This was a banner on my e-mail page and the photo caught my eye, it is neat how they made it to relate to life insurance, very creative.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Eye Catching
This was a banner on my e-mail page and the photo caught my eye, it is neat how they made it to relate to life insurance, very creative.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
how creative
one man's junk is another's treasure
www.ciclus.com/
check this out there are some really neat things!
Friday, December 5, 2008
AWSOME SITE!!
Seriously you need to look at this website, and make sure to what the video!! HILARIOUS!!!
http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Crazy Flash
1. http://www.2advanced.com/
This one is crazy, extremely futuristic.
2. http://www.beonlineb.com/click_around.html
Don't really understand, kind of creepy, but real neat how interactive it is.
3. http://www.communicatorworld.com/home.aspx
Neat idea, but hard to navigate through.
4.http://www.letyourworriesgo.com/
All the worries can fit into the air balloon basket, I tried!
This one is crazy, extremely futuristic.
2. http://www.beonlineb.com/click_around.html
Don't really understand, kind of creepy, but real neat how interactive it is.
3. http://www.communicatorworld.com/home.aspx
Neat idea, but hard to navigate through.
4.http://www.letyourworriesgo.com/
All the worries can fit into the air balloon basket, I tried!
Veer
I received their holiday catalogue form work, and I definatley want some stuff out of it!!
How Cool is This???
Check it out
www.veer.com
How Cool is This???
Check it out
www.veer.com
November 18 Process
Concept 1:
Training a dog is like going to work. Before any new project begins research must be done to fully understand all aspects. This is the core of all new things: books, research manuals, tables, diagrams; anything that can help you gain a better grasp on the task at hand. It often seems that all your effort is going unnoticed or you will never get it done, but when the time finally comes you realize all the hard work that was put into the project pays off in the end. Just as training a dog, after the research, and work is done your end result will be a better dog.
Moodboard
Frame 1
Frame 2
Concept 2:
Training a dog is like taking a walk downtown on a rainy night. There are beautiful things that you would not have noticed if it weren't for the way the light shined off it or how it glistened. A town that seems so aged and boring in the day can seem modern and young at night.
Moodboard:
Frame 1:
Frame 2:
Concept 3:
Training a dog is like shopping at a trendy boutique. It is exciting and entertaining looking around because of all the bright colors to catch you attention. You find yourself gravitating to the bottles where you like the design even if they are not exactly what you are looking for. When the bottle is fun the product must be good. Training a dog can be hip and fun if using the right tutorial.
Moodboard:
Frame: 1
Frame: 2
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Project #3
Teaching a dog simeple tricks helps the bond between you. Dogs enjoy pleasing their owners and a well-trained dog is a happy dog! The only difficulty is in making the dog understand what you want. Commands should be given in a firm, low, voice. Don’t expect them to understand perfectly the first time. Be prepared to come back tto the same commands again and again, leaving in a few days between. Most dogs are perfectly willing to jump through hoops (literally) for their owners.
“Speak”
This comes under the group of tricks from observed behavior. If a dog does something and a command word is uttered and a treat is given everytime, they will quickly associaate the treat and the pat with the command word. Say “Speak1” when they bark and in a short time, they will bark the command. Saying “Are you sleepy?” when they yawn works in exactly the same way.
“Sit”
Everyone is familiar with this one. It is important that a dog should know to pause at every curb rather than rush across. Sitting helps to mark the importance of roads. Repetition is the key here—even bright dogs like collies can take two years to become well trained. Do not expect overnight results with any of these. Press the dogs hindquarters down firmly, while saying “Sit.” Then give a treat—s piece of biscuit for example. It doesn’t have to be much. A pat on the head will probably do, but you’ll find training easier with some sort of small reward to hand out.
“Down”
Always follows “Sit.” Point firmly at the floor in front of the dog’s head. As with teaching them to “speak,” you might try this when they are on their stomachs naturally. Otherwise, you can try placing them in the “down” position manually, then express delight and give them a treat. They should remain upright, like a sphinx.
“Play Dead”
Usually follows “Down.” “Dying” involves lying comletely flat on their side. You may have to press your hand gently against the dog’s head to indicate what you want it to do. Dog’s love this and though they lie still, their tails wag madly. Keep your voice very low and touch tail, saying slowly, “Dead dogs dont’ wag...” Hold it for two or three seconds, then get them up and give them a pat and a treat.
“Paw”
This is one you have to demostrate. Simply lift the dogs paw in your hand and shake hands gently before giving them a treat. Follow with the command “Other paw” for them to swap over. It won’t be long before they offer paws on command. I had a terrier who took forever to get this, but managed it in the end.
“Over”
This is used when you want the dog to run—to cross a street swiftly is the most common use. Train the dog by holding their collar and raising your tone in excitement, holding them back. When all is clear, say “Over!” loudly and let them run. They will probably not cross neatly the first few dozen times, so don’t train them near cars.
“Gently”
This is usually said with the second syllable elongated. A dog must be taught not to snap at food, though their instincts tell them to grab things before anther dog gets it. You must never tease a dog with food—they will learn to snap at it and someone will get hurt. Always present food firmly on a flat palm. If they lunge at it, say the word “Gently!” in a firm, low voice. They will hear the tone and hesitate.
“Heel”
Crucial when walking a dog on the lead. It is tiring and annoying to have a dog pull as it walks along. Curb the habit early with a sharp jerk of the lead and a very firm tone as you say the command word. Puppies are excitable and curious. They often take a long time to learn this. Be careful not to hurt them and do not worry about looking like a fool. Anyone who has ever had a puppy has walked along a street saying “Heel” over and over and over again without any clear effect. To state the obvious, the dog does not understand why you are calling out parts of your feet. You are setting up a link in their minds between the word and the action of being jerked back. It will probably take a good year for this to work, depending on how young the puppies are when you get them. Be patient. It’s good practice for controlling your temper when you have children later on. Seriously. Like a lot of things in life, early work bears fruit when it really matters.
