I worked with Porpoise Studio and Aclima to create a visual brand and series of interface designs around a novel dataset to raise awareness of air quality issues in underrepresented communities.
Aclima uses technology to create hyper-local air quality datasets, in part by mounting sensors to moving vehicles in a fashion similar to Google Street View. By gathering air quality information in this way, Aclima is able to reveal areas of pollution otherwise missed by traditional monitoring techniques.
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This project was a collaboration between myself (visual design), Porpoise Studio (engineering and data science), and Aclima, the client.
Due to the timeline and scope of this project, my approach focused on creating an engaging asethetic and applying it creatively to an existing UI prototype. Fore more in-depth case studies, try Axiom Data Experience or HealthWeather.us.
Help Aclima/Porpoise Studio create a narrative-based data report to visualize and showcase their unique dataset and the types of stories that can be told around areas of interest.
After conducting intake sessions on visual brand goals, I assembled real-world visual designs that presented competing interpretations of the brand values we discussed. This allowed the client to react to a curated set of aethetic elements to provide meaningful feedback.
Once we had identified specific visual elements that resonated with stakeholders, I created a series of mockups with visual styles inspired by our previous exercise. Using real UI elements from the preexisting prototype helped keep the conversation practical and focused.
Once our team had gravitated toward a specific visual brand, I applied variations of that brand to the same two screens from the prototype to further adjust colors and typographic treatments to achieve the desired brand aesthetic for the interactive report.
Although this project wasn't heavy on strategy or IA work, I occasionally used diagraming to help us confirm that the structure of menus aligned with the narrative content in a logical way.
With the visual style solidified, we moved quickly to apply it to preexisting prototype screens. During this phase I had the opportunity to offer insight and suggestions on UI best practices to help improve the prototype interface.
Lastly, I created flexible versions of the interface to respond to varying browser / device sizes. By making strategic decisions early on about how and where to render story content on larger screens, the transition to smaller devices was made more straightforward.
This project highlights a fascinating client doing extremely relevant work around air quality and provided a rewarding chance to return to my roots as a visual brand designer.
My work with Aclima and Porpoise studio on this project demonstrates how progress toward meaningful visual design can happen relatively rapidly when the right people are involved. In just a few weeks our collaborative group was able to initiate a new visual brand and apply it to an interactive report.
The data that drives this report was featured in The Washington Post for its ability to reveal the disproportionate impact of pollution on communities of color when compared to mostly White communities.
As a designer, one of my favorite challenges is deciding how to adapt and tailor my approach to projects that vary in scope and duration.
I recognize that not every case study will speak to all parts of the design process, but I still like to include work that demonstrates progress with limited scope.
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If you're looking for an experienced visual designer with a focus on data visualization, let's get in touch!
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