PROJECT REPORT:

Creative Insights: Exploring Weed Use through Interactive Data Visualization.

ABSTRACT

Presenting the latest user trends in cannabis-based products collected by a company - the project focuses on creating an engaging on-page experience featuring interactivity, data visualizations, and informative content. Additionally, a downloadable PDF was provided, albeit with reduced capabilities compared to its digital relative.

Considering the company's commitment to hemp and natural essences in its brand identity, the challenge was to design a visually distinctive experience that aligns with the existing brand standards. The absence of prior illustrations in the brand allowed for greater creative freedom in expressing personality into the design. It explores the incorporation of interactivity, reveals, and illustrative data, while ensuring the design reflects the brand's ethos and engages the target audience effectively.

About the Company.

FrankenWeed, Inc. (referred to throughout as "FWI") is a company that specializes in Cannabis-infused and hemp-based comfort products. From topicals to additives, FWI shares annual user trend data with valuable stakeholders. For 2021, FWI decided they were going to present their trend results in an engaging and interactive landing page experience.

*Note: due to proprietary information, images have been replaced with similar instances, and any identifying content has been replaced with lorem ipsum text.

The Design Process.

Early Concepting.

Illustration Inspiration:

The most thrilling aspect of the project involved selecting the illustrative style that would align with FWI's earth-inspired brand and convey a sense of humility. I aimed to find a style that resonated with the brand's values while avoiding a disconnected feeling that could arise from using custom illustrations featuring simple or cartoonish shapes. To address this, I opted to incorporate real-world objects as illustrations instead.

To emphasize illustration over imagery and ensure visual distinction, I employed grainy filters with single-color edits. This approach enabled a harmonious blend of the "truth" depicted by the object/illustration while limiting the color palette to maintain the integrity of creativity. The grainy texture was deliberately chosen to preserve dimensionality and evoke the aesthetics reminiscent of early printing techniques. By leveraging these design choices, the illustrations remained faithful to the brand's humble nature while infusing them with a distinct visual style.

Preliminary Sketches:

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Project Challenges.

Navigation:

One of the earliest challenges we faced was designing a navigation method that was intuitive and easy to understand. Since each "slide" on the landing page had its own anchor, it was essential to reflect all the options in a menu. While a top navigation, typically seen on desktops, would have required reducing the character count for slide titles to maintain visibility, this approach risked compromising the clarity of the data being shown. To prioritize the UX principle of "Recognition over Recall," I decided to opt for a side navigation instead.

By utilizing a mobile-inspired left-handed navigation, there was a better balance between visibility and comprehension. This design choice ensured that the navigation links remained understandable and accurate, enabling users to easily recognize and access the desired information without sacrificing the clarity of the data presented on each slide.