“Stay”
This is another important one to teach early. Most dog owners have been surprised by a situation where the dog is far away and suddenly there is a car coming toward you. If you can tell the dog to “Stay” and have it remain still, a series accident can be avoided. This is taught with the aid of a pocketful of treats and many afternoons. You have the dog sit and say “Stay!” in your deep command voice. You hold up your hand at the same time, showing the dog flat palm. You take a step back. If the dog follows you, return it to the same spot and begin again. Begin with three steps and then give ti a treat and a pat, making a big fuss of the dog. When they can remain stiil for three steps, try six, then a dozen and so on. You should be able to build up to quite a long distance in only a short time. Dogs do like to be able to see you, however. If you turn a corner, almost all dogs will immediatley move forward to find you again.
“Over! Over!”
Different families will have different command words, of course. This one is probably not that common. Our dogs are always taught to jump at hearing this. You may be out walking and need them to jump a low fence, for example, or jump up onto a table to be brushed. Begin with a higher surface and simply pat it firmly, saying “Over! Over!” to them in an excited voice. If this doesn’t work, do not pull them up by the collar. They could be frightened of being pulled off the ground and that won’t help. If you can, lift them to a higher level then make a huge fuss over them, giving a treat. Repeat pats and lifts until they are comfortable with the higher position.
This is quite fun to see. Like cats, dogs can really jump, but they aren’t taught to do it on command very often.
Jumping through your arms
Not all dogs can do this—the terrier absolutley refused point-black. The command “Over! Over” is useful as the dog knows it is for jumping. Begin by making a circle on the floor with your arms and having the dog called through for a treat. You need two people for this. After a few successful repetitions, raise your hands from the floor, so the dog has to step up a little to pass through. They’re probably far too excited by then, so try it again the next day. Raise your hands higher and higher, then stand upright, holding your arms out in the largest circle you can make. Dogs the size of collies can do this, though some with thump you in the body or hit your hands as they go through. They improve with practice and it is a great trick to impress other dog owners.
Finally, attack commands
There is no secret to having an attack word for a dog. Be aware, however, that unless it was absolultey justified, the dog is likely to be destroyed. Children accompanied by dogs are much less likely to be troubled by strangers, regardless of the breed of dog. Dogs are known to be aggressive and territorial, especially with strangers—men in particular. They fo not need to be taught higher levels of aggression.
The opposite of this is what to do it you come into contact with an aggressive dog. First of all, it is a risk to put your hand out to pat any strange dog. If you must take the chance, let the dog smell your hands first, coming in slowly and low down so as not to startle them. If they show their teeth, move way. Mankind is the only animal on the planet who shows his teeth to smile. The rest of them are saying “Go away or I will attack.” The same applies for growling. It is never playful. Never growl back. That is what another dog would do and the aggression will increase dramatically. Most dogs have the courtesy to warn you. Take the warning and back away.
If the dog attacks, remain on your feet and protect your face. Don’t scream. Break eye contact if you can, as dogs see a direct gaze as aggressive. Dogs are almost never interest in serious damage. They simply want to remove you from the area. Do not run, however. Walk slowly away. Big dogs like German Shepherds will hit you hard in the chest or back to try to knock you down. On the ground is not a good place to be in full attack.
If you do end up on the ground, curl up to protect your face and neck. Again, they will do a lot more than barking than actual biting in almost every case. Remain as still as you can and don’t call for help or scream. The noise may excite them.
A well trained do will not be aggressive with other dogs or people, or at least they’ll bring the poodle back back when you call them. They will guard your home, force you to remain active to walk them, play with you whenever you have the slightest interest, and adore you with complete trust in all weathers, on all days.
“Speak”
This comes under the group of tricks from observed behavior. If a dog does something and a command word is uttered and a treat is given everytime, they will quickly associaate the treat and the pat with the command word. Say “Speak1” when they bark and in a short time, they will bark the command. Saying “Are you sleepy?” when they yawn works in exactly the same way.
“Sit”
Everyone is familiar with this one. It is important that a dog should know to pause at every curb rather than rush across. Sitting helps to mark the importance of roads. Repetition is the key here—even bright dogs like collies can take two years to become well trained. Do not expect overnight results with any of these. Press the dogs hindquarters down firmly, while saying “Sit.” Then give a treat—s piece of biscuit for example. It doesn’t have to be much. A pat on the head will probably do, but you’ll find training easier with some sort of small reward to hand out.
“Down”
Always follows “Sit.” Point firmly at the floor in front of the dog’s head. As with teaching them to “speak,” you might try this when they are on their stomachs naturally. Otherwise, you can try placing them in the “down” position manually, then express delight and give them a treat. They should remain upright, like a sphinx.
“Play Dead”
Usually follows “Down.” “Dying” involves lying comletely flat on their side. You may have to press your hand gently against the dog’s head to indicate what you want it to do. Dog’s love this and though they lie still, their tails wag madly. Keep your voice very low and touch tail, saying slowly, “Dead dogs dont’ wag...” Hold it for two or three seconds, then get them up and give them a pat and a treat.
“Paw”
This is one you have to demostrate. Simply lift the dogs paw in your hand and shake hands gently before giving them a treat. Follow with the command “Other paw” for them to swap over. It won’t be long before they offer paws on command. I had a terrier who took forever to get this, but managed it in the end.
“Over”
This is used when you want the dog to run—to cross a street swiftly is the most common use. Train the dog by holding their collar and raising your tone in excitement, holding them back. When all is clear, say “Over!” loudly and let them run. They will probably not cross neatly the first few dozen times, so don’t train them near cars.
“Gently”
This is usually said with the second syllable elongated. A dog must be taught not to snap at food, though their instincts tell them to grab things before anther dog gets it. You must never tease a dog with food—they will learn to snap at it and someone will get hurt. Always present food firmly on a flat palm. If they lunge at it, say the word “Gently!” in a firm, low voice. They will hear the tone and hesitate.
