This reading was very in-depth to say the least and gave me many ideas and theories to think about. I can easily say that while reading my mind quickly wandered throughout each page, as I was sparked to certain ads or events that have taken place in my life. But now while trying to look back I feel overwhelmed by the insight this reading has provided me.
To break it down I'm going to start reviewing section by section:
*My first strong response was when our author mentioned Robin Williams; I thought it was reassuring to know that Williams was a large enough name in web design to be taken seriously and judged critically.
*My next strong reactions was to the idea the Williams book be self critical. Why must Williams give reasoning for her ideas of design? It seems simple to me to believe that the book could be derived from a study of and fine tuning of current design elements (despite the fact that they are categorized as timeless and neutral by our author).
*I had a strong response to the idea of noticing, really noticing bodies in visual text. Do we or should we see bodies as people or merely bodies, as a form of the universal human? And with that thought can one body actually be a universal representation of the human body?
* I strongly agree with Wysocki when she states that while visual forms are not neutral or universal they do help to shape our sense of self as well as what we are capable and not capable of in the world.
**Example: This older advertisement for a Kodak camera reenforces the idea that advertisements give us a strong idea of what we are capable of. Kodak example here
**Example: The Dove company has taken a strong interest in representing woman as “real” people. This means moving away from the conventional one way to see a woman. Instead Dove supports the a variety of traits can and do make a woman beautiful. No one woman holds the key to beauty, but in all woman beauty can be found. If you click on the link here you can go directly to the Dove Real Women page. If you notice it even offers a variety of countries, noting that not one woman or even one grouping of women can be universal.
Towards the end of the reading Wysocki makes several very important points:
*I found it nearly shattering to find someone had written what I have mostly heard denied all my life. She writes that “If we believe that to be human is to be tied to place and time and messiness and complexity, then, by so abstracting us, this desire dehumanizes us and our work and how we see each other.” To be human we therefore must accept our complexities and the variety among us. This makes me think of a bio-diverse community. The more bio-diverse on area is the better and more stable that community will be. This same theory should be applied to our everyday living. This lack of ariety I believe can be summed up as a great part of the dehumanization of or world today. It is often said that the internet disconnects and dehumanizes, as well as depressed members of society. I believe, based on this reading, that variety, complexity, truth in our lives, in advertisements, television and on the internet could correct this way of thinking.
*According to Wysocki we should figure out what visual forms would embody generosity, patients, pleasure and so on. We should find visual forms that connect with in-depth complexity, moving away from the blurred beauty. I find this idea extremely inspiring.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Digital Age – Williams (11-120)
I really appreciated that we did our group projects on finding elements of design before reading this book. By trying to find and identify the elements of design before reading the professional write up of what these elements should be, by exploring different websites and articles in class, it made the reading seem more attainable and natural. I think if this had been done the other way the elements would seem stiff and unattainable and even unrealistic. Searching for these elements before hand brought them to a consciousness and one could even say to life. Much like the time old riddle if a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? These two ideas are relatable since without knowledge of them (the tree or design elements) can we truly say we are effected by them or aware of their effect? From our class work I can say that I learned to see what the elements were. While I may have been subconsciously aware of these elements I could not have named them before previously.
While my elements of design, or the elements my group listen may not have been so simplistic (and yet in-depth) they were still noteworthy and a universal element of poor design. Myspace is one prime example of simply disturbing pages that can accurately be described as an “eye-sore.”Here is one example of a flashy page that is painful to look at. I think this is a perfect example of poor element design because it shows how everyday people are willing and trying to design there own web-pages, but lack direction. Never before have people had this opportunity of design so readily in everyday homes. This in mind it is also an appropriate example because I'm sure most of our class, or at least half, has come across pages such as these while using the internet.
While my elements of design, or the elements my group listen may not have been so simplistic (and yet in-depth) they were still noteworthy and a universal element of poor design. Myspace is one prime example of simply disturbing pages that can accurately be described as an “eye-sore.”Here is one example of a flashy page that is painful to look at. I think this is a perfect example of poor element design because it shows how everyday people are willing and trying to design there own web-pages, but lack direction. Never before have people had this opportunity of design so readily in everyday homes. This in mind it is also an appropriate example because I'm sure most of our class, or at least half, has come across pages such as these while using the internet.
