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Breaking down complex ideas. Public info, schools

Understanding Trends

Interpretation

Exploring what illustration is required for: education communicating easily

Revision Guides Books

Learning

“To what extent does Aesthetic ‘Style’ reflect the context, audience and/or function of contemporary Illustration?”

Informality

Humour Communication

Who is the author?

Illustration style reflecting the audience who needs to understand it Aesthetic chosen with the audience in mind.

Style a result of audience.

How effective is informal, humor based illustration at increasing understanding within educational material?

Initial Ideas

Does an increase in visual stimuli increase understanding & students’ attitudes towards education?

Does an increase in visuals increase knowledge & understanding?

Examining the variables that aid/effect visual learning.

Examining how visual stimuli effects attitudes towards education.

Introductory Statement My interest in illustration is arguably a byproduct of my desire to educate, engage and encourage others especially children and students. During my school and college years, I found visual learning was a vital component in my own understanding and motivation to learn, but also that my informal, colour coded and illustrated notes helped classmates out too. I have learned from experience that imagery is a crucial factor in learning for many people, yet it is lacking in schools, where text heavy presentations and worksheets are used.

Through some initial research I have found studies to back up my observation that students’ often have very negative attitudes towards learning, especially when it comes to traditional subjects that require complex understanding and memorising. Students aren’t engaged enough with the system they learn in, and I would be interested to investigate factors that would boost engagement and students’ attitudes.

My research would cover neurological studies into long term memory storage, responses to colour, scale and typography, sociological studies into classroom attitudes, revision behaviour, etc.

How this topic relates to Illustration: I’m interested in developing imagery that is engaging, coherent and communicates complex and hard to remember concepts easily. I will be exploring various aesthetic factors (such as colour, scale, texture) as well as content (composition, detail, humour).

Practical outcomes for this essay would naturally be along the lines of illustrated revision material, educational posters or stationery design.

Factors Effecting Visual Learning

Formal Informal Colour Scale Business Detail Minimal White space Questions Font Hand Lettering Colour coding Contrast Words Order Flow Diagrams Stories Humour Infographic Static Animation Engaging

Relevant Books/ Journal Articles

Relevant Websites

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/getpsyched/201207/learning-through-visuals

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/getpsyched/201207/learning-through-visuals

https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress. com/2015/07/11/schoolsneed-to-include-morevisual-based-learning/

https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress. com/2015/07/11/schoolsneed-to-include-morevisual-based-learning/

http://brightgroupinternational.com/bright-agency/educational-portfolio-tips

http://brightgroupinternational.com/bright-agency/educational-portfolio-tips

http://izatrapani.com/wp/ so-you-want-to-illustratea-childrens-book/

http://izatrapani.com/wp/ so-you-want-to-illustratea-childrens-book/

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/38/14325.full

Relevant Quotes “…unless our words, concepts, ideas are hooked onto an image, they will go in one ear, sail through the brain, and go out the other ear. Words are processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about seven bits of information (plus or minus 2) […]. Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched.” -Dr. Lynell Burmark “What I hear, I forget; What I see, I remember; What I do, I understand.” - Old Chinese proverb, sometimes attributed to Confucius “Most of the responses to this question from children in the English schools contained references to the difficulty of having to “remember” words or concepts.”

- (Pupils’ Attitudes, Perceptions And Understanding Of Primary Science) Visuals help people make sense out of the content and direct attention, increasing the possibilities that the learners will remember.

Rachel Ignotofsky An illustrator and designer living in the US, selling educational prints and homewares via Etsy. Her work aims to help people memorise facts, through fun visuals.

This is EXACTLY the style of work that I’m interested in investigating for this project. Do these diagrams help with understanding, memory and attitude?

Visual information, highlighting key terms and diagrams with scale, boldness and colour.

In contrast, this is a very simple visualisation. The text is unhelpful as it’s italic so takes more time to read and there is no variation in scale or positioning so the eye gets bored quickly.

How complex can you go, before an infographic becomes too confusing? Are mindmaps different for everyone?

Humorous depictions of historical events work. Visualisations of stories help to solidify information. Do cartoon style charactors work just as well as more lifelike drawings?

Proposals for practical work Creating a revision guide based on a specific topic Creating a set of revision cards based on a specific topic Creating editorial images to accompany, and aid in explaining, educational text.

Create posters/homewares based on educational illustrations. Similar to Rachel Ignotofsky’s work.

Creating engaging presentations for the classroom.

Creating educational posters for a dental practice/doctors waiting room.

Creating imagery to accompany a health book.

Creating a range of stationery, featuring educational illustrations.

Create worksheets for students to aid revision.