“Heel”
Crucial when walking a dog on the lead. It is tiring and annoying to have a dog pull as it walks along. Curb the habit early with a sharp jerk of the lead and a very firm tone as you say the command word. Puppies are excitable and curious. They often take a long time to learn this. Be careful not to hurt them and do not worry about looking like a fool. Anyone who has ever had a puppy has walked along a street saying “Heel” over and over and over again without any clear effect. To state the obvious, the dog does not understand why you are calling out parts of your feet. You are setting up a link in their minds between the word and the action of being jerked back. It will probably take a good year for this to work, depending on how young the puppies are when you get them. Be patient. It’s good practice for controlling your temper when you have children later on. Seriously. Like a lot of things in life, early work bears fruit when it really matters.
“Stay”
This is another important one to teach early. Most dog owners have been surprised by a situation where the dog is far away and suddenly there is a car coming toward you. If you can tell the dog to “Stay” and have it remain still, a series accident can be avoided. This is taught with the aid of a pocketful of treats and many afternoons. You have the dog sit and say “Stay!” in your deep command voice. You hold up your hand at the same time, showing the dog flat palm. You take a step back. If the dog follows you, return it to the same spot and begin again. Begin with three steps and then give ti a treat and a pat, making a big fuss of the dog. When they can remain stiil for three steps, try six, then a dozen and so on. You should be able to build up to quite a long distance in only a short time. Dogs do like to be able to see you, however. If you turn a corner, almost all dogs will immediatley move forward to find you again.
“Over! Over!”
Different families will have different command words, of course. This one is probably not that common. Our dogs are always taught to jump at hearing this. You may be out walking and need them to jump a low fence, for example, or jump up onto a table to be brushed. Begin with a higher surface and simply pat it firmly, saying “Over! Over!” to them in an excited voice. If this doesn’t work, do not pull them up by the collar. They could be frightened of being pulled off the ground and that won’t help. If you can, lift them to a higher level then make a huge fuss over them, giving a treat. Repeat pats and lifts until they are comfortable with the higher position.
This is quite fun to see. Like cats, dogs can really jump, but they aren’t taught to do it on command very often.
Jumping through your arms
Not all dogs can do this—the terrier absolutley refused point-black. The command “Over! Over” is useful as the dog knows it is for jumping. Begin by making a circle on the floor with your arms and having the dog called through for a treat. You need two people for this. After a few successful repetitions, raise your hands from the floor, so the dog has to step up a little to pass through. They’re probably far too excited by then, so try it again the next day. Raise your hands higher and higher, then stand upright, holding your arms out in the largest circle you can make. Dogs the size of collies can do this, though some with thump you in the body or hit your hands as they go through. They improve with practice and it is a great trick to impress other dog owners.
Finally, attack commands
There is no secret to having an attack word for a dog. Be aware, however, that unless it was absolultey justified, the dog is likely to be destroyed. Children accompanied by dogs are much less likely to be troubled by strangers, regardless of the breed of dog. Dogs are known to be aggressive and territorial, especially with strangers—men in particular. They fo not need to be taught higher levels of aggression.
The opposite of this is what to do it you come into contact with an aggressive dog. First of all, it is a risk to put your hand out to pat any strange dog. If you must take the chance, let the dog smell your hands first, coming in slowly and low down so as not to startle them. If they show their teeth, move way. Mankind is the only animal on the planet who shows his teeth to smile. The rest of them are saying “Go away or I will attack.” The same applies for growling. It is never playful. Never growl back. That is what another dog would do and the aggression will increase dramatically. Most dogs have the courtesy to warn you. Take the warning and back away.
If the dog attacks, remain on your feet and protect your face. Don’t scream. Break eye contact if you can, as dogs see a direct gaze as aggressive. Dogs are almost never interest in serious damage. They simply want to remove you from the area. Do not run, however. Walk slowly away. Big dogs like German Shepherds will hit you hard in the chest or back to try to knock you down. On the ground is not a good place to be in full attack.
If you do end up on the ground, curl up to protect your face and neck. Again, they will do a lot more than barking than actual biting in almost every case. Remain as still as you can and don’t call for help or scream. The noise may excite them.
A well trained do will not be aggressive with other dogs or people, or at least they’ll bring the poodle back back when you call them. They will guard your home, force you to remain active to walk them, play with you whenever you have the slightest interest, and adore you with complete trust in all weathers, on all days.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
WOW
I saw this while watching Bones and I had to find it to let others see!!! What an impacting commercial!
Thoughtful Question
After reading "Recipe for good Design" I began wondering how long can something be used as a resource before it becomes outdated?
I know this is an open-ended question, but when I was reading this article there were a lot of useful tips but there were also many that seemed outdated, such as the programs needed to be designed for. With technology moving so rapidly how often do we as designers need to rethink everything we are doing?
Ex: CS4 just came out, and I am just getting comfortable with CS3, I know that most others are not going to own CS4 yet, but at the same time I do not want to not want to change because of fear of not knowing how to use it, does that make since.
I went to a metals conference last weekend and there were some artists that used CAD and then some that did not. I overheard many of the people that did not use the program bad mouthing the people that did saying it is the computer doing the designing these days not the person. I do not want to be one of these negative, judging people because I uninformed.
I know this is an open-ended question, but when I was reading this article there were a lot of useful tips but there were also many that seemed outdated, such as the programs needed to be designed for. With technology moving so rapidly how often do we as designers need to rethink everything we are doing?
Ex: CS4 just came out, and I am just getting comfortable with CS3, I know that most others are not going to own CS4 yet, but at the same time I do not want to not want to change because of fear of not knowing how to use it, does that make since.
I went to a metals conference last weekend and there were some artists that used CAD and then some that did not. I overheard many of the people that did not use the program bad mouthing the people that did saying it is the computer doing the designing these days not the person. I do not want to be one of these negative, judging people because I uninformed.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Good Websites
1. www.pizzahut.com
I enjoy looking and showing people this website because you can look at menus from other companies. Its main purpose is not met by me because I have never ordered anything off of it or even thought to look at the online menu before I order. So far I think Japan is by far the most different from what I know as Pizza! TAKE A LOOK.
