Thursday, June 9, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Application Statement
iPad Application
Application Name: True Type
Application Statement:
List of Features Users Might Like:
Type
1. Creating typefaces
2. Type research
- Seeing typefaces/fonts and wanting to know the specifics
- Type vocabulary (serif/san serif, etc)
3. Manipulating Type
4. Comparing Typefaces
5. Font Management
Color
1. Applying color to thumbnail sketches
2. Digitizing drawn thumbnails
3. Pantone Matching System library access
4. Creating Color Themes
5. Unifying color systems (CMYK, RGB, PMS)
6. Color Research
- Taking a picture of a color and best color match
- Creating Color Comparisons
- Application of Color and Color Affects
Design Basics
1. Digitizing drawn thumbnails
2. Design Research
3. Linking Design to Computer Software
Our Users…
… are graphic designers or have interest in design
… are interior designers
… like to draw
… meet with clients out of their office
… find inspiration from everyday life
… can never remember an idea or design without keeping notes
… appreciate others design
… know the difference between pantone, CMYK and RGB colors
… know the difference between a font and a type family
… constantly designing in their heads
… need convenient, specific, and reliable answers to simple tasks that can be time wasting
For designers who are constantly being inspired by the world around them and wanting to grasp those inspirations and produce them in a productive and convenient fashion. Designers ready to design at a moments notice.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Week 8 Reading
Chapter 12: “Help! My Boss Wants me to ____________. When Bad Design Decisions Happen to Good People”
Krug first goes into why it is a bad idea to ask for more personal information than what is needed when subscribing to an online newspaper. A full address, birthday, occupation, etc. are not required and are considered offensive to the user. It also brings up some problems like users being skeptical of your product and won’t provide real information, or they just won’t bother to fill it out at all. Krug suggests requiring the user to fill out the bare minimum of the necessities you need to know, don’t even bother with optional fields that make you look like you’re asking for more information that you need. Also, being very clear to what the user receives in exchange for their information.
When a CEO is asking for more “pizazz” or “sizzle” to the site, Krug validates the importance of a presentable, professional, and attractive site (and being able to do that without it being too flashy). Stated: “Most of the time on the Web, people don’t want to be engaged; they just want to get something done…” Not only do flashy splash pages and big pictures slow down a site, but they are an outdated tool.
Krug’s final note reminds us that all the things he has told us in his book and bad practices of web design and how to prevent them. The only reason we should be breaking these rules is a) you really know what you’re doing, b) you have a darned good reason, and c) you actually are going to test it when you’re done to make sure you’ve managed to make it work; you’re not just going to intend to test it.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and it made me understand web design a lot more. Initially I was the designer that could complain about a website and suggest on how to change it, but I couldn’t start from scratch and build a website out of pure nothingness and making it user friendly. This book changed that.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
iPhone App Ideas
Kayla and I have come up with the following ideas for our smartphone app:
1. A Parking Assistant App - would indicate parking in the city you are driving in that is close to you or will be close to your destination. Would show nearby lots/garages as well as free street parking zones, areas that are not open for parking during certain hours, etc.
2. Event Seating App - Would show you where your seat would be at a concert, play or special event. You would be able to see a map of the venue and see the view that you would have from your seat.
3. Design App - Would aid designers in determining typefaces seen out in public. You could take a picture of the typeface and the app would tell you what type of font it is, if there are special adjustments such as kerning, leading, etc. as well as what colors are being used.
Week 7 Reading Response
Chapter 10: "Usability as a Common Courtesy".
Krug describes in his first few paragraphs a frustrating scenario every web surfer knows and has experienced -- looking for information that is clearly 1. not there 2. not acknowledged and 3. ignored. And this is a problem that we as designers need to realize before the surfers realize it. We must fix the problem before there is a problem; we must anticipate what the user wants and give it to them before they ask. And we must have the courtesy to make it visible and easily accessible- because it’s what the user wants. It comes down the one rule: “the user is always right”. And this includes more that just information that is given to the user, it’s also information that is asked of the user. For example, contact information and personal data should not have to be configured by the user. The user wants a thoughtless process; therefore, we must give them the easiest configuration possible. In short, the designer must be one step ahead- at all times. Designers increase the “goodwill” to the user when the things they want are obvious and in the shortest route possible. And users notice the effort put into making them happy.
