Weekly Homework 3

article: http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/top-5-strangest-ipod-cases

This article is quite bizarre, since it illustrates all the different ideas an ipod case. It is crazy what people come up these days just for a case for an ipod. One really cool design was the bulletproof ipod case. It was quite big and didnt really look that attractive. However there were other clever ideas that I am very sure other people would like and fall in love with. For example, the 'Fluffpod', which is a furry ipod case. Another example is the 'iKitty', which is a case which is the shape of a cat. I think it is quite cool and I wonder how much it would cost. It would be something very revolutionary and would definitely draw a lot of attention. Therefore this article shows the weirdest ideas of design that people can up with these days. Design has just become such a wide interest worldwide that no one actually realises it.

Examples of Helvetica

Weekly Post 2

Article: http://www.entheosweb.com/website_design/web_graphic_design_tips.asp

This article is basically a guide for how to edit photos and use effects by using photoshop

and simple graphic tools. In addition, it also shows us how to use the fireworks effects,

which one of the formatting tools that we are going to learn how to use during this year.

Therefore this article teaches us and gives us valuable tips on how to make any designs

more eye-catching and attractive. If you look into this article more deeply, all these effects

and modifications that you can make to pictures relate to the principles of design (contrast,

repetition, alignment, etc.) All these new formatting tools that we have these days simply

use these principles of design to make the design look better. Very very useful and interesting!

Font

Categories of Type

stress - a line through the thinnest parts of the curved strokes. 

• There are six main groups of types: Oldstyle, Modern, Slab serif, sans, serif, script and decorative.  
• Oldstyle - serif, serifs on lowercase are slanted, moderate thick/thin transition in the strokes, 
  
  
• Modern - has horizontal instead of slanted serifs. Modern font tend to have a cold and elegant look. Has a vertical stress, serifs on lowercase letter are thin and horizontal and a have a radical thin/thick transition in the strokes. 
• Slab Serif - has serifs on lowercase letters are horizontal and thick, vertical stress, very little or no thick/thin transition, or contrast in the strokes. 
• 
  
  
• Sans Serif  - "sans" means without in French. (Therefore sans serif fonts have no serifs on the ends of the strokes. No stress and no thick/thin contrast. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  o thick/thin transition in the strokes.
• Script - (fonts that appear tohave been hand lettered with a calligraphy pen or brush. 
• Decorative - these fonts are fun, distinctive and easy to use. Their powerful use is limited.
• 
  

The last change I made to my ad, was to remove the white background of the picture of the burger. I removed the background by using the transparency tool. It was quite useful and changed the ad quite dramatically. 

Review

• Don't be a wimp.
• Don't be afraid to create your design with plenty of blank space. 
• Don't be afraid to uncenter your format - it often makes tthe effect stronger. 
• Don't be afraid to make your graphics very bold.

Proximity

• group related items together and vary the space to indicate the importance of a relationship.

Alignment 

• To keep everything unified on a page, align everything on the same edge.

Repetition 

• repetition helps strengthen the consistency on a page. 

Contrast 

• add contrast by using rules, typefaces, colors or spatial relationships. 

Weekly Post 1

Article: "The Design Environment" (http://www.wpdfd.com/issues/87/the_design_environment/).


It was quite interesting since it was describing how a design environment should be like. It compares both a virtual and a realistic area to each other. Therefore the writer was finding similarities between websites and with realistic rooms and locations. Both the organisation of a house or a room and the organisation of a website can affect the persons perceptions and behaviours in the same ways.

Websites can be basically seen as a house. It is a simple analogy. An easy escape from the house is actually the back button on the webpage and the pages are analyzed as the rooms. To make a guest feel comfortable at your house, you have to make it attractive and comfortable at the same time. This goes the same for a webpage. For visitors to be attracted to a site, it has to be eye-catching.

Basically this article was summarizing the main principles of design. However, these principles seem to be different to the ones we learnt in class (proximity, alignment, repetition and contrast). The main visual elements of a desing that were described in this article were: color, typography, imagery, content and navigation.

In summary, a peaceful home and a nice webpage is the result of a good design. Busy and crowded websites makes it hard for people to look for information. Websites that are "sticky" and appealing are seen as an organized enviorenment with logical organisation of content. This helps visitors search for information easily. The basic goal of an organised home and webpage is to allow visitors to find what they are seeking for.

This article is actually quite helpful and I believe it will help me and guide me when its time for me to create my own webpage.

Fireworks, logos, banners, cards, front desk, notes, fax sheets, memos

I made the title of this advertisement completely black. Therefore there would be a repetition between the title and the motto at the bottom and there would also be a better contrast of the title, the background and the text. In addition, I also I added two thick lines underneath both the title and the motto. With these two lines, there is a very good contrast in my advertisement. 

Contrast

Contrast is one of the most effective ways to add visual interest to a page. 

• If two items are not the same, then make them completely different. 

The basic purpose of contrast is two-fold. One purpose is to create an interest on the page and the second purpose is to organize the information. 