Yummy!
2. www.bernstein-rein.com
This is a deign website that is on the links page, but it is wonderful!! I love the bold solid colors and the transitions are great. It is like you are seeing the page being put together in front of your eyes, AWSOME!!
It is great how you can get to anywhere from anywhere, I can go from their works to their Culture without having to go to the homepage.
3. www.barkleyus.com
This site is wonderful because of its simplicity, although it is another design website. It is very easy to see what is suppose to be the main focus. There are a couple of things that I do not like such as when you view the works and click on something twice they play at the same time and is sometimes hard to turn one or the other off so you have two streams going at the same time.
4.www.usa.visitmaine.com
This is a beautiful website. It was actually and accidental find off of the website we are redesigning. It actually makes me want to go visit Maine! The mainpage has a large revolving photograph with reasons why to visit Maine. It is simply beautiful and the typography caught my eye. I am also interested to see if they change it based on the seasons because it does feel like fall.
Enjoy the type in this one:
5. www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/
Here is in my opinion an effective nature website. Like the one my group is working on this one contains a large amount of information. What makes it even more complex is the fact that it is a branch off another large information website, PBS, but they have set it up to were you can access the main PBS webpage along with the internal nature webpage without confusion. This is huge, currently I am working on a project that is almost the same thing, and I am having difficulty with it, I will be referring back to this page as a resource.
6. melissahie.com
This website is neat because of the way it slides you to the next page, very unique! This would work for a more simple website, but when it comes to one with tons of information like the ones we are working it might be too confusing and overwhelming!
7. www.sitotis
This one just reminded me of one that someone in class is working on with a play book. I thought this could be used as a resource.
8. www.richardguerreiro.com
This is a cool website because of the use of Flash, I like how when you roll over the buckets their is a thumbnail of his works.
9. www.proyectiva.com
AWSOME, it almost seems like a game, I just wish I could understand it.
10. www.cokoon.de/cokoon07.swf
Very elegant, I love the little butterfly that flies away when clicked.
11. www.coolhomepages.com/#
Not necissarily designed but lots of other good websites that have neat designs.
I enjoy looking and showing people this website because you can look at menus from other companies. Its main purpose is not met by me because I have never ordered anything off of it or even thought to look at the online menu before I order. So far I think Japan is by far the most different from what I know as Pizza! TAKE A LOOK.
Yummy!
2. www.bernstein-rein.com
This is a deign website that is on the links page, but it is wonderful!! I love the bold solid colors and the transitions are great. It is like you are seeing the page being put together in front of your eyes, AWSOME!!
It is great how you can get to anywhere from anywhere, I can go from their works to their Culture without having to go to the homepage.
3. www.barkleyus.com
This site is wonderful because of its simplicity, although it is another design website. It is very easy to see what is suppose to be the main focus. There are a couple of things that I do not like such as when you view the works and click on something twice they play at the same time and is sometimes hard to turn one or the other off so you have two streams going at the same time.
4.www.usa.visitmaine.com
This is a beautiful website. It was actually and accidental find off of the website we are redesigning. It actually makes me want to go visit Maine! The mainpage has a large revolving photograph with reasons why to visit Maine. It is simply beautiful and the typography caught my eye. I am also interested to see if they change it based on the seasons because it does feel like fall.
Enjoy the type in this one:
5. www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/
Here is in my opinion an effective nature website. Like the one my group is working on this one contains a large amount of information. What makes it even more complex is the fact that it is a branch off another large information website, PBS, but they have set it up to were you can access the main PBS webpage along with the internal nature webpage without confusion. This is huge, currently I am working on a project that is almost the same thing, and I am having difficulty with it, I will be referring back to this page as a resource.
6. melissahie.com
This website is neat because of the way it slides you to the next page, very unique! This would work for a more simple website, but when it comes to one with tons of information like the ones we are working it might be too confusing and overwhelming!
7. www.sitotis
This one just reminded me of one that someone in class is working on with a play book. I thought this could be used as a resource.
8. www.richardguerreiro.com
This is a cool website because of the use of Flash, I like how when you roll over the buckets their is a thumbnail of his works.
9. www.proyectiva.com
AWSOME, it almost seems like a game, I just wish I could understand it.
10. www.cokoon.de/cokoon07.swf
Very elegant, I love the little butterfly that flies away when clicked.
11. www.coolhomepages.com/#
Not necissarily designed but lots of other good websites that have neat designs.
Recipe for a Successful Website
Great, fun to read article, but seems a little outdated.
(Combine)Content:
Must have only the BEST content, if it is good you do not need to have that much as long as it entices viewers emotions and makes them want to come back for more.
"Most people will not finish a meal if it is not tasty in the beginning!"
Freshness Counts...
It is important to have up-to-date information, no one wants to read something that is old. Nathan Shedroff (author) makes the point that you would not use week old lettuce or month old tomatoes in a salad so why would viewers want to consume old content. Of course something things can last and still be appealing, but for the most part change and updating is regularly needed,
So Does Quality...
Many sites feel that they need tons of content, so they create or add things that have no connection with that actual purpose of the site.
"If you aren't a content king, don't try to be."
What is interesting though is even if you do have to correct context interactivity is still needed to be successful. Ex, Newspapers have got it down on printed information but do not have good results with websites because they do not understand what interactive media entails.
You Can't Please all of the People all of the Time...
Some sites try being objective and end up creating sites NO ONE is interested in, your voice is why people will or will not come to your site!
(Mix)Information Design
The next step is to take this context and add organization and clarity. This begins with mapping everything you want included in the site then arranging and rearranging until the correct layout is found.
Navigation...
The setting of context which allows people to know what to expect, what to do, what they can do, and even, to some extent, how to do it. This is referred to as a cognitive model. If too much thinking is involved before entering or while visiting viewers will not visit or stay.
