Get to know me through
visualsor text

Currently: MA in visual communication design @ Westerdals Kristiania

Previously: BA in graphic 
design @ NTNU

Open to work, reach out:

hei@tomashau.no
+47 473 17 027


Orgnr. 927126567 ©2024 tomashau design

Animal Activity in Akerselva

(2023, ma student)

 
For class in Design Research Methods, we were encouraged to use design as a method of exploring a given subject. My subject was wildlife in Akerselva, and the goal was to end up with a visual representation of my findings.
Adobe Illustrator




Process

I sat and observed for 1h 2 mins and wrote down all my sightings: Species, action, interactions with other animals, and timeframe. When I got back home, I started drawing ideas.


Through my exploration, I realized a reoccuring pattern, which was that 2-3 ducks continuously swam up and down, occasionally nibbling on small fish/insects, creating ripples in the water. No traditional graph or diagram would be able to communicate both movement, direction, interaction and timeframe intuitively, so I had to come up with something different.

In this A2 poster, I have created a representation of the river flowing downwards. Movement and direction is showcased with lines of fading color, representing older movements fading away in the water. To avoid clustering, I divided each new appearance into time slots. Each interraction with another fish or insect is represented by water ripples. 


Result