, and data presentation all in one.
Exercise 1：
Fig 1.2 Exercise 1：Quantity Data
Exercise 2: L.A.T.C.H (10%)
For this class exercise, I was tasked with making an infographic using at least four LATCH principles—Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, and Hierarchy. These principles help organize lots of info into a clear, logical visual structure, which is key for good info design. I went with a Pokémon theme for my infographic, using several LATCH principles to organize and explain different Pokémon clearly.
I ended up using four principles: Location, Time, Category, and Hierarchy. I used Location to show where different Pokémon naturally live, grouping them by their typical habitats in the Pokémon world. The Category principle let me sort them by type—like water, fire, grass, or electric—so viewers could quickly spot their similarities and differences.
With the Hierarchy principle, I highlighted the relative strength of certain Pokémon and their evolutionary stages. By arranging them from basic to advanced forms, the infographic clearly showed their developmental process. The Time principle helped me show the order of their evolution, illustrating how some Pokémon transform into more advanced forms over time.
The second step is to determine the evolutionary ladder and select four areas on the small island.
Finally, all the sprites that appeared were arranged, along with the elements of the four areas.
Exercise 2 Final outcome:
Fig 2.1 Final Outcome
REFLECTION：
Experience
In the first half of the semester, lectures, tutorials, and Exercises 1 and 2 helped me grasp the basics of information design and visual data structuring. Combining theory with hands-on practice let me link concepts to real design outcomes.
Exercise 1 (Quantify Data) let me explore turning daily objects into visual data. Organizing and arranging flower banknotes taught me physical items can serve as data visualizations, pushing me to use composition and layout to clearly convey quantitative info.
Exercise 2 (L.A.T.C.H) required a structured approach to organize complex info. Designing my Pokémon infographic was challenging—I merged layers like type, evolution, and location into a cohesive visual. Mr. Kannan’s feedback taught me iteration matters, helping me better apply LATCH principles.
Overall, this part of the course enhanced my ability to critically organize and present info, and improved my design skills.
Observation
Through lectures and exercises, I found effective info design depends on clarity, structure, and user understanding. Week 1 showed infographics aren’t just about looks—they need logical, clear info presentation. Comparing good and bad designs revealed poor hierarchy and excess visuals confuse audiences.
The LATCH framework taught me multiple ways to organize info; the right method depends on data type and message. Combining principles creates meaningful designs but requires planning to avoid clutter.
Miller’s Law highlighted the value of chunking info into small groups—key for my infographic to avoid overwhelming viewers. Manuel Lima’s Nine Directives also emphasized design should prioritize function and meaning over aesthetics.
Findings
I learned planning and structure are vital for info design. Before designing, I must analyze data, choose the best organization method, and plan the layout—without this, designs become confusing.
Feedback is also crucial for better designs. Revising my Pokémon map taught me initial ideas aren’t always best; iteration refines communication.
Simplicity beats complexity: clear hierarchy, proper grouping, and controlled visuals boost readability. Applying LATCH and Miller’s Law ensures info is accessible and meaningful.
Moving forward, I aim to better balance creativity and clarity, creating visually appealing yet effective communication designs.
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