Cover Page Little Book of Projects Yasmeen Shaban Visual Methods and Processes Spring 2016
Table of Contents Pinterest Boards Alignment Consistency Highlighting Layering Proximity Chunking Immersion Operant Conditioning Storytelling 80/20 Rule Errors Hierarchy Mimicry Signal-to-Noise Ratio Attractiveness Bias Entry Point Rule of Thirds Symmetry Top-Down Lighting Bias Cost-Benefit Development Cycle Factor of Safety Hieracrhy of Needs Ockham’s Razor Icon Set Book Cover Series
4-5 6-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-15 16-17 18-19 20-21 22-23 24-25 26-27 28-29 30-31 32-33 34-35 36-37 38-39 40-41 42-43 44-45 46-47 48-49 50-51 52-53 54-55
Alignment Alignment can be defined in terms of rows and columns that form a grid, but text can be aligned to a diagonal line as well. Left- and right-aligned text provides more powerful visual cues than center-aligned text does, and it also provides a line for the designer to line other elements up with.
Consistency
Internal consistency refers to consistency among elements within a system, such as wayfinding signs in a park or museum. External consistency refers to the consistency across systsms, such as the common shortcuts to cut and paste text in multiple computer programs.
Consistency comes in 4 forms: Aesthetic, functional, internal and external.
Aesthetic consistency can be defined in terms of consistent line quality or style across multiple elements of a design, or across multiple designs. Functional consistency refers to the consistency between meaning and action, such as the symbols for playing, pausing, and rewinding media.
Highlighting
Highlighting is a technique that can be used to make certain words pop out in a block of text. This can be done through the use of: bolding, italics, underlining, using colors, mixing typefaces, and inversing elements. As a general rule, not more than 10% of a text block should be highlighted. The more highlighting is done, the less impactful the effect will be.
Layering Layering involves presenting information in groups that can be viewed separately or together.
Twodimensional layering
Threedimensional layering
is often viewed one layer at a time.
is often viewed collectively.
Proximity Proximity is one of the Gestalt Principles, and it states that: Elements that are closer together are percieved to be more related
than those
that
are
farther
apart.
Chunking Chunking is a device used to simplify and break down information so that it is easier to store in short term memory.
One common example is the way 10-digit phone numbers are broken into 3 chunks that are easier to remember.
Immersion Immersion is a state of focus that is so intense, one is lost in the subject.
Large, interactive art pieces and gardens are good examples of places where immersive experiences are common.
Operant Conditioning Operant Conditioning is a technique used to modify behaviors by reinforcing positive reactions or (desired) punishing negative (undesired) reactions to stimuli.
Storytelling Storytelling is a method of creating imagerey, emotions and an understanding of events, and communicating them to an audience.
Good story telling relies on setting, characters, plot, invisibility, mood and movement. It can be used to engage an audience in a design and evoke an emotional response. The audience will also be able to remember the design and its message better.
80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule states that a large percentage of effects in any system are caused by a small percentage of the variables.
Errors Most errors are thought to be made because of human mistake, but poor design actually contributes far more to error than human mistake. There are two types of er-
rors: slips and mistakes. Errors that ocur when an action isn’t what someone intended is called a slip.
Design measures can be taken to prevent more errors.
An error that occurs when an outcome is what was desired, but was inappropriate, is called a mistake.
Hierarchy Creating hierarchy is a way to organize and structure information so the viewer can digest it more easily. Using highlighting is one way to create hierarchy.
Hierarchy can be made in tree structures...
...or stair structures.
...nest structures...
Mimicry Mimicry is the act of copying properties of familiar things in one’s environment to gain the benefits provided by those properties.
Functional mimicry is when something is designed to work like something else.
Surface mimicry can be defined as making something look like something else on a purely aesthetic level.
Behavioral mimicry is defined as making something act like something else.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio The signal-to-noise ratio is another term for the amount of relevant information that is present as opposed to the amount of information that is extraneous, respectively.
Attractiveness Bias Attractiveness bias is the tendancy to think that attractive people have more desirable qualities than unattractive people do.
The qualities that are deemed “attractive� differ between men and women. However, the general qualities that make up our idea of health and fertility are the same: symmetrical facial features and an ideal waist-to-hip ratio.
Women are thought to be more attractive when they exaggerate their sexuality, which they might do by wearing lipstick or high heels. Men are thought to be more attractive when they have wealth and power, which can be demonstrated in the clothes they wear or the cars they drive.
Entry Point Entry points are physical points of entry into a design. These can be enhanced with minimal barriers, points of prospect, and progressive lures. Tall staircases or even simple, appealing headers in front of text blocks can act as inviting entry points into a design.
Rule of Thirds The rule of thirds is a simple design technique in which the composition is divided into three sections, vertically and horizontally.
When elements in the composition are aligned with these dividing lines, the result is an appealing and dynamically framed design.
This technique is popular in photography.
Symmetry
Symmetry is defined as a property of visual equivalence among elements in a form.
Top-Down Lighting Bias
Top-down ligting bias is the tendancy to interpret a shaded or dark area of an object as a shadow resulting from a light soure above the object. This causes shaded areas to be percieved as farther away from the light source, and can cause objects with harsh lighting to look more natural or unnatural.
Cost-Benefit The cost-benefit relationship is a tool that helps determine whether an activity is worth pursuing.
The general guideline is that the activity should only be pursued if the benefit is equal to or greater than the cost.
Development Cycle The development cycle is the repitition of four steps of design creation: requirements, design, development, and testing.
Factor of Safety The factor of safety is the extent to which a designer goes beyond the believed necessary steps that are needed to successfully accomplish a task.
“One-sizefits-all� clothing and precautionary signs like the one above are examples of bad and good factors of safety.
Hierarchy of Needs The hierarchy of needs in design is as follows: functionality,
reliability,
usability,
proficiency,
and creativity.
A designer should prioritize the lower tiers of this hierarchy before considering the higher ones.
Ockham’s Razor
Ockham’s Razor states that when two functionally identical designs are being considered...
...the simplest design should win. Plain and simple.
Icon Set
A Dozen Phobias
As an artist, I’m very interested in capturing emotions and experience in my work. So for this icon set, I wanted to create something that embodied a feeling rather than simply illustrating a set of objects that have been “done before.” This line of reasoning led me to want to capture fear, or more specifically, the feeling of dealing with various phobias. Sonophobia (fear of loud sounds)
Ailurophobia (fear of cats)
Fear of Losing Control
Athazagorophobia (fear of being left out)
Atychiphobia (fear of failure)
Homophobia (fear of homosexuality)
Claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces)
Ophidophobia (fear of snakes
Autodysomophobia (fear of bad-smelling people)
Basiphobia (fear of falling)
Heliophobia (fear of the sun)
Pyrophobia (fear of fire)
The names above correspond to the idons that represent those phobias on the opposite page.
Book Cover Series These book covers are the result of a long process of collaging and experimenting with temperature in different layers in photoshop. Having never had experience in photoshop before, this project was an exciting avenue into the unknown for me. I feel like the different book covers had varying levels of success. My favorite part by far was adding the text, because that’s when it really came together and I could see the final product.
The art that I collaged to make these covers were pulled from all different time periods and regions around the world: the Mediterranean, the Rennaisance, prehistoric art, and art from the Middle and far East.
I found that mixing time periods created an interesting contrast in style and added a quality that wouldn’t be found if I hadn’t been made to look in all different time periods and regions to find art elements.
The most exciting part of creating the collages was forming a story from elements that were completely unrelated before I brought them together.
yshaban@ufl.edu 123 Lane, Somewhereville FL