Information Design - Final Project Milestone 4

Week 13–14

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Information Design

Final Project: Milestone 4

Brief:

MILESTONE 04

Weeks 14-15

Finalize and present. Suitability and finishing. Convincing and Compelling.

Final Submissions:

Infographic Video



Infographic Poster
Google Drive link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzA2UsbDM8b8enRWUG9HNC1YcU0

Note: Access the Google Drive Link for a hi-res version!

Information Design - Final Project Milestone 3

Week 12–13

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Information Design

Final Project: Milestone 3

Brief:

MILESTONE 03

Weeks 12-13

Compare and Contrast

1 – Start by comparing things side by side to make it easier on the eye. Whether it’s two or three elements, you should everything symmetrical.

2 – Obsess over alignment. Make sure your elements are correctly centered and aligned, and on the same level.

3 – Create a clear division using two different colors. In order to keep it clean and minimalistic, you can choose darker or lighter shades of color.

4 – Always stay consistent using the same kind of elements. We’ve covered this in the past, but look at the example below: the first version shows the correct usage of the same fonts and same style icons, while in the second one we chose different fonts and inconsistent icons. The difference is subtle yet meaningful. One is simple, clean and pleasing, and the other one looks messy.

5 – Finally, use the same structure for side by side comparisons for titles, icons, text, etc. When comparing apple with apples, it’s important to keep the consistency between both sides to demonstrate that it’s a comparison. The example below is a perfect portrayal.

Progress:

Video Storyboards

Voiceover Script (Guide)

1:

So you’ve decided to write a letter to try win the heart of a german lady! HEre are some things you should know before you attempt to write a letter in German.

Like the english alphabet, the german alphabet also shares the letters A to Z, but has a few additions of its own, such as the umlauts: ae, oe,  ue, as well as the german sharp s: essseet.

Starting your letter may lead you to an essential question: which ‘you’, do I use? While English only has one you, German is all about context, and has two forms of ‘you’: du being the informal and Sie, being the formal. On initial contact, using Sie would be most appropriate, to avoid being too friendly from the get go.

Do prepare sufficient amounts of ink, as German words come in at an average length of 11.66, as compared to English with 8.23. German is famously known for their lengthy words, such as Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, which comes in at a whopping 63 letters.

Once you’ve lovingly composed your letter, send it off and wait patiently for a reply from the lady.

So you write your letter and happily send it off, waiting eagerly for a reply from the lady.

2:

So the lady has agreed to meet you for a first date! She said to meet her at a cafe, “um 8 Uhr”, but what does that really mean? Does she 8am or 8pm? Thankfully, unlike the English time system that divides the day into AM and PM, the Germans are wonderfully precise and use a 24 hour system. So her 8 Uhr, means a lovely breakfast date!

First Impresssions matter, so here are some things you should know! IF you were to compare her to the beauty of an angel, she would probably wonder why you think she’s a fishing rod. OR if you wanted to give her a Gift, she would probably be quite afraid of you.

If she asks for a Kissen, don’t pucker up because all she wants is a cushion!

Thankfully, your date is going well and after a good time together, its time to say goodbye. The waiter comes along and says “achtunddreissig euro, bitte!” but you are wondering whether he means 38 or 83 euros. The english number system notates numbers from left to right, for example, thirty-eight, while the german system is the other way around, meaning 38 would be eight and thirty, hence, achtunddreissig. So don’t sweat it!

3.

You’ve been together for a while now and the lovely lady suggests that its time for you to adopt some affectionate nicknames. Of course, you could opt for the classic english dear, darling or sweetheart; or you could be more colourful and try on some unique german ones, such as maeuschen, schnecke, igelschnauzchen, or if you’re really adventerous, try on the hybrid “mausbaer”, or even the very creative, honigkuchenpferd.

Whatever you may call each other, we wish you all the best in your new relationship, with your lady as well as the romantic german language.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Poster Layout Sketch

Information Design - Final Project Milestone 2

Week 11–12

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Information Design

Final Project: Milestone 2

Brief:

MILESTONE 02

Weeks 11 - 12

Develop

Your creative design approaches. How are you going convince and sell the idea?

Compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges. Have a benchmark/yardstick. Use a consistent metrics and type of data between the two topics (i.e. percentages with percentages, numbers with numbers and facts with facts).

Visual References:

I looked at some references for an animated 'collage' style, to challenge myself. Here are some great ones from vimeo.

A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? from NPR on Vimeo.

Not exactly a collage style, but I like the tone and manner of the video.

The Collage Travel from Tigrelab on Vimeo.


Collage Deposit from Caco Neves on Vimeo.


Madam President from Tom McCarten on Vimeo.

Munn, After Losing from The Drawing Room on Vimeo.



Revised Points of Comparison:

An English Gentleman’s Guide to Dating in the German Language

ACT 1: Initial Flirting

Writing your first Letter

• Shared Alphabet, introduction of umlauts and ß
• Word length, more paper to be used
• Formality (Sie and Du)

ACT 2: First Date

• Time system (12-hour, 24-hour; rounding off)
• False friends (Angel, Gift, Kissen)
• Numbers (paying the bill)

ACT 3: Further Correspondence

• Affectionate nicknames
• Pronunciation: on it’s harshness(?)
• Word gender (?)

