My infographic was a very interesting project to work on for a few different reasons. The project itself was a great opportunity to take a very large and immense topic and condense it down to something simple. For me, this meant researching the present science of coral reef studies through several online forums, and also looking into efforts currently being taken by activists around the globe.
Overall, the frame for my project was coral reef depletion and potential preservation. I planned for my audience to be somewhat new to the subject, so I wanted to keep things simple and concise. In framing my infographic, I wanted to ask a few questions: what is going on with coral reefs, what are the consequences of our actions, and what are some different ways that we can help? Through these various questions, I was able to create a final product that was both explanatory of the current coral reef depletion in the world and helpful in understanding ways to make our world a better place, whether this is through conserving water, not littering, or even joining activist groups online.
When completing the project, there were many aspects that stood out to me and made the process educational and rewarding. I think what was unique about this project was the concept of taking a large-scale idea (coral reef destruction) and boiling it down to something as simple as an infographic. This is a skill that not only helped me condense my ideas on future projects, but will also be useful in later projects both at Dartmouth and beyond. In this vein, I enjoyed sifting through sources online to find facts that would illuminate the vast consequences that humans have inflicted on coral reefs.
From a technical standpoint, it was also interesting to work with a new piece of software (Piktochart) and create something both creative and instrumental in saving our environment. While art is surely not my forte, it was challenging and rewarding to find different color combinations (by looking at the color wheel) and design concepts that worked well together. Given the amount of information I wanted to include and the limited space that I worked with, I found it difficult to include negative space, but I think that overall my final product was strong.
This project was also fun to approach because I truthfully knew nothing about it – which is why I picked it in the first place. I think that coral reef preservation is such a unique and crucial component of our Earth’s environment and yet it is often neglected. In approaching my project in a factual and problem-solving manner, I think I condensed coral reef preservation into something that makes sense and leaves even a normal listener who is unaware of the issue feeling capable and eager to resist coral reef destruction.
Tackling this project – while it did take some time – was rewarding. I do not think I would change much in retrospect, but if there were something, I would have liked to include just a few pictures to highlight the visual effects of coral reef depletion. While the facts stand as strong indicators of the massive consequences of humans, I think that pictures add a different perspective on the detrimental effects around the globe.