Diamantdiagnoserna
The Diamond Diagnostics is a comprehensive material for formative assessment in mathematics, used by teachers throughout Sweden. When the material was transferred from the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) to the National Centre for Mathematics Education (NCM), it was on the condition that its visual identity be transformed.
I was given overall responsibility for redesigning the entire graphic framework. The challenge lay in balancing modern aesthetics while maintaining a degree of recognition and established methodologies.
Logo
Color Scheme, and Form
There was clear potential for improvement regarding the logo:
- The logo did not indicate which of the six facets belonged to which mathematical area.
- The “diamond” was completely circular.
- The color scheme lacked definition.
Based on these observations, I created a more traditional diamond shape with six distinct sides. I explicitly labeled which color represented each area in plain text and developed over 30 different color scheme proposals. Here are a few of my favorites from those drafts.
Before
Proposals
After
Website
Structure, user focus, and LaTeX code
It was just as important for the content to be easy to find and navigate as it was for it to look good.
Structure & user focus
The landing page for the Diamond Diagnostics received approximately 8,000 visitors during my final year at NCM, so I placed great emphasis on providing a clear overview of the material. I organized the content into an Introduction, 6 Subject Areas, and Diagnostics. The diagnostics consist of 127 assessments and answer keys organized in a large table, categorized by area and sub-area.
LaTeX
A unique challenge when working with both web design and mathematics is how poorly they often interact. Writing numbers and simple mathematical symbols like +, −, ∗, /, and = works fine in regular text. However, for this more advanced material to be presented directly on our website, I had to learn to write code in LaTeX.
LaTeX (/ˈlɑːtɛx/ LAH-tekh or /ˈleɪtɛx/ LAY-tekh, to rhyme with “blech”[2]), often stylized as LATEX, is a software system for typesetting documents,[3] based on the TeX typesetting system.
Results
By renewing the graphics, one of the country’s most appreciated mathematics tools was saved from being discontinued. Today, the material is available digitally via NCM with a unified and professional appearance, making it easier for teachers to track students’ progress in a structured way.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!