Presentation Visual Aid: Infographic

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is for students to create a multimodal visual aid for their final
presentations that illustrate their stance for their final paper.
Grading
After designing your infographic on CANVA, download your infographic and save it as a pdf
file document and submit the file through canvas. 
Objectives: Getting Started

1. On Canva, create a free account with your UNCC email (there should be a "sign in with
gmail" option). Explore the account so you can familiarize yourself. 
2. Click on Create a Design.
3. Click on Infographic templates.
4. Here, you will have access to many FREE template and designs of infographics. DO
NOT BUY ANYTHING FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT--USE THE FREE TEMPLATES
& IMAGES.
o Note that you can upload images as well from off the internet or from your
computer as you would upload a file/image onto any other program. Use this to provide
images relevant to your topic.

Requirements

1. Create an infographic that represents your final paper thesis and overall
purpose/message to your audience (think rhetorical triangle). Remember, you are trying
to inform an audience about your topic and specific issue. Your audience should be able to
look/read through your infographic and learn from/understand your paper topic and overall
message.
2. Your infographic SHOULD illustrate the stance that you have taken in your final
paper. Your infographic should be persuasive and informative.
3. Your infographic should have a title of some sort. This title can be a question if you like
or just a header that presents the topic/issue.
4. I would like everyone to include 1 reference/source correctly cited in APA format at
the bottom of their infographic--this shows credibility and at this point you have all done
research to support your stance.
5. Remember the rhetorical triangle: who is your audience, what is your message, what is
your overall purpose (to educate, inform, persuade, encourage, etc.)? Also, remember ethos,
pathos, and logos (look back at your notes for this). Consider which ones you are using and
why? There might need to be a balance. If it is all logos (statistics and logic) but no pathos
(emotion) your audience may not really care.
6. Take ALL 5 MODES of multimodality (explained in the video) into account. The only
one you won't directly incorporate is an audio element.
Below I am addressing the 5 modes of modality more in depth as a review, but also to make sure
you are balancing elements evenly:

1. Linguistic (words)- remember in the examples from class we discussed the font size,
bold, italics, font style, and color of words, as well as punctuation and how words/sentences
are presented to get a message across. We also discussed the issue with using too many
words in an infographic, which makes the information seem crowded, but also using not
enough words can make the infographic unclear in regard to the message you are trying to
get across. So try to have a balance. This also relates to information like statistics--are there
too many statistics, are the statistics larger in font for a reason, etc.? Also note that some
infographics have their REFERENCES listed at the bottom--what does this do? Well, it
builds your credibility as a scholar so consider this depending on your topic and your
research thus far.
2. Visual (pictures)- while an infographic is a visual in itself, you also use images within
your infographic to create a message. Really think about what images you are using and
WHY. Same as words, infographics should not just be pictures alone and not just words
alone. You need a balance of both. Also consider the size of your images. Visuals also
include COLORS. We talked about what emotions and colors can represent and how that can
influence the meaning of your message. Also consider the usage of colors when it comes to
clarity and aesthetic appeal--you don't want neon yellow lettering on a white background! the
audience cannot read that.
3. Audio (sound)- while you will not have literal audio for you infographics, consider
sound as "emphasis" in your infographic. For example, if I write something in all caps and
with specific punctuation such as an exclamation point, I am creating sound for my readers
and also drawing attention. For example, "RECYCLE!" as a reader I'm thinking "oh my
gosh, I better recycle for some reason..." Be careful with this tactic, however, because it
seems like shouting to an audience, so careful with what you shout. Another way to create
sound is through color. Bright red (like in the bullying infographic in the discussion post) is
almost like a warning to audience members which can be a type of emphasis/sound.
4. Gestural (movement)- We talked about where things are placed (both info and images)
in order to create a sense of movement, but also to guide readers through your information.
While images of arrows can work, don't over use them because there are other ways to create
movement. Remember in the Air Pollution infographic, the smog that is throughout the
image makes the audience eyes look at each element. The wind in the sky is also creating a
sense of direction. The layout of your information will dictate movement as well; for
example, is your information places horizontally, vertically, zig-zag going from top to
bottom or left to right? all of these will move readers along when taking in your infographic.
5. Spatial (placement)- Thing about where you are placing your images and information--
also consider how much space is around them. Think back to the coral reef infographic, it
was crowded and separated by lines--was this done effectively in order to create a clear
message? (not really). Too much space can make an infographic feel empty but not enough
space between information can see crowded. So again, have a balance. Also remember how
we talked about the placement of the title in the Air Pollution infographic--does your
message change by putting the title at the top versus the bottom of your graphic? Most likely.
This all has to do with placement of your info.