Information Design

Info Design Training In an age of information overload, organizations must use design principles that ensure management reports, text, pictures, and data get the time and attention they deserve. VRI gives clients concrete design strategies for presenting quantitative and qualitative information on paper (in printed reports) and in projected light environments (PowerPoints, Websites, and stand-alone apps). Handouts and work samples are supplied and small group exercises are provided upon request; critiques and re-design strategies are also offered upon request.
Communicating Complexity with Clarity A professionally designed logo (static or animated) matches best with a company’s marketing, web presence, and customer needs. The VisualResearch creative team provides critical brand styling that is necessary for a company's identity on both print and digital platforms. Whether you're in need of a new logo or a redesign of a current one, our process of discovering your company's unique look and feel is always our goal.
  • Project
  • Brand Development
  • Role
  • Logos, Static and Animated Logos and Imaging
  • Link
  • Animated Logos
Communicating Complexity with Clarity Explained by Neal B. Kauder, President, VRI and produced and directed by Emily-Anne Hall, Art Director, VisualResearch, Inc. With kinetic imaging and design assistance from Mitchell Craft and Melanie Felix. A demonstration of how to transform complex data into a more clear and compelling story. Effects are executed with green screen, Cinema4D, and After Effects. We show how to effectively integrate data, charts, color, live video, and animation. The video focuses on communicating "clarity over complexity" by making data-based graphics more visually accessible--using imagery, music, and animation to physically interact and "touch" data that floats in an infinite white space.
  • Project
  • Communicating Complexity with Clarity
  • Role
  • Motion Design, Digital Illustration, Infovideo
  • Link
  • Video
Brier Ridge Kennels & Outfitters Brier Ridge is a new company that required complete branding, identity, and website design and build services. The result is a parsimonious website design, with a simple UI and no navigation buttons; the user navigates only with vertical scrolling. With image sliders for each business line, a WIX platform allows non-IT company staff to quickly update all imagery and announcements.
  • Project
  • Brier Ridge Kennels & Outfitters
  • Role
  • Branding • Website
  • Link
    • Website
Anongos Insurance Anongos Insurance Agency is a new Richmond, VA. based insurance company that required complete branding, identity, and website design services. This was designed on a WIX platform to allow the flexibility of editing the website by non-technical company employees.
  • Project
  • Anongos Insurance
  • Role
  • Branding • Website
  • Link
    • Website
History of Sports and Doping VRI created this info-video to display an historical timeline of sports and doping. It includes data-based graphics, digital illustrations, pictures, video-clips, sound and text. A variety of illustration, motion, and video editing software are used for production.
  • Project
  • History of Sports and Doping
  • Role
  • Motion Design, Digital Illustration, Infovideo
  • Link
  • Video
inHealth VRI integrated text, data, image, motion, music & voice to design and produce infovideos. The inHealth story is told by visually explaining the suite of health care and management services offered. How MedVirginia operates a Health Information Exchange (HIE) is also described using an animated graphic.
Tanks Trucks & Trailers Tanks Trucks & Trailers services the mid-atlantic region of the United States. Headquartered in Richmond, VA., TT&T focuses on refined fuel and propane delivery units, and represents manufacturers of septic tanks, propane service trucks, and petroleum trailers. The heavy usage of images and video worked well when designed on a WIX platform. VRI rebranded TT&T’s image by redesigning their logo, signage, and web presence.
  • Project
  • Tanks Trucks & Trailers
  • Role
  • Re-Branding • Website • Video
  • Link
    • Website
Tanvis VRI developed an interactive, highly visual tool for internal management to measure sales and trading performance for a regional capital markets firm (pseudonym Tanvis). This type of data visualization tool is easily scalable, and appeals to a wide variety of industries and organizations who wish to make high-level, data-based decisions.
  • Project
  • Data Visualization Dashboard
  • Role
  • User Interface Design • Data Visualization
  • Link
  • Website
ConnectVirginia Infographic ConnectVirginia is the Statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) for the Commonwealth of Virginia. It provides a safe and confidential electronic system to support the exchange of patient records among healthcare providers. VRI developed this infographic and brochure to tell the story of the intermingling of information ConnectVirginia makes available to its participants.
  • Project
  • ConnectVirginia Infographic
  • Role
  • Conceptual Design • Research
  • Link
  • PDF | Website
160 Years of Alcohol Consumption Originally, created as a poster, this Infovideo represents an historical portrait of alcohol consumption in the United States. The poster graphic was later turned into a video and set to audio, as a way to demonstrate how data, music, images, and motion can work together to create a compelling animated story.
