Mother’s Day Project for Iris

This is my version of an infographics inspire by Nicholas Felton‘s 2010 Annual Report. I’ve never done anything like this, so it was a learning experience and I enjoyed it. There are so many facts about a person’s life and this is a fairly simple one page project. I will print it out 8″ x 10″ and put it in a simple frame.

Iris – layer 1 – background

I did my layout in InDesign with five layers. The bottom layer just has the background.After I put in the background color in an 8 x 10 box, I locked the layer so I wouldn’t accidentally select it. The background color is a 25% tint of the main text color. This way when I go to make another version for Bill’s mom I can change the text color swatch and the background will change too.

Iris – layer 2 – lines

The second layer is just the lines. The default 1 pt stroke was too strong so they are .5 pt strokes. In case you don’t know, if you hold down the shift-key when you drag out a line with the line tool it will be perfectly horizontal or vertical.

Iris – layer 3 – text

The third layer is for most of the text. I used Myriad Pro in weights from light to black. I really like it when font families have such a contrast in weights.

Iris – layer 4 – photos etc.

The fourth layer is for the photos. After I picked the three photos I wanted to use I edited them in Photoshop using color matching to give them all an old sepia tone look. This layer also includes the brown lines on the residences “chart”. I drew these lines in InDesign with the pen tool. I started with a map of the United States and used that as a guide for drawing lines from Rexburg, where she was born, to each city she lived in. Then I deleted the map leaving the lines.

Iris – layer 5 – white text & lines (shown with layer 1)

The fifth layer is for all the white text and lines. I added white dots of various sizes for each city. Bigger dots for the cities with the most address. You see it here with the background layer so you can tell what is there.

I added a sixth layer to block out some of the more specific information on my mom for posting on this blog. No reason to risk identity theft. By putting it on a separate layer I can turn the blocked out areas on or off as needed for output.

I have learned over the last few years that it is very helpful to think through a project and create layers for different elements. It prevents lots of problems when it comes to editing and rearranging your design. For example with the residence chart, I can lock all the layers but the two involved in the chart and re-size or move it with accidentally selecting the text or other lines nearby.

If you would like an InDesign template of this project send me an email to raelyn@tellingfamilytales.com