Chapter 11: Accessibility, Cascading Style Sheets and You: Just when you think you're done a cat floats by with buttered toast strapped to its back.
This chapter brings in the designer and the usability expert- and the challenge of merging both visions. While the designer seems to have the world at their feet to design this website, there is a box that limits the design capabilities the developer programs: it must be user friendly to all who use it, including the people with special needs. Essentially, the developer is the bones of the website- all of the intricacies and the way it breathes is the concern of the developer. The designer then puts a flare of creativity and overall aesthetics to the piece and enhances the skeleton the developer produces. It is difficult however to be creative while playing to a strict rule-book. And this is what Krug states as the “usability problems”.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Week 4 Reading
Chapter 7: The first step in recovery is admitting that the Home Page is beyond your control: Designing in the Home Page
What the Home Page accommodates:
- Site identity and mission: a consumer should know right away what the site is for and shouldn’t have to wonder or search for the topic.
- Site hierarchy: The Home Page is essentially an overview of what the site looks like. And where you can find what.
- Search: An option to search exactly what the consumer wants is a must. And it must be shown predominantly.
- Teases: Content/Feature promos are like the enticing hints on the cover of magazines- they must make the consumer want to explore more.
- Timely Content: keeping the site up-to-date with upcoming specials to reassure the consumer that the site is active and constantly changing- this also entices them to visit again soon.
- Deals: Space for advertisement of the product, cross-promotion, and co-branding deals.
- Shortcuts: eliminates the need for hunting down a specific piece of information. And user friendly.
- Registration: becoming a member of the site to make areas more accessible to users.
Home Page objectives:
- Show me what I’m looking for
- And what I’m not looking for
- Show me where to start
- Establish credibility and trust
Constraints:
- The “waterfront” of the web real estate- lots of traffic.
- Lots of opinions because everyone is using it.
- The Home Page has to appeal to everyone who visits the site- no matter how diverse their interests.
The First Casualty of War
The best Home Pages involve compromise because they can’t be pleasing to all who view them. So, the Home Page must convey the big picture- the overall view, instead of squeezing every last detail into the page because it gets lost among the shuffle.
It must answer four initial questions immediately:
o What is this?
o What can I do here?
o What do they have here?
o Why should I be here—and not somewhere else?
The hard part is you do need to impress, entice, direct, and expose the deals to the consumer- but in a way that will not be boring and will not take forever.
How to get the message across
- Tagline: should be right next to the site ID, so they are received as meant to be in a pair.
- Welcome blurb: a terse description of the site- visible without scrolling
- The tagline and the welcome blurb are part of recognizing/guessing what the site is about.
- Common ground between using the space you need and using too much space.
- Don’t use a mission statement as a Welcome blurb- because no one reads them.
- Test the product- self-testing the homepage will help you make improvements.
Taglines are:
- Appears right below, above, or next to the site ID
- Clear, Informative
- Vague
- Just long enough
- Differentiation from similar products
- A clear benefit of the product
- Generic
- Personable, lively, sometimes clever
- They are not a motto- a motto expresses a guiding principle, a goal, or an ideal, but a tagline conveys a value of proposition. Mottos are lofty and reassuring but they don’t describe the product.
Where to start
The consumer should say with confidence with they enter your Home Page
o Here’s where to start if I want to search
o Here’s where to start if I want to browse
o Here’s where to start if I want to sample their best stuff
Best way to start is to make the entry points look like entry points.
Unique Home Page Navigation
- Section descriptions: you can add descriptive phrases to each section name, or even list the subsections
- Different Orientation: the Home Page often requires a very different layout from all the other pages- so it may be necessary to use horizontal instead of vertical navigation, or vice versa.
- More space for identity: the site ID on the Home Page is usually larger than in the persistent navigation, like the large sign over the store entrance, and it usually needs some empty space next to it for the tagline, which may not appear on every page.
- But the home navigation and the persistent navigation need to be similar enough so that they are recognizable to each other.