"Don't require them to return to the homepage every time they want to backtrack or access a different portion of your site."
One good element in good navigation is allowing your audience to navigate in many different ways. Along with knowing what the next pages purpose is before clicking. It is important to not confuse information design with visual design. Even if a cake looks nice on the outside if there was not enough time spent actually making it then it will taste bad. Remember do not organize too much. DO not have a separate folder for everything, it is suppose to be a linear experience.
Example of over organized website: The SIGCHA Baseline
(Whip)Performance
If your site takes a long time to load people will not want to wait for it and will probably not return even if it is a great designed site. This is where compromising has to take place, even though it looks great if it takes to long... This is when it is important to know who your audience is, what is the average software used?
"if you are trying to sell to "consumers," don;t even think about the building a site that requires anything more than a 14.4 modem connection!"
Assume the total size of the page = how many seconds it will take to load, 30K= at least 30 seconds.
Tricks to make Graphics files:
– GIF for graphics, JPEG for photographs
- Graphic styles of illustration and design (large expanses of colors)
– Vertical gradients vs. horizontal gradients
– Adaptive color palettes and small color depths
– Reuse of graphic elements
– Height and Width tags
– Interlacing JPEGs
(Bake)Compatibility
What ever is on the page should look good across all the different computers and operating systems, not just the latest versions. Determine your audience, and again figure out what they mostly use in the form of computers. Not as much of a problem currently
(Decorate)Visual Design
Many may look good but not taste so good. As in food the same goes in websites, they have to look aesthetically pleasing but not at the expense of the accessibility/organization/content. There are many wonderfully informed and organized sites that look extremely amateur, which detours people because they send a message that quality is not important.
"Whatever you do don't try to dictate your favorite color to them!"
(Serve)Interactive Design
Interaction is very important, most people who go out to eat go to a certain place because of more than just the food, service/location/convenience/price/ect. this is the same for a website, it is visited most often for more than just the information.
Feedback...
Allowing the customer the option of doing something on your site. If there was something to do on your site other than read more people might visit.
Communications...
Allow your viewer to talk, everyone likes to share his/her thoughts. Anything that will allow this will make the success of your website greater.
Adaptivity...
One of the most important experiences are those that are adaptive, or change with each member to meet their specific needs/interests/skills/believes/ect.
Location,Location,Location
Where your customers come from is very important to your design, you would tell different things to different locations.
(Combine)Content:
Must have only the BEST content, if it is good you do not need to have that much as long as it entices viewers emotions and makes them want to come back for more.
"Most people will not finish a meal if it is not tasty in the beginning!"
Freshness Counts...
It is important to have up-to-date information, no one wants to read something that is old. Nathan Shedroff (author) makes the point that you would not use week old lettuce or month old tomatoes in a salad so why would viewers want to consume old content. Of course something things can last and still be appealing, but for the most part change and updating is regularly needed,
So Does Quality...
Many sites feel that they need tons of content, so they create or add things that have no connection with that actual purpose of the site.
"If you aren't a content king, don't try to be."
What is interesting though is even if you do have to correct context interactivity is still needed to be successful. Ex, Newspapers have got it down on printed information but do not have good results with websites because they do not understand what interactive media entails.
You Can't Please all of the People all of the Time...
Some sites try being objective and end up creating sites NO ONE is interested in, your voice is why people will or will not come to your site!
(Mix)Information Design
The next step is to take this context and add organization and clarity. This begins with mapping everything you want included in the site then arranging and rearranging until the correct layout is found.
Navigation...
The setting of context which allows people to know what to expect, what to do, what they can do, and even, to some extent, how to do it. This is referred to as a cognitive model. If too much thinking is involved before entering or while visiting viewers will not visit or stay.
"Don't require them to return to the homepage every time they want to backtrack or access a different portion of your site."
One good element in good navigation is allowing your audience to navigate in many different ways. Along with knowing what the next pages purpose is before clicking. It is important to not confuse information design with visual design. Even if a cake looks nice on the outside if there was not enough time spent actually making it then it will taste bad. Remember do not organize too much. DO not have a separate folder for everything, it is suppose to be a linear experience.
Example of over organized website: The SIGCHA Baseline
(Whip)Performance
If your site takes a long time to load people will not want to wait for it and will probably not return even if it is a great designed site. This is where compromising has to take place, even though it looks great if it takes to long... This is when it is important to know who your audience is, what is the average software used?
"if you are trying to sell to "consumers," don;t even think about the building a site that requires anything more than a 14.4 modem connection!"
Assume the total size of the page = how many seconds it will take to load, 30K= at least 30 seconds.
Tricks to make Graphics files:
– GIF for graphics, JPEG for photographs
- Graphic styles of illustration and design (large expanses of colors)
– Vertical gradients vs. horizontal gradients
– Adaptive color palettes and small color depths
– Reuse of graphic elements
– Height and Width tags
– Interlacing JPEGs
(Bake)Compatibility
What ever is on the page should look good across all the different computers and operating systems, not just the latest versions. Determine your audience, and again figure out what they mostly use in the form of computers. Not as much of a problem currently
(Decorate)Visual Design
Many may look good but not taste so good. As in food the same goes in websites, they have to look aesthetically pleasing but not at the expense of the accessibility/organization/content. There are many wonderfully informed and organized sites that look extremely amateur, which detours people because they send a message that quality is not important.
"Whatever you do don't try to dictate your favorite color to them!"
(Serve)Interactive Design
Interaction is very important, most people who go out to eat go to a certain place because of more than just the food, service/location/convenience/price/ect. this is the same for a website, it is visited most often for more than just the information.
Feedback...
Allowing the customer the option of doing something on your site. If there was something to do on your site other than read more people might visit.
Communications...
Allow your viewer to talk, everyone likes to share his/her thoughts. Anything that will allow this will make the success of your website greater.
Adaptivity...
