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Photography April 21, 2009

Posted by kd49 in : Photography , comments closed

Pulitzer Prize winning photographs of 2008

Techniques for taking and selecting great photographs

As with other forms of visual communication, successful photography usually adheres to some basic rules of composition.

Review of the Olympic moments photographs applying the principles above.

Definitions:

Photo journalism: The informative photographic documentation of an event or subject in real-time. 2008 National Magazine Award Winning Example from National Geographic

Photo portfolio:  Collection of photos that were crafted to tell a story. 2008 National Magazine Award Winning example from Vanity Fair

In making photo selections

Interesting reads:

Interaction Design April 21, 2009

Posted by kd49 in : Class 11 - Interaction Design, Classes , comments closed

Second half of discussion on using the grid. The following PDF describes the application of the grid to the web design process (this was created by Khoi Vinh,  the Design Director at the NY Times Online and Mark Boulton.

A nice infographic from last week:

Homocides in Manhattan (NYT)

Review of website design project

Interaction Design

We are surrounded by interactive design from alarm clocks,  to street signs, to ATMs and voicemail. Voicemail is a particularly egregious examples of bad interaction design. Why do we have to listen to instructions on how to leave a message every time we make a phone call? Why do we have to learn how to fasten a seat belt every time we get on airplane?

Good interaction or interface design should be intuitive and not require instruction. Think NY taxis: consistent, intuitive and logical. [ppt]

Good examples of Interaction design:

Bad examples

Principles of Good design

Some interesting interfaces:

______

ASSIGNMENT

Finalize your portfolio website design

Portfolio Website Examples April 21, 2009

Posted by kd49 in : Classes, Portfolio sites , comments closed

Artist portfolios

http://juliespeidel.com/

http://www.laniemcnulty.com/index.html

http://www.keithtyson.com/

http://www.hugoandmarie.com/

http://www.yokonamiosamu.jp/

http://www.calebcharland.com/

http://www.marc-newson.com/main.html

Fashion/product designers
http://www.tordboontje.com/

Distinctive

http://www.joedavis.co.uk/

http://christiansparrow.com/

Media company

http://www.firstbornmultimedia.com

http://www.studionewwork.com/

http://www.checklandkindleysides.com/

Incorporates video
http://www.marcjacobs.com/

http://thankyou.thisisgrow.com/T37J

http://johnlikens.com/

Sound design

http://www.studionewwork.com/

Information Graphics April 21, 2009

Posted by kd49 in : Class 9 - Infographics, Classes , comments closed

Example of how color is communicated in a design presentation [pdf]

Review of color compositions

FEMA graphic

Daily show clip

Information graphics represents the  intersection of graphics, journalism and science.
The goal of the graphic is to efficiently communicate information or trends in other words, to help people learn. The focus is usually finding interesting or important patterns in the data and displaying them succinctly.

The information is the interface. Music animation machine

Infographic types [ppt]:

Maps

Line Graphs – show comparisons and clarifies a relationship over time. Vertical baseline should be zero or have a reference to a zero baseline otherwise data could be deceiving. Line graphs should only be used when the positions of the x-axis are numeric.

Stack graphics which  use areas to convey numbers:

Bar Graphs are classic method for numeric comparisons. Their advantage is they are capable of showing one or more sets of variables. Ideal for discreet and fixed data.

A variation of a bar graph is a block histogram – displays the distribution of numeric values in a data set.

Pie Chart based on division of the whole or parts of the whole. Can be limiting

Mosaic or Vorno Treemaps are effective for visualizations of hierarchical structures

Bubble Graphs display a set of numeric values as a circles. It is especially useful for data sets with dozens to hundreds of values, or when the values differ by several orders of magnitude. Effective for displaying large quantities of data

Pictographs use images often in specific sizes or quantities to represent numerics

Variation is tag clouds where words are scaled to represent frequency. These are sometimes called Wordles

Image vs Data – sometimes an image can be more effective than a data display and sometimes the data itself communicates the message most effectively.