  • Project
  • 160 Years of Alcohol Consumption
  • Role
  • Conceptual Design • Video • Research
  • Link
  • Video | PDF Graphic
Courtroom Exhibits for McDonnell Douglas & General Dynamics vs. The United States VRI designed many arbitration and courtroom exhibits on a multi-year project for McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics vs. The United States. This case involved the cancellation of the Navy A12 Stealth Aircraft contract, and became the largest government contract case in American history ($9 billion). VRI worked with DOJ commercial litigation branch attorneys, engineers, and scientists to translate data, pictures, diagrams, and text into effective visualizations.
Elder Courts VRI designed books, folders, forms, checklists, and judicial bench cards for judges and prosecutors to use in elder abuse cases. A more modern layout and design was applied to call further attention to new resources recently made available to courts and prosecutors.
American Bar Association Collateral Consequences Collaborating with the American Bar Association, VRI designed a new search-driven interface that built the foundation of how the Collateral Consequences database was accessed by the public. The new application relies on an interface that is clean and intuitively navigated by users; there are a limited number of drill-downs, and information is designed efficiently to make the most use of valuable screen space.
  • Project
  • ABA - Collateral Consequences
  • Role
  • User Interface Design • Website Design
  • Link
  • Website



The Evolution of USDA Food Guides This two minute info-video was developed by VRI to provide a visually appealing historical view of how the USDA has made changes to their recommended food groupings. The data and imagery spans 70 years; it begins with the creation of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) and ends with current USDA recommendations.
  • Project
  • The Evolution of USDA Food Guides
  • Role
  • Conceptual Design • Video • Research
  • Link
  • Video | Methodology
Summary Jury Trials This monograph examines the development, evolution, and operation of summary jury trial programs in six jurisdictions. VRI designed maps, data-graphics, and tables to display information more easily, in addition to effectively integrating original court documents and forms.
  • Project
  • Summary Jury Trial
  • Role
  • Information Design • Publishing
  • Link
  • Cover | Interior | PDF
Mental Health Court VRI created four products for the Mental Health Court Performance Measures (MHCPM) project: a comprehensive report, an executive summary brochure, automated Excel measurement templates, and a CD. All products have an integrated branding and communication format to help improve case processing in courts with a special interest in mental health issues.
  • Project
  • Mental Health Court Performance Project
  • Role
  • Graphic Design • Policy Development
  • Link
  • Cover | CD | PDF
International Framework for Court Excellence This project involved a large-scale communications and design effort including an 80 page, fully interactive PDF with extensive external and internal hyperlinks which provide a highly visual and innovative user experience. A website is used by international court communities to provide resources to assist courts worldwide. All brochures produced are translated into 4 languages.
Redmond Asset Management Redmond Asset Management is a Richmond, Va., based financial company that wanted to increase their reach by establishing a presence on the web as a way to dynamically reach their clients. Constructed with the Wordpress CMS, this site design featured an efficient navigation system and a showcase of the company's quarterly blog.
  • Project
  • Redmond Asset Management
  • Role
  • Website Design
  • Link
  • Website

Data Analysis

Ortus OrtusIP is an innovated capital markets firm that specializes in analyzing and valuing intangible assets. VRI’s data analytics and visualization capacity aligns well with the OrtusIP’s business model. VRI is also involved in website design and deployment using a WIX platform.
  • Project
  • OrtusIP
  • Role
  • Data Analytics • Data Visualization • Website
  • Link
    • Website
Where does America Stand? This Infographic focuses on how the U.S. compares, economically, with other nations. A debt counter is built into the display to provide continuous, real-time updating.
  • Project
  • Where does America Stand?
  • Role
  • Infographic Design & Data Analysis
  • Link
  • Website | Methodology
Judicial Salary Tracker VRI developed this interactive application for the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). Judicial Salary Tracker allows users to compare judicial salaries and salary trends across the country. Previously a Flash program, the app was recently translated to HTML5, and can now be viewed on IPads, as well as PC browsers.
  • Project
  • Judicial Salary Tracker
  • Role
  • Data Analysis • Web App Development
  • Link
  • Web Application
A National Call to Action This report was developed to show data graphics pictures relevant the access to justice for limited English speaking litigants in the U.S. A series of “Action Steps” is provided for jurisdictions to improve services to targeted populations.
