Information Design - Project 1: Infographics Poster

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Name: Liong Xenyi (0383125)
Module: Video and Sound Production (GCD60504)
Date: 2/2/2026 -  (Week 1 - Week )
Degree: Bachelor of Design (Honors) in Creative Media 
University: Taylor's University

Instructions

Progress
I was scrolling through the Granny YouTube channel, and stumbled upon the Tortellini Recipe. Why did I chose this you might ask, well I don't know too. I like the name, and recently I saw memes about it. Yea, my humor is weird. Anyway, I kind of regretted choosing this recipe later on, because there's so many ingredients included, even though the instructions are simple. At first, I thought we could use free vectors from online, but after some class updates, we weren't allowed to use Canva or A.I. illustrations (as we should), and need to make our own illustrations. Since I consulted with this recipe, and I like how cute they look like, I stuck to it (dedicated, I know). 

I first wrote down the whole recipe on my Notepad, listing down the ingredients and instructions.

Fig 1.1 Written Recipe

I then searched for references for recipe infographics, and choosing those that I like and want for my recipe. I like the colour green, as it fits the cottage core theme for making authentic Italian Recipes. I found the colour palette and used it for the background. It is quite a large amount of ingredients and has 3 main parts, so I sketched out on how to separate them. I loved the kind of curvy flow, as it adds aesthetic and movement that makes it catchier. I kind of planned a lot in my head, so I made only one sketch.
Fig 1.2 References and colour scheme

Fig 1.3 Sketch for Tortellini Recipe

As I found some vector illustration for the ingredients earlier, I used them as reference to draw my own illustrations. I started with the vegetables (as they're easier) and later on to the harder parts. It really took me a long time to complete all these illustrations, as I don't why, but I liked to make some really detailed. And the meat was the hardest to make (and I have 7 different meats! It was so difficult). I used the skills I learned back in Illustration class. However, this time I just used shapes to create the shadow, lighting and so forth. I didn't like using the line-art style for vector images, as they are quite hard to make too. Below are some pictures I took while I made the illustrations.

I just made two Tortellini and duplicated the rest, adjusting the perspective, size and rotation so they looked slightly different with variety. I followed the reference as much as possible, and somehow, I used my eye to compare the colours, and make sure they match together. 
Fig 1.4 Tortellini progress


As such for the onion and carrot, I used the previous illustrations as reference. I changed some of the shape, colours and style to match my own and the vibe of the poster. I wanted it to have a lesser saturated colour to represent the vintage, yet colourful look for this infographic.
Fig 1.5 Onion progress

Fig 1.6 Carrot progress

As for the leaves and celery, it looks weird if I make it too realistic, and realised minimalistic shapes were the best. I used some gradient for the celery as well.
Fig 1.7 Bay Leaf progress

Fig 1.8 Celery progress

For the egg, I made one whole egg, use a line to create cracks, and used the shape builder tool to remove said line. Then I formed the egg, and added the beaten eggs. Both egg and cheese reference were seen from my other monitor, so I didn't include the pictures in Illustrator. The cheese was kind of hard to get the exact look, so I just made some shapes here and there and hoped for the best.
Fig 1.9 Egg progress

Fig 1.10 Cheese progress

I created new visuals for salt and pepper, adding flour too. I made the bottle a little transparent to give a glass look.
Fig 1.11 Salt, pepper and flour progress

The meat, oh the meat. Do I hate this part a lot. Since it has a lot of complex colours and shapes, I tried following it as best as I could. I made the meat have different colours to indicate the type of meat it is (dark red for beef, lighter peachy pink for pork, etc.). But making this made me hungry and sad because these types of meat is a rarity for me to eat.
Fig 1.12 Meat 1 progress

Fig 1.13 Meat 2 progress

Fig 1.14 Meat 3 progress

Fig 1.15 Meat 4 progress

Finally, when I was finished with the long processes of making the ingredients illustrations, I moved on to arranging the layout. And, I need to still make more illustrations to show the process. I haven't make some of the tools needed, so I drew the roller and meat mixer bowl. Additionally, I made the final plate of Tortellini, and used the video as reference.
Fig 2.1 Multi-roller blade progress

Fig 2.2 Meat bowl progress

Fig 2.3 Final Tortellini

I started arranging the elements in the flow I want. This part was quite hard, as I had to arrange it to look comprehensible while squeezing a lot of ingredients together. It took me many trial and error stages to see what fits. It looks crowded, so I tried to give space for each element and process. Maybe I should have just done simple chunking, even though I don't really like it, but it was hard to space this out nicely and evenly.
Fig 2.4 Layout progress

Once I had the layout figured out, I added the ingredients amount and some recipe instruction if it's not so clear in the infographics. I made sure the font is readable yet aesthetic and fitting for my poster, and changed the colour scheme. I wanted the colours to stand out for easier readability, so I used a dark orange and dark green colour. I made the main instructions in a box with numbers, so that people can easily reference to them. I decided to follow the references earlier and use a smokey vapour to add to the flow of the recipe. I made it flow how I want the eyes to follow it, from step 1-4, till the finished recipe. However, it is still lacking in clarity. 
Fig 2.5 Adding details to the infographic

I added a part of the smoke, but in different colour, so it is partially chunking the information in that area, so it is easier to group them and understand which steps belong to which part. I colour-coded it so that it stands out more. Additionally, I added arrows to indicate how the flow goes, and which part is next. I used the additional space give, and make it have a flowy look like the smoke.
Fig 2.6 Additional details

I made some minor changes here and there before the final outcome. I added the table cloth edges as a sort of deco border. I added the reference to the original YouTube video at the bottom of the recipe, while adding a simple text of 'Enjoy!'. I changed the smoke colour to just blue and orange, as they are related. Blue is to make the pasta, and orange is the meat filling and broth. Lastly, the fonts I used were: Agraham, Italianno and La Parisienne Sans.



Final Submission
Fig 3.1 Tortellini Recipe Infographic Poster


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