Picture This: Division of Power
Have you ever wondered how member states of the EU coordinate all their policies, and draft legislation? Us too! One tool toward understanding this process could be an analogy to the federal and state governments in the US: states have powers that are helpful for managing their specific regions and populations, while the federal government manages legislation that affects the entire country.
However, if this analogy feels a little unsatisfying — do not worry! We have your back with our newest infographic, which provides a visual breakdown of what policies the EU and its member governments have control over. Created by one of our undergraduate EURO majors, after attending workshops with UNC Data and Visualization Services Librarian Lorin Bruckner and consulting with CES staff, this infographic is part of a larger project to help viewers better understand the EU and its institutions.
Read on to see our student’s newest work and a brief description of their experience creating infographics.
After spending some time making infographics or designs — or really any creatively-produced work (an essay, for example) — you might find yourself falling into a rut. Perhaps you reuse specific words or phrases (conversely is my personal crutch), or you are stuck on a specific color combination (is anyone else getting a little tired of yellow and blue?). Whatever these elements are that we keep returning to, it can honestly feel a little disheartening sometimes. If you are supposed to be creative, why might you gravitate toward the same things over and over?
However, sometimes (maybe even most times) repetition is not a bad thing. Particularly if you are representing a brand or specific entity, repetition can be a really useful tool for developing an identity. For example, having seen seven of CES’ infographics by this point, you probably know that we have used the same exact fonts in all of them, and that for the past 6, we have even had a cool title: All About EU (starring Ursula von der Leyen, Bette Davis, and Marilyn Monroe…wait a second — !) The point is, like it or not, this project has become familiar — if you saw the title printed on a bus, you would probably think, “Wow, CES has really expanded their advertising budget!,” and you would probably also expect some mix of blue and yellow information about the EU to be covering the windows.
Just as these repeated elements help audiences identify a work, they can also help creators be more…well, creative! By having a set structure of elements that they know work well together, and that people are familiar with, the creator does not have to worry so much about reinventing the proverbial wheel for each new topic. Instead, they can have a little fun, playing with visual effects like drop shadows, transparencies, and gradients, or maybe finding out what happens when they just slightly change the hue of a color. In this way, the designer’s (or brand’s) habits allow the freedom to add another layer of personality to their work, and give it quirks and idiosyncrasies to make it unique.
Of course, this is not to say that all repetitions are good. For example, using the same layout or page orientation every time you make a design is going to get boring pretty fast. This is why it is important to always try something new with every design, no matter how small, to continue to develop and challenge your sense of design.
Interested in reading more about the work CES students do? Check out the Students tab on our blog!
Curious to see our other infographics? Head over to the Infographics tab on our blog!
This post was produced by EURO major Brett Harris.
This post’s production was supported by a 2018–2021 Jean Monnet Center of Excellence grant from the European Union.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