One of the most important experiences are those that are adaptive, or change with each member to meet their specific needs/interests/skills/believes/ect.
Location,Location,Location
Where your customers come from is very important to your design, you would tell different things to different locations.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Ladislave Sutnar
The original website is no longer accessible but I am still blogging about Ladislave Sutnar. I think he is a very important designer for design students to know about, especially given the assignment we are currently working on. He is the father of information graphics, inspiration for designers such as Edward Tufte and Richard Saul Wurman (previously blogged).
He is the greater of area-code design. Even before they were needed Sutnar foresaw the overload of information that would be needed in the near future and found a method to help organize it. He also made manual like devices that helped users effectively sort through enormous amounts of data. Even with these being written over 40 years ago they are still considered efficient and up to date designs.
Good sites about Sutnar:
www.magtypo.cz
www.aiga.org
www.designboom.com
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Order of Order
This article was very intriguing, especially after doing the exercise in class. For some reason it made it even more clear. Basically designers use all different methods of organizing information in order to make it more clear for the average user, "bring order to the world." This can be expected or unexpected groupings of information as long as it is the best execution for that material. Crisp gives one example of a musician who's CD's are organized by the color of their spine and its location in the spectrum, which is very original. Crisp's goal behind this article was to show how there is an unlimited number of organizational possibilities.
The Order of Order article
The Order of Order article
Reading 4
Process: Discovery
Politics, Diplomacy, and Consensus:
More information designers are having to know more about their clients: politics, goals, agendas, in order to create the most effective solution. It is important to get as much information about the company as possible even their client history. Knowing what happened before you got there can be useful.
It is very important for your couple initial meetings you are speaking directly with the person who has the ultimate decision making power. You do no want to work for days or weeks on something with a high chance of it not being approved.
1. Diagram the process before starting and explain how everyone is involved, this way everyone has something to refer to later.
2. Get a list of everyone who is on the team with all of their contact information. You cannot always assume the manager has everyone up to date info. This way if there is any kind of emergency you can work on getting it resolved sooner than later.
3. Assign people to the what they will be doing day to day.
4. Make a timeline. It is important to have urgency, but when it is false often times a project not be what was wanted.
5. Even though this seems like a lot of work and many things could be unforeseen to change the outcome, a little bit of planning helps their be less surprises once the designing has started.
Wrangling Audience and Content:
1. Know the audience: their wants, needs and goals, and how they align with the client's business strategy. Make sure you know all f the intended audiences, many of there needs conflict.
2. Understand the requirements: What does the audience need to know and why. How should your audience respond emotionally. And how will the information be viewed and by who, walking, sitting, once, many times, ect.
Organizing Content:
One effective way that was discussed was the Alphanumeric Solution. This is were you organize difficult, involved information using letters and numbers. Such as 'H' then its chapters 'H1' - 'H2' - 'H3' and each chapters subset: 'H1.1' - 'H1.2' - 'H1.3' This allows everyone to ask about a specific Alphanumeric rather than titles or chapters.
Markets are having to redefined a lot quicker than in the with less internal resources and workforce. Many times the client will have hard to understand information/content and you will discover challenges with what the tone or message is. The thing to remember: if you have a difficult time understanding the information more than likely so will any audience.These days many designers are most effective when they can do an initial design for someone and then allow them to update it when needed.
Politics, Diplomacy, and Consensus:
More information designers are having to know more about their clients: politics, goals, agendas, in order to create the most effective solution. It is important to get as much information about the company as possible even their client history. Knowing what happened before you got there can be useful.
It is very important for your couple initial meetings you are speaking directly with the person who has the ultimate decision making power. You do no want to work for days or weeks on something with a high chance of it not being approved.
1. Diagram the process before starting and explain how everyone is involved, this way everyone has something to refer to later.
2. Get a list of everyone who is on the team with all of their contact information. You cannot always assume the manager has everyone up to date info. This way if there is any kind of emergency you can work on getting it resolved sooner than later.
3. Assign people to the what they will be doing day to day.
4. Make a timeline. It is important to have urgency, but when it is false often times a project not be what was wanted.
5. Even though this seems like a lot of work and many things could be unforeseen to change the outcome, a little bit of planning helps their be less surprises once the designing has started.
Wrangling Audience and Content:
1. Know the audience: their wants, needs and goals, and how they align with the client's business strategy. Make sure you know all f the intended audiences, many of there needs conflict.
2. Understand the requirements: What does the audience need to know and why. How should your audience respond emotionally. And how will the information be viewed and by who, walking, sitting, once, many times, ect.
Organizing Content:
One effective way that was discussed was the Alphanumeric Solution. This is were you organize difficult, involved information using letters and numbers. Such as 'H' then its chapters 'H1' - 'H2' - 'H3' and each chapters subset: 'H1.1' - 'H1.2' - 'H1.3' This allows everyone to ask about a specific Alphanumeric rather than titles or chapters.
Markets are having to redefined a lot quicker than in the with less internal resources and workforce. Many times the client will have hard to understand information/content and you will discover challenges with what the tone or message is. The thing to remember: if you have a difficult time understanding the information more than likely so will any audience.These days many designers are most effective when they can do an initial design for someone and then allow them to update it when needed.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
9.23.08 Class Critique
PHEW, my video critique did not go that bad, I was so nervous coming to class!!! Someone actually mentioned that they like they was I had shown how 13,000,000 is such a large number that it actually is more than several states populations put together. YES!! My message was explained back to me, which I am hoping means it was understood!! I still feel it is boring compared to many others in class, what do you think!
There are little things that needed to be changed such as the -OR- separating the adding of states. It was mentioned to change it to lower case letters because I am using the abbreviations of the states and that is the same as Oregon.
- the website is a .org rather than. com.
- use some kind of clicking noise for the numbered parts...data like sounds
- "Not voting at all comes on" should take the place of the states because that is where you are already looking.
- a couple of transitions need to be a little faster (red guy growing)
Please if there is anything else that is noticed while watching let me know!!!!
