The design issue in this case was to create an infographic on any chosen subject. The elements of the design were to be visual aids that clarify the subject, effectively translating the chosen information into an understandable visual presentation. I chose the topic of reforestation and deforestation, and with some study found data for the rates of each for the top one hundred countries. The data was released in August 2009 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. I chose to narrow it down to the top thirty of each, and wanted to make a striking visual graphic to represent this information.
After some revisions I settled on a background image of a leaf. The veins in the leaf gave my graphic the look I wanted, eluding to branches and making my tree come to life. I wanted to also express the opposite side of the green/growth feeling so I used a gradient of dark browns to suggest the dying or deforestation aspect.
It was difficult to take the huge amount of data and put it into a clear context that wouldn't involve too much study on the viewers part to understand. I think that how I grouped the countries simplified it all and make the graphic clearer than if I had handled each piece of data as unique.