Storytelling with illustration 02 (Day 10)

This is the case study of ビジネス図解研究所, part 2.

Following previous note about the cover design, what else did the author do to make illustrations attractive?

Tip2. Three-color rule

I took some screenshots of his illustration and observed the design style. Then I noticed that each illustration has average 2~3 colors, black for texts and light colors for highlighting a section or icon.

If you dive a bit deeper into the design, you will find out that there is a strict rule behind its color choice.

This article about creating effective infographics, it explains how a good design is done with a right color palette:
- Use as few colors as possible (four at most)
- Assign a clear logic about how to use each of them
- Arrange them by importance
- Have a clear sense of which colors means what

Tip3. Make a plan first

The ultimate goal of a visualization is to make complex data easier to comprehend. 
- from The Do’s And Don’ts of Infographic Color Selection

Before starting a new visualization, you need to make a plan. 

Usually, I start with a notebook and a pen to create a simple draft with lists, drawings and rough tables. The picture below is my draft for a three-month research plan .  

After I finished the draft, I looked at them and asked myself: 
- Which part of them will be better presented in a visualization?
- And what is the most important message I want to convey to my team?

I decided to visualize the table at the top right which tells types of user research, when to involve stakeholder, and dates for sharing... well, I don't want to use a whole A4 page to explain that.

So, here is the chart:

Of course, I still use some texts to further explain each blocks in a report. At least, my team can get a big picture about my plan at one glance.

That's all for today, tomorrow I continue to talk about this subject, see you.