Overall, I liked the presentation, but it was a little too reliant on video. It was nice that they stuck to the format for consistency, but mixing up the storytelling methods may have been more entertaining for most readers. Animating some of the steps would have been a nice touch, and added variety. Of course, animations would add time to the production of the presentation, so that’s a consideration.

I thought the little egg-shaped guys were awesome. I would have liked to have seen them more, though – perhaps having them drive the trucks? Wow, now I’m nitpicking about egg dudes.

Tracy, just want to thank you so much for choosing our project for the roundtable discussion!

Here’s a little background: The idea initially came to “egg dude” illustrator Chiara Bautista and me because we wondered what happened to our garbage after it was taken away from our curbs. We decided it would be a good project for our Earth Day coverage — and would stand the test of time. (In fact, we referred readers to it from a recycling story that ran in today’s paper.)

Videographer Jill Torrance and I tramped through trash in the local landfill and braved the flying fragments at the recycling facility to get a look at each step in the process.

We produced a full-page infographic for print (here’s a link to it: http://is.gd/1HQCj) and had just one day to put together the Flash interactive, so the two would launch simultaneously.

My biggest concern was to make sure the navigation and videos were integrated well, easy to use and actually worked! That’s why I appreciate any constructive criticism on the project, and tips on how we could make it better.

Kori,

Thanks for some behind-the-scenes on this project. Since the Flash piece was put together in one day, it’s understandable now why animation wasn’t incorporated more. For a single-day production, there’s a lot of polish, so bravo. Overall, it seems like a good use of available resources to put together an interactive in a short time.

The print graphic is awesome; great flow, lots of good information, and not terribly overwhelming. And, of course, the egg guys really give the graphic that special and quirky touch that can set a visual apart. They are very recognizable on a subconscious level, like a friendly advertising mascot from the ’60s.

Chris, thanks so much for taking the time to look through the interactive and print graphics! I really appreciate your insight.

My colleague, Chiara Bautista, did have time to animate one previous project that we worked on together for Day of the Dead. I’m curious what you think about it.

Here’s the link:
http://www.azstarnet.com/dayofthedead/

I thought it was a strong piece, especially knowing now the time constraints. Well done.

The navigation at the bottom is perfect and clear, egg dudes are obviously great, and it’s a solid and informative piece for your audience, I’m sure.

I did have a few thoughts though, mostly based on trying to create the scene for the viewer:

I would have liked more sounds of the machines running. A lot of slides started this way and then cut to video. More ambient noise would have brought me into the story more.

The ’still’ photography looked like video that was chopped up a bit (or like fast bursts of images). I would have liked more time with fewer images (such as w/ the sorters, etc.), again simply to allow more engagement in the scenes.

I was more engaged by the man driving the truck than the recycling coordinator. He was more animated and I felt more immersed in the experience.

But again, this was a strong piece. Congrats.

Funny story about the videos that were taken at the recycling facility, Scott.

We had great cooperation from the facility manager, however, he specified no video could be taken at the site. Weird, huh?

Turns out, a local TV station crew had been there a few months prior to shoot some video for a story. Apparently, it was an attack story. So, the manager was suspicious of the purpose of our visit, too.

Our videographer, Jill Torrance, figured out she could shoot a series of images with her camera and use that to create our video format. (Guess that was something the plant manager hadn’t considered.) That’s why the clips from the recycling plant are so choppy. Had to make do with what we were given.

Thanks very much for your suggestions, Scott! And for taking the time to review the project.