  • Project
  • A National Call to Action
  • Role
  • Writing & Editing • Graphic Design
  • Link
  • Flip Book | PDF
Examining the Work of State Courts This annual report, first developed in 1996, is a product of the National Court Statistics Project (CSP) and is continuously redesigned as a demonstration report on the visual display of court data. While keeping branding consistent with other CSP products, VRI used point and click icons for pre-formatted data downloads, and "hot tabs" for external links to databases and related reports.
Trends in State Courts This annual project involves collecting quantitative and qualitative information to create graphics and diagrams, which are used to supplement articles on a wide range of court topics. VRI also contributes original articles related to judicial officer salaries and compensation.
  • Project
  • Trends in State Courts
  • Role
  • Graphic Design • Publishing
  • Link
  • Flip Book | PDF
Yale Law School Poster Session Design VRI created this large format Infographic for use at the Yale Law School Conference on Empirical Legal Studies. The design involved pin-pointing county-level data to U.S. maps as well as integrating data and text for to produce a large format story-board.
  • Project
  • Yale Law School Poster Session Design
  • Role
  • Conceptual Design • Infographic
  • Link
  • Poster
Sanctioning Reference Points The first system of its kind in the country, this project provides structured reference points for use by health regulatory boards when determining what sanction a health professional should receive in a disciplinary case. VRI modeled the methodology, in part, after the Virginia Sentencing Guidelines used by judges. The Virginia Board of Medicine first adopted this ongoing project in 2004. Currently, all 13 Virginia health regulatory boards have adopted the system.
Sentencing Continuum and Profiles Funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, VRI developed these two books which examine sentencing policies and practices for states with sentencing guidelines. One book evaluates the effectiveness of guidelines for three states; the other volume examines all guidelines across a set of common characteristics.
  • Project
  • Offender Risk and Needs Assessment
  • Role
  • Policy Analysis • Information Design
  • Link
  • Cover | Interior | PDF
CourTools This extensive project involved crafting data-based designs and instructional diagrams, conducting data analysis and writing and editing instructional text to produce 10 separate performance measure Infographics. These fold-outs were printed as either 4 or 6 panel laminated displays. The project involved all branding, packaging and website development. The products are used nationally and internationally as models for measuring court performance in easily understood and replicable formats. Award: Winner of the 2005 Robert W. Tobin Achievement Award (NCSC 2005 best product and excellence in staff achievement)
  • Project
  • CourTools
  • Role
  • Branding • Conceptual Design • Infographics
  • Link
  • PDF | Brochure
Survey of Judicial Salaries This semi-annual report shows salary and other compensation information for judicial officers at all court levels. VRI also uses CPI and cost-of-living data to make results more comparable over time and across states.
  • Project
  • Survey of Judicial Salaries
  • Role
  • Data Analysis • Report Layout & Design
  • Link
  • Vol.37 N.1 | Vol.36 N.2
Key Performance Measures - Virginia Department of Health Professions The Virginia Department of Health Professions (DHP) requested assistance in developing performance measures to determine the effect of policies aimed at decreasing the time to process disciplinary cases. The measures require of a complex series of analytical techniques, but are displayed through a series of simple trend lines.
  • Project
  • KPMs Virginia Department of Health Professions
  • Role
  • Data Analysis • Graphic Design
  • Link
  • PDF
Sentencing Continuum and Profiles This project involved profiling all states with Sentencing Guidelines systems and developing a taxonomy based on criteria that could effectively differentiate systems based on their voluntary versus mandatory nature. Twenty-one states were profiled and a scaling system was developed that allowed each state to be placed along a continuum. The publication is used nationally by policymakers when considering the myriad of options for a sentencing guideline system's organizational and conceptual framework.
  • Project
  • Sentencing Continuum and Profiles
  • Role
  • Policy Analysis • Conceptual & Graphic Design
  • Link
  • PDF | Excel
Crime in Virginia: The 40-Year Picture VRI developed a conceptual framework, and collected and analyzed all required data to determine if crime and other selected factors were correlated. The research also determined if levels of crime were relatively high or low when comparing Virginia to other similarly situated states. The report used innovative graphical techniques to display trends over a 40 year period; some pages showing over 1,500 pieces of data using only four statistical displays.
  • Project
  • Crime in Virginia: The 40-Year Picture
  • Role
  • Research • Conceptual & Graphic Design
  • Link
  • PDF