Solar Power Final Project

Hi Valentina, I was inspired by the shapes and techniques you used in the demoed visualization and decided to make my own project about a natural element too - sun instead of water! I found a dataset of electricity generation by source, month and country and used it to create a beach-themed visualization made of a few different

This is the first time I've used Adobe Illustrator so it took a lot of trial and error and I also followed a few intro videos on the programme here on Domestika. Otherwise, I put together a little mood board on Pinterest and a first sketch on paper, though it changed slightly along the way.

I cleaned and reshaped the dataset into different versions so it would only

At first, I considered going with lightbulbs and cables but soon enough, I settled on a sunny beach theme. I liked the cheerful vibe (a good fit for a positive story about solar power adoption :)), easily recognizable colours and familiar shapes. The sand, the sea, the beach umbrellas all gave me ideas for choosing the right charts.

Next, I sketched out a possible layout for the charts. I thought it could be a vertical poster with a sun-shaped diagram at the top, beach umbrellas showing seasonal trends in the middle and a blue area chart washing up along the bottom. I loosely followed this first idea, though it eventually grew into a two-page spread which made it easier to fit the country outliers on the page.

Here's the final project! I really enjoyed the process and I'm sure I'll be coming back to the course in the future. I know I still have LOTS to learn about Illustrator and how to make a clean layout but for my first try, I'm quite proud. Thank you so much for the whole course and all the resources. I'm looking forward to your feedback. :)