Flow Chart

Architectural diagrams

Five approaches to deaths of Americans in Iraq
Numerics
Graphic representation 1
Graphic representation 2
Image
Map and audio video based
Successful infographics are:

examples from NYTimes artist S Carter

_______

ASSIGNMENT

Develop an information graphic to describe an aspect of your life.

Design Process April 21, 2009

Posted by kd49 in : Class 12 - Design Process, Classes , comments closed

Design of bike rack for New York City: competition websitesamples of winning entries

DESIGN PROCESS

Design Process [ppt]

The process of design is critical to successful results.

Most design studios follow in some form the following steps. Research can take a few formats depending on the scale of the project and the preferences of the client:

Discovery: the phase where the designers gather information about the project including the key questions:

Site architecture

Schematic Design: the translation of ideas and assumptions to visual form in an effort to further refine the objectives:

Design Development

Production and Technology

For product design, print design and even architecture  the specifics can vary slightly but the key phases are the same: video

Recap of design process: video

  1. Discovery
  2. Schematic design
  3. Design development and testing
  4. Production and technology
  5. Testing and launch

Design Resources:

_______

ASSIGNMENT
Continue to refine your portfolio site based on the feedback in class.

Logos and Branding April 20, 2009

Posted by kd49 in : Class 6 - Branding, Classes , comments closed

33 logos in 33 minutes

brand tags: what do people think of established brands
Review of iconic logo designers

Branding is the tangible and intangible elements that identify a company or its products and separates them from the competition. Nike  is an example of  a well known brand.  It has a strong association with speed, agility, endurance and strength in consumers mind. A strong graphic identity is an important element in a brand. The benefit of good branding is that people remember your business and have associative images of it and feelings for it.
Brand creates a promise of:

People usually associate branding with larger businesses that have the money to spend on advertising and promotion. If you can create effective branding, then it can make your business appear to be much bigger than it really is.
An image of size and establishment can be especially important when a customer wants reassurance that you will still be around in a few years time.

A branded business is more likely to be seen as experienced in their products or services, and will generally be seen as more reliable and trustworthy than an unbranded business.

If your business has a strong brand, it allows you to link together several different products or ranges. You can put your brand name on every product or service you sell, meaning that customers for one product will be more likely to buy another product from you.

Elements of creating a brand:
Articulate the identity and the value proposition to the customer
A classic example is from Wal-Mart’s “Everyday Low prices” or Starbucks Excellent coffee in a warm relaxing setting.

  1. Who are we?
  2. What business are we in?
  3. Who is our customer?
  4. What are the unique benefits we offer them?
  5. What are the values we represent?
  6. Who is our competition?

Make all visual and experience designs true to that identity and value.
Example: Good design at good value proposition of Target

Examples of true brands [ppt]

Logo explorations:

AG Low Construction

Ogden Plumbing

SinkIt

Aquarius Advisors

___________

ASSIGNMENT

Design a logo for the ITP program

A set of resources that might be useful

Read:Business Week:  How Great Design Makes People Love Your Company

The Visual Communication That Surrounds Us April 20, 2009

Posted by kd49 in : Class 2 - Signage, Classes , comments closed

A World Without Graphic Design
(click on Hidden Town in navigation)
Discussion of Assignment:

Review of the 9 rules of design:

  1. Have an idea
  2. Make decisions that support the idea
  3. Use no more than two typefaces
  4. Choose colors for a reason
  5. Make the negative space part of the design
  6. Communicate
  7. Establish a hierarchy
  8. Stick to one layout justification
  9. Work with a grid
  10. Make the interface intuitive

______

SIGNAGE
Signs, signs, everywhere signs

Presentation of signage from around New York (ppt)

_________

ASSIGNMENT
Come to class on Monday prepared to present 3 images of bad signage in and around New York.  The images should be photographs you have taken.  Your presentation should include a recommendation for improving the sign.

Read Business Weeks’s Ten Commandments of Web Design