Shape Tools

After I finished reading Chapter 10: Shape Tools,  it was undeniable what image I needed to create. My students, who are freshman, will create a "healthy plate" as their culminating project after participation in my instructional unit on nutrition.  

Students have a difficult time visualizing what a healthy plate looks like, not only with respect to what types of foods go on the plate, but the quantities of the foods as well.  I decided to use an oval for my base shape to model an actual plate.  Lohr, 2008, states that a base shape should be created as an underlying instructional visual with type and other design elements around the shape. (p. 250).  I divided the oval into separate parts, with each of those parts representing the quantities of food students will be putting on the plate in their final project.   I incorporated two font types; Broadway for the bold large text outside the oval and Tempas Sans for the text inside the oval. I also tried to help students visualize the quantities of the different foods by varying the text size based on the amounts of foods within each of the parts on the healthy plate. 

I have incorporated circles and triangles into my graphic as well.  Lohr explains that shape improves instruction through the use of simple shapes such as circles and ovals which imply harmony, show processes, focus attention, and show elements of systems or subsystems” (2008, p. 250) My graphic uses ovals and circles to help students visualize the elements of a healthy meal. 

As usual, I had our elementary art teacher and good friend look at my visual to help me make it better. Initially, my visual was simply black and white, but he suggested I add some color to increase its appeal to students.  I decided to use the glow effect and our school colors of black and orange.

Lohr, L.L. (2008).  Creating graphics for learning and performance: Lessons in visual literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ:Pearson