Thread by @iamscicomm

Here's a second poster from @AcheleKelpfish for review!

Part of this project: mass.gov/orgs/massachus…

🧵1/10

One of the most powerful ways that we make sense of complex documents like this is by PLACEMENT of elements.

We treat things close together as RELATED.

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We think the first two circles are related because they are close left to right. 2/10

But now...

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We think the two left circles are related because they are close up and down. 3/10

The effect of placing two text blocks close together is VERY strong. 💪 It influences how we think about the order to read things.

In this poster, I'm not sure the cues the poster is sending about reading order are super clear. 4/10

The poster's center has six "blocks" of text and images: three across, two down.

The text in the top CENTER block ⬆ is closest to the text in the top RIGHT block. ↗ Top right block is closest to bottom right. ↘
5/10

But that order leaves out the bottom left ↙ and bottom center ⬇!

The heading ties bottom left ↙ and bottom center ⬇ go together, so maybe I am supposed to zig zag? 6/10

But when I go in and try to make sense of the text, I think I am supposed to read across in ROWS.

We also expect consistency! The rightmost section of the poster, "Why it matters" is a column, which also adds to the "Which way to go" ambiguity. 7/10

When you're in the thick of creating a bog document like this, it's easy to think the logical order of the words will dictate reading order.

But we see the larger context - the "blocks" of text and images - LONG before we ever get to sentences or words. 8/10

Like the poster in an earlier thread (), there are elements that don't align.

Does everything HAVE to be aligned? No. It often looks cleaner, more organized, more purposeful, though. Those are good things 🤗 to be! 9/10

I want to thank @AcheleKelpfish for her willingness to share this work! Hope it helps! 10/