Visual Techniques

Spode Christmas Tree Scalloped Edge Dish 

Symmetry

Balance

Predictability

Unity

Regularity

Singularity

Franciscan China Indian Summer Christmas Plate

Asymmetry

Irregularity

Fragmentation

Activeness

Flatness

Episodicity

I chose these plates for their surface design. Surface designers are given the shape of a plate that is to be designed on. They know that the plate is going to be sold during a particular season or holiday. They use techniques to produce a design that is going to fit with that particular time of year. We interpret that these plates are for Christmas and fall, primarily because of the colors and symbols used. Other visual techniques also add to the feel of the plates as well.

The Christmas plate incorporates symmetry and balance in what I find to be a boring design. It is very predictable for the season it is made for. The theme is very singular. This plate could not be used for any other time of year other than Christmas, otherwise it would look out of place. The Indian Summer plate uses asymmetry, producing an attractive design. The dead leaves are fragmented on one side of the plate, making them look like they are falling and collecting in one spot. The leaves are illustrated with a flatness making them look unrealistic. It would be more acceptable to use all year round than it would the Christmas plate, but it would work much better in Autumn or Fall.

References:

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http://www.iaaf-treasures.com/index.php/cPath/79?osCsid=50ebb0de06c43d5f94ea6362ff02e1ea

http://www.replacements.com/webquote/FN_INS.htm

Contrast

I chose product design and surface design for the contrast assignment. The first two example are what I think utilize contrast successfully. The third does not.

Owl Mugs

These Owl Mugs sold by VivaTerra display a few different concepts of contrast. There is tonal contrast in the owl’s feathers. The white and grey tonal value creates a visually appealing mug. This also makes them a little more noticeable from across the room. The owl figures also display contrast in scale. An actual owl would be much larger than these, unless they were baby owls. This small size, whether seen as baby owls, or just scaled down adult owls, give the product an adorable appeal. The juxtaposition of these owls is also important. Mugs are usually a typical size and shape. Seeing these in a kitchen setting makes them stick out among the usual items.

Book Shelf

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This Spoonya Industrial Bookshelf also displays a number of contrast concepts.  There is color contrast between the books and the dark foam inserts. This creates a somewhat visually appealing bookshelf, turning it into a geometric painting. The juxtaposition of the books also adds to the design uniqueness. Placing the books perpendicular to one another in a shelf this unique might be appealing to some people.

Birch Tree Pattern

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This textile is a designed after the bark on a birch tree. The contrast elements it employs don’t work particularly well, at least in my opinion. The contrast in color and tone are supposed to appear realistic. The similarity in color is a good match to that of real birch bark. The dark tones do not provide enough contrast though. The design feels flat with little depth. The juxtaposition of this fabric does not do it for me either. Taking the pattern of a birch tree out of nature and putting it in a domestic or unnatural setting isn’t appealing. The fabric might be good for a camouflage of some kind.

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Owl Mugs:

http://www.vivaterra.com/owl-mugs.html

Book Shelf:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85568120/spoonya-industrial-bookshelf-wall

Birch pattern:

http://seastrands.wordpress.com/2007/04/02/on-ugly-fabrics/

Movement & Motion

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I chose option 2 for the motion blog.

The first example of navigation I chose is cell phone user interface. In particular the iPhone interface. Designing an interface for a Smartphone with smooth transitions and an unambiguous layout must be very challenging. Of course the basic layout and interactive features are just updated now, but the first design must have been time consuming, challenging and fun.

For the design to be successful, it had to be user friendly. When you start to navigate a iPhone, you must first unlock it. The locked screen is simple. The time is displayed with the phones background visible. The words slide to unlock are written at the bottom of the screen. The words light up from left to right in the direction you are supposed to slide. Also, the button you slide has an arrow pointing in the direction you need to slide it. This implied motion helps the user understand what they have to do to get the device unlocked. This is a unique way of overcoming the challenge of showing the user how to access their phone.

Once inside the phone, the user can easily find their way around. The designers have overcome the challenge of navigation through touch. The phones apps are laid out on the home screen. Moving you finger from left to right switches between the different pages of apps. Similar apps can be placed into folders and named accordingly. The folder is in the shape of a square. The apps are visible inside the square (tiny pictures of the different apps side by side). To go into a folder, the user simply has to touch it. The contents are then enlarged so the user can easily touch on them to access the app.

Finding a way to allow the user to delete or move the apps must have been a challenge for the designers. How would you know that the apps are ready to be deleted? Should there be a delete button? This problem was solved in a unique way. To change the location of any folder, or to delete an app, the user must hold down on any selected folder or app. After one second, all the folder and apps begin to shake. This unique motion only happens in this setting and it notifies the user they have transitioned from into the editing mode. The apps can be discarded or moved around in basically any way.

(Folders here are in edit mode)

The phone has a finder option that allows the user to locate anything within the phone. This is useful when the phone is cluttered with apps and information. Keywords are typed into the finder field and anything with that word pops up.

Starting from scratch must have been challenging for the design team. Integrating aesthetics with easy and proper function on a new technology must have been time consuming. Researching what works and what doesn’t work must have been time consuming as well. Prototyping a groundbreaking concept like a Smartphone would have been a fun and challenging experience.

The second example of navigation I chose is Adobe software programs. Illustrator for example, has a lot of tools the user can choose form. Finding these tool can very challenging as well. The programmers have done a decent job of laying everything out, which makes the user experience smooth.

When you open a blank document, you are immediately shown your document setup options. You can get started setting up various specs of the document like size, bleeds, margins, etc. Clicking OK moves you directly to the workspace. 

 

The bar on the top shows you all that you are in illustrator, and lays out the options you have for editing. The tools are also laid out on the left, and additional tool pallets are located on the right. You can move these around freely to position them just how you want them. The options on the top bar expand to reveal even more editing options. It is fairly easy to locate tools within the software. If you can’t find something, you can type what you are looking for in the search field located in the top right section of the software.

The layout for Adobe software is similar from program to program. Keeping this similarity makes it easy to learn programs. A challenge the programmers must have faced is categorizing all the options and tools you have for editing. The drop down menus can get overwhelming. By creating drop down menus that are categorized, the programmer have made the adobe suite relatively user friendly. It is likely that more tools will be added to future programs. Efficiently categorizing the tools could become a problem for the adobe team.