Pull Down Menus
They’re troublesome because:
- You have to seek them out: scanning down a pull-down list doesn’t allow your eye to catch on anything.
- They’re hard to scan: in standard HTML, you have no control over font, spacing, or formatting of the list to make it more readable, and there’s no really good way to divide the list into subgroups
- They’re twitchy: the move so quickly they’re hard to read.
- They are more effective for alphabetized lists of items with known names, like countries, states of products because there’s no thought involved.
Reflection:
This was a great chapter because it really gives a good starting direction with our new assignment for the ecommerce site.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Week 2 Reading
As we learn more about designing interfaces we learn more about the average human population’s tolerance and aptitude with an interface. Krug, narrows down the immediacies of what should be the first things a user sees.
1. A visual hierarchy on every page.
2. Conventionalism
3. Definable areas
4. Obvious clickability
5. And minimum noise.
The hierarchy of a page portrays the relationships between the different subjects on the page. For example, variation in size relationships prominently show was is more important on a page: the bigger it is the more important it appears on a page. Even changing the density, color, negative space, or position on a page can move the viewer’s eye along the map that you create with a visual hierarchy.
Another way to create relationships among different groupings is grouping the similar groups and nesting an array of portals to compliment each other. Like a picture relating to it’s written description: similar to a newspaper.
Conventionalism is a tool for designers to make landmarks easy to find- because viewers have found it there before. Or, it is so similar to what they already know that they can assume that it is the same sort of thing that doesn’t need an explanation. They reassure familiarity in a new place for a viewer. This is a helpful tool even though designers don’t like to use them- almost afraid that they’ll being doing the same old thing and not creating a new, better design. The rule of thumb for dilemmas like that for designers: use what works unless you know you have a better idea.
Definable areas of an interface allows viewers to ignore the unnecessary parts that don’t apply to his/her needs.
Keeping the background noise and information that bottoms the hierarchy scale not only doesn’t overwhelm the reader, but it allows the clickable areas of a website to be more communicative and visible.
After starting in Chapter 4, I realize I like how Krug explains it’s not how many clicks it takes to get to page, but how hard it is to get there- how much brainpower it requires. It is also described as the “scent of information”- the ability to apply multiple mindless clicks to get to exactly where you’re going.
In the words of Krug in his 3rd law of usability: “Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.” I thought to myself, ‘Yes. This is what most websites need. I’m tired of reading fluff.’ And the sub-topic of this law: “Happy talk must die.” I just about popped a lid. And it’s pretty much self-explanatory.
Concept Statement
Note: All initial questions are answered within concept statement.
I want my portfolio site to be a reflection of who I am. My family and friends would be the ones who could most closely see the visual reflection of myself in the site. First and foremost, I would invite them to take a gander at my site and post feedback. A vast amount of work and an accurate depiction of my personality within the interface will be the main things my family and friends would want to receive out of the site; my portfolio as a whole (interface and showcase) should be understood by those who know me personally. Even though my family and friends would be the ones that would enjoy my portfolio for the mere thought and being of it, it is the future employers and clients that I want persuade that my style and my personality will work collectively with their existing operations. I want to not only promote my work as a designer, but my diversity and aptitude. Not only do I want a strong group of work in my portfolio, but also a vast spread of technical skill and style. The assets I have chosen to compliment my portfolio were chosen based on the concept of unpredictability. As individual photos, they might be confusing as to how they would visual depict my personality. But, as a whole they are intended to sum up the entirety of the quirks and intricacies that make up a being. I intend to use my assets and visual media to work as a composite unit. Square layout and square imaging portray more than just their surface visual appeal. I use squares as a way to form unity; a union of similarities can come to make a larger sum. My personality is also a bit square. I am comfortable in my own box but I prove that I have the creativity and the drive to break out and think outside my box through my portfolio.
