Wavelengths of Light

Wavelengths of Light and Melatonin Production is a piece created to force the viewer into interacting with it. Its perforated edge asks users to tear off the colored films and take a closer look at the two sets of information and infographics presented. The back of the piece, in postcard format, is designed to maximize sharability. There are three final iterations for this piece; each of them representing data based on scientific research and studies on healthy 18 to 30 year-olds from the general population. It informs the viewer on the effects of red and blue light in relation to sleep quality and consistency from this group, while doing so in a fun, interactive way.

The Brief: Reviving Data

“Choose a specific piece of information design to improve. Evaluate the current design using Gestalt laws, color theory, perception, and grid layout. Identify the need for improvement and determine what aspects of the design are ineffective or unclear. Understand the needs of the target audience. How well does the current design serve them?”

Based on the brief, I chose to redesign the graphic seen below as pulled from the August 2018 issue of National Geographic on sleep patterns in humans. At a glance, the layout choice and colors are striking. The photography draws interest from the viewer and evokes a certain nostalgia and sense of nighttime. Despite being visually interesting, I knew I wanted to make some improvements; there needed to be a graphical representation of the available data, along with isotypes to supplement the graph. Furthermore, I wanted to cut the extraneous information that was not backed up by research or statistical findings, as well as add an aspect of interactivity to the final product.

Research

Initially, I wanted my new design to look a lot like the original, with a dark background and bright, eye-catching colors. However, upon doing the necessary research, I realized that the imagery in that was misleading. Despite the photographs being in red, orange, green, and blue, and the title being “The Effect of Colored Light” (implying that all different colors of light have been shown to affect sleep), there are really only studies showing the effects of two colors of light on sleep patters: red and blue. These findings forced me to switch tracks from my initial ideas and gather new inspiration images. All sources used for the project can be found on the back of the final postcard.

Inspiration and Sketches

Drafts and Challenges

I presented three rounds of drafts to my professor and peers for feedback. The first round told me to add an isotype and graph, change some phrasing, and separate out some information from the body copy.

In the second round of feedback, (after incorporating my own photos and a halftone effect) I was asked to change the typeface used for the body copy from serif to sans for increased legibility. The isotypes I had used in the graphs weren't enough; I needed another. Additionally, I needed to make a header that was more in-tune with the design choices of the rest of the graphic. This advice would get me to the final set of drafts, in which I had implemented these changes, added an additional set of isotypes, and switched the formatting from horizontal back to vertical.