Information Design - Final Project Milestone 1

Week 10–11

David Ho Ming Aun (0328394)

Information Design

Final Project: Milestone 1

Brief:

MILESTONE 01

Weeks 10 - 11

Data to Information

Prep work for the design by starting with doing some Googling on the contrasting/complimentary topics. Research at this stage also includes reading articles and books, checking out other data sources or information sources such as available infographics, or even interview experts within reach.

Prepare 3-5 summative points (as a narrative structure, 3-act or 5-act) preparing your data to be turned into a story (information).

In each summative point break down the core data meaning that you pick 4-6 essential points worth comparing/contrasting to strengthen your case.

Secondary Research: German and English Language

Note: only High German (Hochdeutsch) is being considered in this comparison. Niederdeutsch or Plattdeutsch is not being counted!

Outline:

1. Origins, Background

• Linguistic origins
• Role in history

2. Numerical, Geographical Comparison

• Number of speakers and native speakers
• Countries that speak the language

3. Linguistic Comparison

• Alphabet
• Genders
• Cases
• Compound Words
• Shared Words (True Friends and False Friends)
• Counting Conventions, Number Order, Time telling
• Capitalisation of Nouns
• Proverbs
• Formality

1. Origins, Background:

German and English are West Germanic languages, which stem from the Indo-European language branch. One of the pioneering books that sparked the western printing revolution was Gutenberg’s bible, which was set in German.

2. Numerical, geographical comparisons:

Number of speakers:

Language	Total number of users	Native speakers
English	983,522,920	372,000,000
German	129,502,820	76,800,000

Number of countries where it is used:

English: 106

German: 27

3. Linguistic Comparisons:

Alphabet:

Mostly the same alphabet is utilised, from A to Z. Just don’t be afraid of the few extras that come with the German language, namely the three umlauts, ä, ö, ü, as well as ß. making it much easier for an English native speaker to pick up German, compared to a Chinese or Japanese speaker, for instance. You’ll notice the german keyboard looking quite different from an english one!

Gender:

German words have gender, and the articles change based on the gender. (der, die and das)

Netural: das Kind

Masculine: der Tisch

Feminine: die Zeitung

Plural: die Getränke

Cases:

German grammar has four cases, which also affect the article. Let’s take a dog for example.

Nomativ: Das ist ein Hund.

Dativ: Ich spiele mit dem Hund.

Akkusativ: Ich mag den Hund.

Genitiv: Das ist der Ball des Hundes.

A couple of tables to demonstrate the hell that is the German language:

English: ‘a’

German:

	nomativ	akk	dat	gen
maskulin	ein	einen	einem	eines
feminin	eine	eine	einer	einer
neutrum	ein	ein	einem	eines
plural	eine	einen	einen	einen

English: ‘the’

German:

	nomativ	akk	dat	gen
maskulin	der	den	dem	des
feminin	die	die	der	der
neutrum	das	das	dem	des
plural	die	die	den	dessen

Compound words:

Germans are all too fond of compound words, with the famous autobahngeschwindigkeitbegrenzung (autobahn speed limit) or the Rindfleischetikettierungsuüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling).

Shared words

True Friends:

Elegant, Illegal, Normal, Dessert, Demonstration, Doppelgaenger, Restaurant, Rucksack, Job, Kiwi, etc. They have the same meanings but they are pronounced differently! English and German share 60% of their vocabulary!

False Friends:

Der Angel = the fishing rod

Das Bad = The bath, bathroom

Der Hut = the hat

Hell = bright

Gift = Poison

Some words with same spelling in English mean different things in German!

Counting Conventions

Similar counting conventions are used, and can be clearly seen in the numbers 10 - 20:

English: ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty.

German: zehn, elf, zwoelf, dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn, sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn, zwanzig.

Number order:

Instead of saying twenty-one, Germans go einundzwanzig, which literally translates to (one-and-twenty).

Time-telling:

Telling the time is also different. For instance, 3:30pm would be halb vier in German. A 24-hour system is favoured in Germany.

Capitalisation:

Every noun in German is Capitalised!

Proverbs:

Germany loves their proverbs! Here are some really funny ones:

Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat zwei! (everything has an end, only the sausage has two!)

Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof (I only understand train station)

Formality:

German has different words for ‘you’, Sie being for formal situations and du for more casual situations. The verb changes along as well.

Mindmap:

Sources:

Fluentu.com. (n.d.). 5 Surprising Similarities Between German and English That'll Help You Learn German Today | FluentU German. [online] Available at: http://www.fluentu.com/german/blog/similarities-between-german-and-english/ [Accessed 14 Jun. 2017].

Listenandlearnusa.com. (2015). 9 Surprising Facts About the German Language | Listen & Learn USA. [online] Available at: https://www.listenandlearnusa.com/blog/9-surprising-facts-about-the-german-language/ [Accessed 14 Jun. 2017].

Leicht-deutsch-lernen.com. (n.d.). Same Words in English and German |. [online] Available at: http://leicht-deutsch-lernen.com/same-words-in-english-and-german [Accessed 14 Jun. 2017].

Ethnologue. (2017). Summary by language size. [online] Available at: https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size [Accessed 14 Jun. 2017].

Vistawide.com. (2005). Top 30 Language Spoken in the World by Number of Speakers. [online] Available at: http://www.vistawide.com/languages/top_30_languages.htm [Accessed 14 Jun. 2017].