Explanation Graphic

    In my explanation graphic I decided to use the life cycle of a butterfly. Being a science major I knew that a lot of life cycle graphics can be very confusing. When I typed in life cycle to google images this is one of the first pictures that I saw and right away I realized how confusing and unorganized it looked. 

    In my first iteration i started off with the beginning of the life cycle on the top (the egg stage) and moved in a downwards pattern from their. When i got to the bottom and realized that the last step connects back to the first step i realized i could make a better layout. Since it is a cycle and there is not necessarily a first and last stage. It is an on-going process. This made me think of the idea of an actual cycle image (left image above). This came out well and became my final draft.

   I think my image is more successful than the original because it is much more simple, and gives the audience the idea of a cycle before they even get into reading the text. I learned that a lot of aspects go into making visual graphics. The gestalt principle, cognitive load and working memory all come into account when trying to make a successful image. I used the gestalt principle when grouping together arrows with text and images for each step. I reduced the cognitive load and working memory of the audience by removing informational text that was not important in understanding the main idea. I removed some of the words describing color of the butterfly and replaced them with actual color images. This allows the audience to automatically know the colors and looks of each stage of the cycle without having to read anything.

  In conclusion this assignment allowed me to realize that simple is sometimes better, as long as the main point still get across.