Designapalooza – Part Six
January 16, 2008
Table of contents:
“What about leading the viewers vision?”
Leading the users vision can really be taken a couple ways, and I figure I may as well explain both. The first is literally leading the persons vision to where you want it to go. This basically means drawing attention to the focus of the picture. This can be done in a multitude of ways including leading lines, colours, character actions, the landscape, etc. There are literally endless combinations to lead the users vision around a picture and I found some lovely links to explain it better than me. That’s how I roll people.
Things to read:
- Easily the most complex and in-depth version of leading with colour that I could find. Thankfully, it does a very good job of explaining how color use and contrast work together to bring focus.
- A good explanation of how composition works for leading vision. I’m aware that this is for photography but the principles are still the same.
The second way I wanted to explain it is sort of on an unconventional level. That is to say that I’m using this as a thinly veiled excuse to talk about flow. This has more to do with online designers, though I can attest that there are many, many articles on flow for print.
The idea of flow is pretty simple. Basically: “Does it flow?” When you are reading a news article, does it flow constantly? or are there giant, invasive ads every other paragraph? If it does, it probably doesn’t have good flow, or any at all. The idea is for the user to be able to go from start to finish with as little pain as possible. When you dump a large ad, image, or something otherwise unrelated in the way, you interrupt the user. Another example is web forms. When a user is filing out the form, is it easy to read, and do the fields and sections generally lead from one to the other? This is a fantastic article explaining exactly what I’m talking about.
Basically, the idea is that if something flows well the user will have a more pleasing experience. Flow can also be described how well a process works, such as registering as a user, submitting a story, or buying an item. If something has good flow, then the general word attached to the whole ordeal is “easy” or “simple” regardless of how easy or simple it actually is.
Things to read:
- A List Apart recently did an article that explains this fairly well. Hell what am I saying? It’s A List Apart, they know what they’re talking about.
- This whole article is pretty much fantastic, but the parts on flow are what I’m actually talking about in this instance.
“Oh, and how about how colours affect moods,”
Colours effect moods. This is not up for debate, this is actual fact. Humans are psychologically affected by colours when presented with them. Some people have an active reaction to them, such as having favorites and detesting others. Everyone though, is affected by them whether they realize it or not. Goths wear all black for a reason people! I’m not sure what that is, having never been one… but they do!
The point I’m getting to here is that behind all of your colour choices are the effects of your influences. Why do you think that blue is such a common company colour? It’s a generally safe colour to use, as it doesn’t really bring about offense to people. If you know how to use colour properly and not for just what fits at the time, you will find that you will be able to actively give your images more power. Remember that colours have different meanings in different cultures, so it’s a good idea to keep that in mind when designing.
Things to read:
- A nice overview of colours and their general affect.
- Yet another overview.
- About.com delivers with a whole section on colour psychology.
Back to top
“Do you understand focal points,”
A focal point is related in many ways to leading the users vision (scroll up). The focal point or points of something are literally that: points for the user to focus on. I know that sounds a bit simple, but believe me when I say that they are important. Having a strong focal point is like having a solid story for a book. It doesn’t matter nearly as much as to what’s going on in the book so long as the story moves forward clearly. When you lack focal points, you lack focus.
Try and picture it this way: imagine painting a wall black and then painting a white square in the middle of it. Now ask people to look at it. They will focus on the white box, whether they mean to or not. Now granted, it’s a white box and will only hold attention for so long, but it will hold it for as long as a white box can do so. This is your focal point, which you generated using a simple use contrast.
Now picture this: imagine painting that same wall, but this time you just went nuts and splattered every colour you could find on it with out any rhyme or reason, effectively creating a wall of colourful static. Now ask people to look at it. They’ll probably take one glance, and then ask you what they should be looking for.
This is what focal points are all about. Focal points give your viewers something to work from; a sort of base of operations in which they can take the picture in from. If your imagery fails to have focal points, the user will be wandering around the vision aimlessly and then walk away.
The same can be said for any of design, whether its traditional, print, or even digital media. Without focal points your user will become dis-interested and lose interest. This is generally bad, unless it’s all part of some secret plan to get the user to look away and focus on another piece completely. I guess that would be focal points on a grand scale!
Things to read:
- This article deals more with photograph-based focal points, but the idea is still the same.
- This is a solid explanation of how important focal points are.
- Another link for cameras, but I assure that there are so many photagraphy tips from this link relate to focal points that I simply couldn’t pick a single article
“or how certain positions feel better on a fundamental level? / The Golden Rule”
Ahh the Golden Rule, or Golden Ratio, or Phi. It doesn’t matter how you put it, using this ratio can drastically improve how your user perceives your work. Anyone who is a fan of The DaVinci Code will know what Phi is, but for those who don’t let me elaborate: Phi is pretty. Though there is a bazillion things you can read to explain Phi and its many, many uses (see below) the concept is simple: The human body has many instances of applicable Phi (ratios all over the place) and so people have theorized that because of this we then intemperate this ratio as being naturally ‘good’.
What does this mean? In the most basic sense, using this ratio in your design will make it more pleasing to the end user. Now granted that if you use light gray text and tartan backdrop that shifts through the color spectrum, all the golden rule you apply wont take away the pain.
There are many good examples of how the golden rule has been applied throughout the ages, just go ahead and search it. I can wait. See what I mean? If you didn’t search for it you’ll have to take my word for it.
Things to read:
- Wikipedia strikes again! Seriously this article is huge and encompassing.
- This is a totally mathematical explanation of Phi. It is as boring as it is informative.
- How can I forget to link something to the practical design applications of Phi? I can’t obviously.
“or how to make photos more dynamic?”
This one’s a bit of a cop-out since “dynamic photos” is really bordering on buzzword territory. What I was implying was simply “do you know how to make your photos as good as they can be?” Unless you’ve been doing photography for a long time like my friend, you probably do not know that much about how to take good photos. Hell, you’re happy if your point and shoot manages not to blur the photo most of the time. There are many ways you can improve your shots but I won’t bother listing them.
I have external links to do that!
Things to read:
- Digital Photography School is a great resource (probably the best, in my opinion) for anything related to a camera and tutorials. This is a solid example of what I’m talking about.
- This is a shameless plug for my photography pal, but as it turns out he really knows what he’s talking about. Have a look at this article on concert photography.
When Does it all End?
Short answer: never.
Long answer: sometime between never, and never ever. If you are willing to dispute that fact, then either you don’t believe me, or you feel you have indeed seen the end of your design education. If you feel that you have in fact learned everything there is to learn about design, then why are you reading this? I’m no help to you, as you are no longer willing to learn.
You see, it can’t end. Mankind evolves, and as it does so will our ways to express ourselves. We’ll never be out of the job, though our tools will change. If you have stopped learning you have stopped trying. It really is as simple as that. You may find it harder to find new things to learn, and that’s almost excusable and all I can say is that you will just need to look harder.
It’s that drive that keeps people creating.
This is the sixth part in an ongoing series of articles that depicts my process to becoming a graphic designer. Coming up next: Part seven where I basically link a snot-load of resources.
- Part One
- Part Two
- Part Three
- Part Four
- Part Five
- Part Six (Currently reading)
- Part Seven
Categories: Design Self-Improvement Technology
Tagged under: Art, Design, Designapalooza, Graphic Designer, Learning, Part 6, School, Technology