Medium Specificity

https://www.canva.com/design/DAEVVqeJ5uc/TqLh1NQidpoi00hM9FuMCg/watch?utm_content=DAEVVqeJ5uc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

This project helped me to explore the affordances and limitations of an infographic. I learned a lot about what is possible with an infographic since I have never made one before. For example, I learned that some of the affordances are moving graphics that can be included in the media. If I needed to send out a lot of information to my students or their parents, I could use an infographic with small, fun, moving graphics that would help keep their attention more. I also learned that this media is easy to share with others. The link can be attached an in email, blog post, social media page, or text message. This is a great tool for distributing information to students and parents in a fun and easy manner. I also learned that you can attach music to the infographic. You can pick from a wide library of sources. This feature can add more of a theme and help create the experience your audience has while reading through. It adds to the mood of your project’s theme, creating a united yet playful message for the reader.

I learned that some of the affordances, however, are also some of the limitations. If I ever wanted to design a poster for a class, I would not use an infographic like I originally thought I would because the moving pictures, while exciting in a digital form, do not allow for a print-out version to be made so easily. Another limitation is that the app advertises many features that require the user to buy the full version to access. While not that big of a deal, it was a small limitation on creative opportunities when the perfect image I wanted was not accessible to me.

Overall, I really enjoyed getting to understand more about infographics. As someone who often gets creative ideas at the last minute, I am always on the lookout for tools and apps that will help me quickly transform my abstract ideas into concrete projects. Using Canva seems like a fun and exciting way to quickly get out a large amount of information out to many people. The pre-made outlines are easy to navigate while still leaving plenty of room for individual creativity. I appreciated how the setup for the font size, color, and style was similar to programs like Word and Google Docs, making the system very user-friendly and easy to navigate from the beginning. This program did not have a long learning curve. I felt as though I was able to both understand how the program worked as well as effectively use it as a tool to put together my ideas in a short amount of time. I’m looking forward to using infographics and other Canva tools in my future classroom preparation and communications.