nitrogen_astern@2x.png

Comm Design


Nitrogen Cycle

Diagrams are artifacts for understanding and aids for thinking; They abstract to clarify and show relationships between things. This is a process diagram of the nitrogen transformation process described in an article from Scientific American, Fixing the Global Nitrogen Problem. The goal was to identify process-based content and visualize it in diagrammatical form.


Weather Map

When faced with a large amount of quantitative data, such as 3-day weather data for a wide range of cities, communicating the information in a clear and organized manner can seem impossible. In all communication design, determining the appropriate treatment for different types of information, what information can be omitted due to its repetitive nature, and how to combine text and illustrative graphics are equally important in creating a successful piece.


Insurance Form

Most forms are just awful, but insurance claim forms are in a league of their own. Whether it's the ambiguous wording or the lack of adequate writing space, these forms fail on multiple levels. Designing a piece of communication design in which you are not given much latitude on what information you can combine or even entirely omit makes it very difficult to create a form that is both understandable to users but still provides the necessary information for insurance agents. 


How-To Process

How would you describe a complex process to someone? The goal of this assignment was to learn how to take a complex process and divide it into individual steps, including the information necessary to guide someone through the process successfully. I chose to illustrate the process of folding a fitted bed sheet, something I found many people to believe as pure witchcraft.


Parking Meter

While Chicago may be known for its public transportation, its parking meters, on the other hand, are a design disaster. Ill-considered button placement and confusing information makes this an extremely aggravating system to use. Considering human-centered communication design concepts, how might we redesign the parking meter to make it more user-friendly?