Week 21 - 22 | MA Data Visualisation Term 2


Wee


In addition to meeting the post-production and submission deadlines for the Shambala Festival project during the past two weeks, we also had the opportunity to attend a lecture led by the course director, Mr Henrietta, on the principles of graphic and layout design. The session focused on the use of Adobe InDesign as a professional tool for structuring data visualisation outcomes in the form of posters and publication layouts.

The objective of the session was not merely technical proficiency, but to cultivate a critical awareness of how typographic hierarchy, spatial composition, and visual coherence contribute to the communicative effectiveness of data-driven design. By examining a range of publication formats and grid systems, the workshop encouraged us to consider how layout decisions can enhance narrative flow, guide reader attention, and support the interpretability of complex data. This session provided a foundational framework for translating analytical content into visually compelling formats, which will be particularly relevant for the documentation and presentation of our final festival-related outputs.

Overall Reflection




During these weeks, we successfully completed the submission of our collaborative project proposal as part of the ongoing Shambala Festival design brief. However, the scheduled group presentation, originally planned for Friday the 22nd, had to be postponed until May due to unforeseen circumstances—specifically, the illness of the Shambala project leader. Despite this minor disruption, the overall progress of the project has remained steady and well-coordinated.

This phase of the semester has deepened my understanding of both data visualisation as a communicative and narrative medium, and the dynamics of effective teamwork in a design-led context. Engaging in collaborative decision-making, responding to feedback, and negotiating divergent creative perspectives have significantly strengthened my ability to work within interdisciplinary teams. Furthermore, the experience has enhanced my confidence in managing future projects, particularly as I begin to develop my Final Major Project (FMP). I now feel more equipped to apply both strategic and visual thinking to complex design challenges, while maintaining a balance between aesthetic considerations and data integrity.