The best way to have a contrast is to change the line thickness, colors, shapes, sizes and space.

To have a fair amount of repetition in my advertisement, I adjusted all the writing to the same color. I made the title black and bold so there would be a repetition in the title and the motto on the bottom. As a result, the font and the color of the writing present the repetition in this ad. 

Repetition

REPEAT SOME ASPECT OF THE DESIGN THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PIECE

• This repetitive element can be anything from a bold font, a thick line,  a certain bullet, color, design, element, format or spatial relationships. (anything that a reader can recognize).

• Repetition can also be seen as "consistency". 

• If there is no repetition in a design, it loses its cohesive look and feel. 
  
• With repetition, visual elements in the design unifies and strengthens the design. 

The purpose of repetition is to basically unify and to add visual interest. 

Avoid repeating the element so much that it becomes annoying. Be careful about the value of contrast. 

I completely adjusted the alignment and proximity. Firstly, I made the font size smaller and had adjusted the spacing between each line so that overall the advertisement would have more space (resulting in a better design). I changed the alignment, so that both the picture of the burger and the text underneath it would have the same alignment. 

Alignment

NOTHING SHOULD BE PLACED ON THE PAGE ARBITRARILY.

• Every element should have some visual connection with other elements on the page. 
  
• Unity is an important concept in design. 
  
• Even if the separate element are not close, they can still appear to be connected by alignment. 
• The purpose of alignment is to unify and organize the page. 
• A strong alignment creates a sophisticated, formal, fun or a serious look. 
• Find elements to align with each other, even if they are physically far away from each other. 
• Try not to have a centered alignment, unless you want to have a very formal piece of design.

The Four Basic Principles

1) Contrast - avoid elements on the page that are merely similar. If they are not the same, then make them very different. (often the most important visual attraction on a page. (Main reason to grab people's attention). 

2) Repetition - Repeat visual elements of the design. It develops the organization and makes the page more united. 

3) Alignment - Every element on the page should have visual connection with one another. This makes the page clean, sophisticated and have a fresh look. 

4) Proximity - items, which are related together, should be grouped together. This makes the page one whole unit rather than separate units. This also makes the page clean and organized.  

Proximity

The main principle of proximity is: Group related items together. (related items are seen as one cohesive group rather than a bunch of unrelated things). Proximity gives the readers an instant visual clue as to the organization and content of the page. When item are close to each other, they become one unit. 

When adjusting the proximity, you have to make some changes in the size, weight or location of items. 

The basic purpose of proximity is to organize. 

Avoid a lot of separate elements on a page. 

Don't group elements that don't belong together.   

Discussion: What is graphic design? Why is it important?

Graphic Design is the art of visual presentation and communication using graphical elements. There are a lot of different types of graphic designs, including: advertisements, magazines, and of course web design. Graphic design officially began and was used in the late 20th century and advanced into the early 21st century, however if you actually think about it, it began way back in history during the age of the cavemen.
Technology is the application and the process that helps human beings modify nature to meet their needs and wants. In simpler words, technology is a creation from science and engineering. Design and technology definitely have a very significant relationship. Looking at innovations, both technology and design are needed to produce an innovation. In the past century (mostly in the last two decades), both technology and design have been combined to generate brilliant foundations like all of the new electronic devices (IPods, phones, laptops, cameras, etc.) Even though design and technology can be seen as the same thing, they have to different definitions and often get mistaken with one another.
Whenever I see or hear the word design, I think about art, pattern, color and all the elements of fine art. But, when referring to digital design or graphic design, the word has a new meaning. Graphic design, in my opinion, is actually quite an interesting topic and shows us what we can do with the availability of technology and innovations.

	Research method	Design process
Preparation for research	Literature review	Study historic and contemporary examples, media
Information gathering. Goal: to limit variables and identify problem	Collection of preliminary field data	Experimentation with materials and visual ideas
Identification of problem and hypothesis	Information correlated; problem defined; educated guesses made; hypotheses stated; research design prepared	Design problem identified through visual analysis and recognition
Exposition of facts and interpretation	Research plan is carried out; results are analyzed, plan is modified as necessary based on results; experiments are replicated	Work is created in a series, with each work suggesting problems to explore in subsequent work
Presentation of results and findings	Publication of findings	Exhibition of work or production of design

What is Graphic Design?

The ability to experiment, to value and to learn from mistakes and build on the experience achieved is the hallmark of a successful and creative individual. 

Creativity is often mistaken with originality because there are very few original ideas. Creativity is actually the ability to see connections and relationships where others have not. 

Design Process: 1. collect ideas and skills through reading or experimentation. 

     2. Formulate a tentative problem, and begin to explore the topic. 

The Design Cycle 

This cycle is very useful since it shows all the processes and steps you have to take when you are designing something. It guides you through all of the work. Planning, Investigating, Creating and Evaluating are the four main steps of the cycle. Then each section is divided into two sub sections which defines each step. If you actually think about it, you can start from anywhere and end from anywhere because you will definitely have to come across each step when you are designing.