9.18.08 Group Critique
Well...
Message:
My message was not very clear. This is good to know now, since I have been staring and making it for so long I fully understand what I am trying to say. They thought it really started getting unclear when the U.S. map comes up.
The intended message would be memorable if it were better understandable. So... hopefully if I can achieve this!!
My group said when I show that two states only have a population of more than 13,000,000 they got confused as to what that had to do with my original message, so I am going to totally take those frames out. They also did not understand how the multiple states added up to = 13,000,000, so I am going to try showing this message visually and with words. This is a key element to my video and it HAS to be understood.
Technical:
It was mentioned the message might be better understand if the states were some how being calculated up to show their total population. As of right now it is not very compelling, dynamic, or appropriate to the assignment because no one understands its message.
My transitions need some works, especially through the changing of the states. This is mostly because I had not finished fixing things from the last critique I had so when the states start showing up they are ALL out of whack. Also from the transition with "13,000,000 will not vote because..." to "only two states have a voting population..." makes the whole message confusing. My group wondered what 2 states had to do with anything and it made them confused. Also they thought the little people should not stay on the screen the whole time because they were expecting them to do something. One transition that was enjoyed was the enlargement of the little red man and the statistic at the end. It was suggested that I do something more like that in order to make it more interesting.
Type and color were discussed slightly but not solid suggestions were given to improve. I think this is only because I had a much larger problem at hand, my whole message was not understood. They did say they did not like the serif font changing to sans serif in the beginning of the video. Also the use of Helvetica at times was a little hard to read, probably because I used 'light'.
The little sound I had was enjoyed by some and not by others. I will need to input more I believe in order to get better feedback.
There is a lot I need to do, many things that I would not have been able to see myself. So... I have a lot to get started on!!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Reading 3
This is a GREAT reference. When I first looked at the e-mail letting us know that we were expected to create a design brief in such detail rather than just a compilation of our notes and research I was overwhelmed. I now feel that I understand what is expected of us, it is still going to be difficult and time consuming, but I now have a resource to help me along.
This will be something that I will definitely be using now and in the future to come!!!
Creative Brief:
This is an document (usually written by the person who has the most contact with the client) that can range anywhere from 1-10 pages that describes important information about an upcoming project, with this the working team can fully understand all aspects of the assignment. Many times designers are working on multiple projects at once, having a design brief for each project gives designers a reference so that all this information does not have to be memorized or forgotten.
In any project it is important to have set goals and guidelines that everyone is aware about so that additional time/money/effort is not wasted on going in the wrong direction. Having this document before designing is key to a successful outcome. It also puts clients at ease because they have a sense of what is going on behind the scenes.
An important thing to remember about a design brief is there is no right or wrong way to do it. It all depends on what the job is, what information is pertinent to the project, that team members are on the same page, and that the client approves it.
Creative Brief Content: (typically)
Client Information:
This usually includes things such as the clients full name, years in business, accomplishments, organization's background information, competitors and competitiveness, intended audiences, and the context for the project.
Project Information:
This includes a basic short overview, key information, and hierarchy of the project on hand. Things like: what is the key message and tone wanting to be conveyed?
Project Goals & Requirements:
-what are the problems to solve?
-where are the opportunities?
-how is success measured?
-are there any known issues/obstacles?
-what are the technical requirements?
-what are the creative requirements?
-existing guidelines?
-clients personal taste?
Project Logistics:
This part includes things such as specifications (page number, sizes, file types, ect), who are involved in the process and their responsibilities, important dates, and projects allowed hours/budget.
Personas & Scenarios
This is a very important part of any project brief! The identification of a client needs to be specific which might mean including the persons demographics or psychographics or BOTH. This will help the project team make choices about the design are aligned with users needs. These personas can be derived of personal interviews of users or they can be imagined users if they are specific.
This will be something that I will definitely be using now and in the future to come!!!
Creative Brief:
This is an document (usually written by the person who has the most contact with the client) that can range anywhere from 1-10 pages that describes important information about an upcoming project, with this the working team can fully understand all aspects of the assignment. Many times designers are working on multiple projects at once, having a design brief for each project gives designers a reference so that all this information does not have to be memorized or forgotten.
In any project it is important to have set goals and guidelines that everyone is aware about so that additional time/money/effort is not wasted on going in the wrong direction. Having this document before designing is key to a successful outcome. It also puts clients at ease because they have a sense of what is going on behind the scenes.
An important thing to remember about a design brief is there is no right or wrong way to do it. It all depends on what the job is, what information is pertinent to the project, that team members are on the same page, and that the client approves it.
Creative Brief Content: (typically)
Client Information:
This usually includes things such as the clients full name, years in business, accomplishments, organization's background information, competitors and competitiveness, intended audiences, and the context for the project.
Project Information:
This includes a basic short overview, key information, and hierarchy of the project on hand. Things like: what is the key message and tone wanting to be conveyed?
Project Goals & Requirements:
-what are the problems to solve?
-where are the opportunities?
-how is success measured?
-are there any known issues/obstacles?
-what are the technical requirements?
-what are the creative requirements?
-existing guidelines?
-clients personal taste?
Project Logistics:
This part includes things such as specifications (page number, sizes, file types, ect), who are involved in the process and their responsibilities, important dates, and projects allowed hours/budget.
Personas & Scenarios
This is a very important part of any project brief! The identification of a client needs to be specific which might mean including the persons demographics or psychographics or BOTH. This will help the project team make choices about the design are aligned with users needs. These personas can be derived of personal interviews of users or they can be imagined users if they are specific.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
More Work Needed... 9.16.08 Critique
HOURS of WORK and to me it looks as if I have not spent very much time on it. There are many things that are going to be changed along with sound being placed in order to make it not so boring. But...here it is.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
To Suggest List for Project 1
To suggest...
