Web Design Forums

The_optimist · 28-03-2008, 12:39

Oh my god! I have the worst design to do ever - it's doing my head in! I have kind of 'designed' it but it still looks messy and rubbish - I need some advice on how to improve this chart for a client who wants it to be neat and tidy. The four outer large boxes with the piccies in are the most important, and the smaller four boxes can be made smaller in size as they are less important. Any ideas on the middle section?? The original design had a circular shape in teh middle with more circular blobs coming off from it? I think perhaps this might be better?? It needs to fit on an A3 sheet and have some kind of colour scheme.

JonoMarshall · 28-03-2008, 13:07

Too many colours and everything is too large: Although you need legibility why not try reducing everything by 90% so that you can introduce some white space and gazing time to actually allow the viewer to absorb the masses of information here?

The pink and purple sections need re-working IMO. The others look ok and the grid style of imagery is making things easier on the eye very nicely.

"Trends" seems lost in that large box, also... consider whether all of the boxes are necessary? If one title is the only element leading into the other (outer circle) boxes then why not simply have the word as a title for the larger boxes or as a directional piece of text, etc?

Just my 0.02c

steveb · 28-03-2008, 14:25

There is far too much information (if we may call it that) all trying to squeeze into the one page. This is also known as the Powerpoint effect.

Fuck all that.

What you need to do is distill the info into a few simple headlines which can be linked to each other like a flow diagram.
If I had this to redesign, I'd start with TRENDS at the top and either position the trends across the top (but there are too many trends here for that) or like in a website menu, listed vertically on the left. Boxes explaining the various trends would then be on the right. But they wouldn't hold nearly as much detail as your page currently shows. For example your explanation of the explanation of the trend shown in magenta is an entire flow diagram! Fuck that! It should be on a page of its own! Or explained verbally by the presenter.

A diagram is meant to simplify complex concepts. Yours seems to complicate simple concepts.

If you can get the client to agree to the simplification of this info either into at least 5 separate pages, or to make do with TRENDS and the next ring, I'd be glad to help out on clarifying it further with you. But having worked with statistical and demographic diagrams for the past umpteen years, I'm fairly sick of them so unless there's a chance of success, count me out!

The_optimist · 31-03-2008, 04:42

Thanks for the very helpful feedback guys. The client is adamant that all the info HAS to all be on one sheet, as I already suggested splitting it up or breaking each section down. I know - complete madness. The info also has to be vertically read down, as I already tried running some of the info in a horizontal manner but I was told it 'cannot be like that!'
My first instinct was to reduce everthing down - even if it means the images will be quite tiny and teh text being small... sod it - it's the clients fault for cramming so much info onto one sheet. Apparently the flow diagram box at the bottom (pink) can be made 'alot smaller' but the text inside the boxes still has to be legible. Well I'm making it smaller but not sure if the text will be big enough to read - it will probably be less than 4pt!
What do you think is a suitable size for small text? 6pt?

28-03-2008, 12:39	#1 (permalink)
The_optimist Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 17	Help!! Need some help from a designer who is good with designing charts/maps etc. Oh my god! I have the worst design to do ever - it's doing my head in! I have kind of 'designed' it but it still looks messy and rubbish - I need some advice on how to improve this chart for a client who wants it to be neat and tidy. The four outer large boxes with the piccies in are the most important, and the smaller four boxes can be made smaller in size as they are less important. Any ideas on the middle section?? The original design had a circular shape in teh middle with more circular blobs coming off from it? I think perhaps this might be better?? It needs to fit on an A3 sheet and have some kind of colour scheme. Attached Thumbnails

28-03-2008, 13:07	#2 (permalink)
JonoMarshall Day-Glo Jazz Monkey Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Shoreditch, London Posts: 1,128	Too many colours and everything is too large: Although you need legibility why not try reducing everything by 90% so that you can introduce some white space and gazing time to actually allow the viewer to absorb the masses of information here? The pink and purple sections need re-working IMO. The others look ok and the grid style of imagery is making things easier on the eye very nicely. "Trends" seems lost in that large box, also... consider whether all of the boxes are necessary? If one title is the only element leading into the other (outer circle) boxes then why not simply have the word as a title for the larger boxes or as a directional piece of text, etc? Just my 0.02c __________________ Jon Marshall - Graphic Design

28-03-2008, 14:25	#3 (permalink)
steveb 389 ppm and rising Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Järvenpää, Finland Posts: 4,144	There is far too much information (if we may call it that) all trying to squeeze into the one page. This is also known as the Powerpoint effect. Fuck all that. What you need to do is distill the info into a few simple headlines which can be linked to each other like a flow diagram. If I had this to redesign, I'd start with TRENDS at the top and either position the trends across the top (but there are too many trends here for that) or like in a website menu, listed vertically on the left. Boxes explaining the various trends would then be on the right. But they wouldn't hold nearly as much detail as your page currently shows. For example your explanation of the explanation of the trend shown in magenta is an entire flow diagram! Fuck that! It should be on a page of its own! Or explained verbally by the presenter. A diagram is meant to simplify complex concepts. Yours seems to complicate simple concepts. If you can get the client to agree to the simplification of this info either into at least 5 separate pages, or to make do with TRENDS and the next ring, I'd be glad to help out on clarifying it further with you. But having worked with statistical and demographic diagrams for the past umpteen years, I'm fairly sick of them so unless there's a chance of success, count me out! __________________ My free fonts www.utfi.net

31-03-2008, 04:42	#4 (permalink)
The_optimist Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 17	Complete madness Thanks for the very helpful feedback guys. The client is adamant that all the info HAS to all be on one sheet, as I already suggested splitting it up or breaking each section down. I know - complete madness. The info also has to be vertically read down, as I already tried running some of the info in a horizontal manner but I was told it 'cannot be like that!' My first instinct was to reduce everthing down - even if it means the images will be quite tiny and teh text being small... sod it - it's the clients fault for cramming so much info onto one sheet. Apparently the flow diagram box at the bottom (pink) can be made 'alot smaller' but the text inside the boxes still has to be legible. Well I'm making it smaller but not sure if the text will be big enough to read - it will probably be less than 4pt! What do you think is a suitable size for small text? 6pt?

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