Creating a GOOD webpage =)
Why to use certain fonts
• Using fonts that are easy to read for everybody is important in terms of accessibility and proper function
• Use fonts that are appropriate and coincide with the tone and topic of page, silently compliment content
• Font size: make sure the size is an “appropriate”, not too small where you cant read and not too big where the page is obnoxiously long. Consistent throughout page
Why to NOT use certain fonts
• Using fonts that are too narrow or are too spaced out make it hard to read
• The reader shouldn’t get distracted by font while reading and navigating on the page
• Example:
o A font like this could be used to spice up a page, but in reality is very distracting and harder to read. – Curlz Mt 12
o Using a less curly font gives the page the same fun design without the distracting element. – Harrington 12
Avoid busy movement
• Too much moment on the page distracts the reader, slows down, and takes attention away from content and purpose
• Too many links in a paragraph takes away from the content as well
• Why you should use complimentary colors
• Example:
Clearly label page and different sections
• Make title noticeable, but not overshadowing
Why you should use complimentary colors
• Background vs. font and Background itself (tables and borders)
o Make colors pleasing to the eye, not too bright, don’t make text and background clash
• Coordinate colors
o Colors that pertain to topic and tone of page, and colors that compliment each other
o Coordination should also pertain to pictures and colors of fonts and background. This helps tie whole page together and helps the eye move around the page
o Take a consistent approach with page
• Example:
o On this webpage the color of the background and the color of the font clash, making it extremely difficult to read or even focus on the words. The contact information is also scrolling around the top, making it hard to find. http://www.corson.tv/main/buttugly.htm
• Using fonts that are easy to read for everybody is important in terms of accessibility and proper function
• Use fonts that are appropriate and coincide with the tone and topic of page, silently compliment content
• Font size: make sure the size is an “appropriate”, not too small where you cant read and not too big where the page is obnoxiously long. Consistent throughout page
Why to NOT use certain fonts
• Using fonts that are too narrow or are too spaced out make it hard to read
• The reader shouldn’t get distracted by font while reading and navigating on the page
• Example:
o A font like this could be used to spice up a page, but in reality is very distracting and harder to read. – Curlz Mt 12
o Using a less curly font gives the page the same fun design without the distracting element. – Harrington 12
Avoid busy movement
• Too much moment on the page distracts the reader, slows down, and takes attention away from content and purpose
• Too many links in a paragraph takes away from the content as well
• Why you should use complimentary colors
• Example:
Clearly label page and different sections
• Make title noticeable, but not overshadowing
Why you should use complimentary colors
• Background vs. font and Background itself (tables and borders)
o Make colors pleasing to the eye, not too bright, don’t make text and background clash
• Coordinate colors
o Colors that pertain to topic and tone of page, and colors that compliment each other
o Coordination should also pertain to pictures and colors of fonts and background. This helps tie whole page together and helps the eye move around the page
o Take a consistent approach with page
• Example:
o On this webpage the color of the background and the color of the font clash, making it extremely difficult to read or even focus on the words. The contact information is also scrolling around the top, making it hard to find. http://www.corson.tv/main/buttugly.htm
Monday, February 2, 2009
Knowledge is Geographical. Lumps and Splits.
In Chapter's three and four of Weinberger's book Everything Is Miscellaneous readers are introduced to the Dewey Decimal System, and several other fundamental ideas that Dewey had. Weinberger discusses how web-shopping on sites such as Amazon allows customers to set up their own book preferences, verses Dewey's layout of book hierarchy. Dewey created a logical way to layout books, giving the general public the ability to browse and see books for themselves. Yet his system was faulty in its layout of books since it presented a hierarchy of subjects and as well as people and places. Today the diversity of customers and readers leads to debates about the placement of books and which subject deserves it's own category and so on, leads to many heated debates. To which Weinberger exhibits the solution that Amazon uses, allowing businesses to stay free from categorizing and ordering books into a hierarchy. Instead customers themselves can chose what books they wish to look at, building preference lists, while Amazon is still able to advertise, showing readers miscellaneous books, or books that relate to other books a customer has purchased. This way of selling and showing books seems best because while it is a warehouse, customers and the general public can view every and any-book they wish to see. It also allows customers to browse randomly, or categorically through books, without having any type of hierarchy. Although one cannot ignore the fact that some customers may not know how or want to use this (internet) system. An example of this type of system can be seen at alibris.com, which is literally the same type of set-up as Amazon.com. Or even craigslist.org which has a seemingly endless amount of categorizes to browse through.
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