- micro is macro when looked at as a unified whole
- 'one' does matter
- dynamic simplicity can be intriguing
- thoughtful consideration
- a huge potential for change
- knowledge is the first step in change
- a hint of humor that does not hinder importance
- micro is macro when looked at as a unified whole
- 'one' does matter
- dynamic simplicity can be intriguing
- thoughtful consideration
- a huge potential for change
- knowledge is the first step in change
- a hint of humor that does not hinder importance
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Speech Project
This was my favorite video I found last semester when we were researching for the speech project.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Reading 2
With all of the new points of access continuously available to us, what are we, as designers, going to do in order to get and keep people interested in the information we will be representing?
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Revised Story "Get Out the Vote"
1 out of 15 people today in America feel that their vote will not effect the outcome of this election. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004 there were 197,005,000 American citizens 18 years and older. 1 out of 15 sounds like a small number, but when you think about it has approximately 13,133,667 will not vote because they feel their vote does not matter it becomes a substantially large number.
There are only three states who have a population of American citizens 18 years and older larger than this number, California, New York, and Texas. This shows that when this many people vote it is just the same as a whole or multiple states not voting at all. This is an overwhelming statistic because in the 2000 and 2004 the presidential election was decided by one state.
Associated Wordlist:
Hope Impact Aspiration Shock Bold
Change Important Persuade Difference
Choice Meaning Effective Leader
Impression Powerful Stand Up
Voice Influence Effective Inform
One Statistic Intelligence New
Optimistic Knowledge Talk Now
Impact: (n) 1.) An impinging
2.) Influence
3.) The force exerted by a new idea, concept, technology,
or ideology
(v) 4.) to have an impact or effect on
Influence: (n) 1.)the capacity or power of persons or things to be a
compelling force on or produce effects on the actions,
behaviors, opinions, ect.
2.)a person or thing that exerts influence
3.) the exercise of similar power by human beings
4.) sway
Inform: (v) 1.) to give or impart knowledge of a fact or circumstance to
2.) to supply with knowledge of a matter or subject
3.) to animate or inspire
I nform
I nfluence
I mpact
I can make a difference
Designers Must See!!
This is a video that was shown last semester in my History and Philosophy of Design. It is sooo funny, any designer will get a kick out of this!!
ENJOY
Info Designer Comparison
These three designers are very much similar in the fact that they all have based their careers around information graphics. They all help better explain statistics/information/knowledge to common viewers who would otherwise not understand the information. But they are all different what they represent and how they execute it.
Tufte does what seems to be more educational/training material, lots of numbers and statistics, Holmes also does educational material but executes it in a what seems to be a more pictorial manner, and Wurman is said to do more mapping/location info design.
Important Info Designer: 3
Edward Tufte
Ink should be used to convey and display significant data, not decoration.
Born in Kansas City in 1942 Tufte is a Emeritus (person of importance who as retired) of information/interface design, political economy, and statistics. Currently he travels around the U.S. offereing workshops. He gaduated from Stanford University with a BA and MS is statistics. The recieved his PhD in political science from Yale. He has written written, designed, and self-published many books on analytical design, where he has recieved many awards for his works.
Books
The Cognitive Style of Power Point
Important Info Designer: 2
Nigel Holmes
Born in England in 1942 Holmes is a graphic designer and theorist. He is known for his great visual representations of information, data, and knowledge, known as Information graphics/design. After graduating from Royal College of Art (1966) he worked as a freelancer until. In 1977 he was hired by Time Magazine where he worked for 16 years as a explanation graphics artist. He currently owns his own company and works for many well known clients such as Apple, Nike, The Smithsonian Institution, Fortune, United Healthcare, Visa, and so on, where he helps them using his info graphics skills. Holmes has published over six books dealing based around information design.
Parts of the Brain
Size of Federal Debt
Olympic Dreams: 2_1/2 Pike Dive
Important Info Designer: 1
Richard Saul Wurman:
Born in Philadelphia in 1935 Wurman is architect and graphic designer. He is considered by many a pioneer in Information Graphics/Architect. He takes massive amounts of information for things like neighborhoods, restaurant locations, parks, museums, and makes it understandable for the common reader using graphic design techniques. In 1959 Wurman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors and now has over 50 years of award winning works. He created the TED conferences in 1984 and has writted and designed of 80 books, his first one being published when he was 26 (1962).
Understanding USA
Understanding Health Care
Understanding Children
Stories for "Get out the Vote"
Story One:
Many people today in America feel that their vote will not affect the outcome of this election. But history has shown that 'one vote' can and has made a difference whether for the good or bad.1776: 'one vote' gave America the English language instead of German.
1830: 'one vote' in the U.S. Congress passed "The Indian Removal Act".
1845: 'one vote' admitted Texas as the 28th in the Union
1850: 'one vote' admitted California into the Union.
1850: 'one vote' admitted Oregon into the Union.
1872: 'one vote' kept the Dakota Territory from giving women the right to vote.
1888: 'one vote' kept Fredrick Douglas (African American abolitionist) from being nominated
for the U.S. president.
1890: 'one vote' admitted Idaho into the Union.
2008: your 'one vote' can change the future.
Story Two:
One one of 15 people today in America feel that their vote does not affect the outcome of this election. Anyone who feels this way needs to consider this: There are approximatley 305,000,000 people residing in the United States of of 2008. If one out of 15 people do vote because their vote does not count then that means their are around 20,333,000 people not voting for this reason. To understand how large this number is, only two states populations are larger than this amount of people who feel their vote does not count. Imagine the entire state of New York not voting, this would dramatically effect the outcome of an election. The last two elections have been won by less than 1%, what would the power of 20,000,000 more votes have changed?
Project I Objective
The main purpose of the "Get Out the Vote" assignment is to encourage voter turnout. This will be acheived by taking data/statistics that most people find boring or not important. This information will then be turned into a short motion graphic that allows the viewer to fully understand and become intrigued by the information. It must be 20 seconds or longer, include sound, and use both type and graphics. The final outcome should entice or inform the viewer enough for them to consider voting; or visit the attatched website to get more information about the organization Design for Democracy.
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