Creative Graphing

Blog post: Design an engaging data display/infosthetic. Use any means to create the display: pen and paper; Graph Jam, Word; PowerPoint, Keynote, Pages,Gapminder Desktop.

Needless to say,  when I read this task I was nervous.  Never have I ever... created a graph online.  How was I going to do this?  But thankfully, our teacher provided us with links.  I was able to go to this site and pick exactly what kind of graph I wanted to make -- a venn diagram obviously from the image below.  Then I had to chose the colors I wish to work with, purple and pink seemed to work well together (girly just like myself). Then I had a choice: do I chose data? or do I chose a fun saying? I decided to use a fun quote.  Specifically one by John Lennon.  This is the results:

"Love is the answer, and you that for sure; Love is a flower, you've got to let it grow."

What a powerful thought.

Hopewell Nursery

Assignment: Find something in the real world that needs to be redesigned.  Discuss why its current design doesn’t work. Show how you would redesign it (like the “Gentle Dental example).

I chose my dad's business: Hopewell Nursery.  The companies website was designed about 6 years ago and has basic upkeep from time to time, but could use a lot of work. The logo is much too small -- hardly visible. The main focus should be the logo, not the picture next to a long body of text -- this screams BORING!  The fonts don't mesh very well together either -- one has hard edges, the other has softer edges (mixture between serif and sans serif).

I decided to take this original logo against a white background, without the vines along the side and the busyness of the webpage and change it.  I played with tilting to see the difference and envisioned how the tilts would look in different segments.  If you tilt the logo slightly and switch the corner it would represent a fun change.  At the same time it would draw the visitors eye to the opposite corner. This small, subtle change would make quite a difference. This would only prove effective if the logo is enlarged.  

Finally, I decided to make my own new logo for their company.  This wasn't the easiest task to do since I don't have any professional imaging tools.  I was able to use powerpoint to be semi-creative. For the logo in the top of the screen shot at the right, I used Futura along with Lucida Calligraphy.  I tried to maintain the same colors.  I added in an arch for a little spunk.  The two font types seem to fit well together displaying the quality and unique experience the nursery will provide.  The bottom font is boxed, which I'm not very fond of.  I used a box font hoping that it would close in the logo.  The Sans Serif font of Hopewell was to allow readability. My personal choice is the arched one at the top. 

Everything but the Kitchen Sink.

When prompted to create a list of ten places at St. Joseph's University which I have never been before I was stumped besides one place: the rooftop of the Science Center.  I have always been advised that this is one of the top places to see before you graduate.  Therefore, when I heard we had to pick one and go see it I was all on board. I have always embrace the philosophy that unless you ask for something you won't receive it.

Upon entering the Science Center I went towards the elevator.  I heard a woman tapping away in her office so I popped my head in and got directed to the right office.  The head of the biology department was who worked with the green house.  Yet, I received the warning that its technically not open to the "public."  Since when are business students considered the public?  (I have always been baffled at the line drawn between the business and the arts and sciences) I was able to arrange an appointment for the next day to complete my adventure. Needless to say I was excited.

The time finally came and I was able to take the elevator all the way to the roof.  The biology teacher who took me up informed me of the construction that was taking place. Upon exiting the elevator I began walking on boards over towards the greenhouse.  The first thing I observed was the gorgeous Philadelphia skyline. Once inside the structure we learned about the turtle house.

In the turtle house are 5 different types of turtles -- even including albino turtles!  The professor then began to explain the filtration system for the ponds, which use sunlight and fresh water to create clean water.  The turtles are able to crawl from pond to pond which was very interesting!

Then we entered the greenhouse.  This glass structure is home to many different varieties of plants -- to be honest it reminded me a little of a jungle.  There wasn't much order for the positioning of plants, but the variety is amazing.  A palm tree, a lemon tree, cactus', ferns, even a coco plant.  The professor explained that the roof isn't open to the public because there is no railings along the side, yet they do hold a dinner on the roof once a year. My family is in the business of plants and shrubs -- Hopewell Nursery -- so I have grown up around different varieties.  The greenhouse resembles a smaller scale of the Holland Greenhouses we have on our farms.

Surprisingly, not all science students have access to the roof.  Most importantly students can only go up in small groups; therefore, an entire class can't benefit from a lecture from this location.  Uniquely, the greenhouse can maintain heat in the winter so that the plants won't die.  It absorbs water on one side and has a heater.  Who ever knew you could set the temperature in something like this?

Below is a slide show I put together using my mac's imovie.  It's a work in process, but it shows effectively my observations of the day.  Hope you enjoy!

The truth about blogging.

Blog prompt (for Thursday): Write a post in which you discuss your opinion about the following students blogs.

Blogs.  I embarrassingly admit when I was in middle school I had one, an Xanga account to be exact.  I used to discuss the daily drama occurring in my life and compare my life to that of Kristin Cavallari.  I swore I lived just like the reality TV stars in Laguna Beach.  Boy was I mistaken.  My life is extremely different from those on staged "reality shows".  I was reminded of this part in my life while looking through these other student blogs.  


The topics I came across while surfing where numerous.  To be blatantly honest I saw posts ranging from politics, to college life (the usual drinking and sex) articles, to finding a new website.  What interested me the most was that news and world views were no longer just in the media's hand, but in the consumers hands.  In this day and age there are so many blogs prototypes: product reviews,  day to day real life experiences, advice, political opinions.  The World Wide Web has enabled everyone to find answers at the click of a fingertip, but the one disclaimer we must all remember is that these websites are usually plainly opinions.  Yes, they are interesting, but are they the facts?


This is what I found myself pondering while observing these student blogs.  Who determined what was correct and appropriate.  I found one pretty cool website called Unhear It: it was created to help get rid of those annoying moments where you have songs stuck in your head.   It's a basic concept, play a randomly generated catchy song, yet I never would have guessed to look for this online.  

All of the blogs I reviewed appealed to a specific audience.  They didn't have to focus on everyone.  one type of person was enough.  I specifically loved Her Campus.  It reminded me of a Cosmopolitan Magazine made by bloggers.  And most importantly, all of the blogs sounded real.  Each had a unique voice and tone, much different from the next.  This is intriguing as a reader.


Blogs are the next generation.  They will continue to grow and expand in the marketing world due to all their potential.  Currently they're overlooked, but soon enough some one will discover exactly how to use them to reach consumers. And by this I don't mean in the ways we already have discovered; instead I mean unique, innovative ways.