List the assets you need to persuade the user: Which projects
- Red Chair Identity
- Red Chair Website Redesign
- Smokey Robinson CD Packaging
- 2012 Olympic Games Wayfinding App
- El Diablo Café Identity
I want my portfolio site to be a reflection of who I am. My family and friends would be the ones who could most closely see the visual reflection of myself in the site. First and foremost, I would invite them to take a gander at my site and post feedback. A vast amount of work and an accurate depiction of my personality within the interface will be the main things my family and friends would want to receive out of the site; my portfolio as a whole (interface and showcase) should be understood by those who know me personally. Even though my family and friends would be the ones that would enjoy my portfolio for the mere thought and being of it, it is the future employers and clients that I want persuade that my style and my personality will work collectively with their existing operations. I want to not only promote my work as a designer, but my diversity and aptitude. Not only do I want a strong group of work in my portfolio, but also a vast spread of technical skill and style. The assets I have chosen to compliment my portfolio were chosen based on the concept of unpredictability. As individual photos, they might be confusing as to how they would visual depict my personality. But, as a whole they are intended to sum up the entirety of the quirks and intricacies that make up a being. I intend to use my assets and visual media to work as a composite unit. Square layout and square imaging portray more than just their surface visual appeal. I use squares as a way to form unity; a union of similarities can come to make a larger sum. My personality is also a bit square. I am comfortable in my own box but I prove that I have the creativity and the drive to break out and think outside my box through my portfolio.
List the assets you need to persuade the user: Which projects
- Red Chair Identity
- Red Chair Website Redesign
- Smokey Robinson CD Packaging
- 2012 Olympic Games Wayfinding App
- El Diablo Café Identity
I only have 5 I would want to showcase in my portfolio
What projects which do not exist yet will you want to show? I don’t know yet.
What categories will you depict in your mockup?
- Identity Design
- Package Design
- Interactive Media
- Illustration
- Poster Deign
What projects which do not exist yet will you want to show? I don’t know yet.
What categories will you depict in your mockup?
- Identity Design
- Package Design
- Interactive Media
- Illustration
- Poster Deign
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Portfolio Website Mood Board
All Photo Credit due to Getty Images
Background: Brianna Holt is a designer without a particular focus yet. While she is most interested in identity, layout, and package design, nailing down a particular forte has not been established yet. Her old soul, love for rare intricacies, and optimistic personality is what fuels her through the design world.
Target Audience: Potential clients and employers.
Objectives:
- Showcase the portfolio of Brianna Holt
- A glimpse of the style and twist Brianna puts to design projects
Obstacles: Creating a memorable and original portfolio that captures the eye of employers and future clients.
Key Benefits: All showcased work will be in one central place as well as create a credibility of design sense and professionalism.
Tone: Rich with color on a clean, white background. Simple and elegant design described as inviting.
Creative Considerations: Create a visual personality description of Brianna Holt.
Week 1 Reading
Usually when we have weekly reading assignments for a class, I dread them more than any other thing I have to do that day. Even if I have to do things that (by a normal standard) are much harder and more tedious to do; for example, 9.5 times out of 10 I’d rather be a victim of a plane crash that read my boring texts books. However, this book surprised me. Just after reading the introduction, I was excited to see where this author/designer would take me. Unlike most writers, this guy understood the average reader’s attention span and emotional attachment to textbook reading.
Chapter One elaborated on the topic of “usability”- and the number one rule to easy usability for any consumer was “self-explanatory”. Even though that this was a fact that I was aware of, I had never had it presented to me in such simple terms. Steve Krug used many different examples of self-explanatory options versus options that required thought. What made these examples so easy to understand-- self-explanatory—was how the concept of self-explanation didn’t just apply to websites, but any situation where the consumer as actively looking for information. Obvious > Puzzling.
Chapter Two had me chuckling to myself most of the time while I was reading. It reminded me of a comedy show titled “How we really use the web”. First the comedian will describe an event or circumstance 99.9% of the audience has experience in their everyday life. Then the comedian goes into the step-by-step process of searching for something you’re looking for on the World Wide Web. Somehow, we as the audience think it is hysterically funny that we all do the same things when looking for something on the Internet. Somehow it only becomes a funny experience when someone else points out the details of what make our process so in sync with everyone else’s. Krug does an excellent job of embracing the facts of the user/interface relationship and how to avoid the “muddling” we endure with the not-so-user-friendly websites.
Portfolio Websites:
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