Michael Chanley

August 23, 2007

Visual Communication

It has been stated that a picture is worth thousands of words; that is because a picture contains an idea. The heart of advertisement is the art of communication. If an idea is not represented well or not at all, the goal of the project is lost. The goal must be considered thoroughly, before production, and a decisive approach must, first, be planned. If a design team orchestrates the look of a project before considering its needs or the needs of consumers, the resulting project may look visually pleasing, but lack of appropriate content will leave the viewer at a loss. Oftentimes, the viewer will become confused as to the purpose or intent of the idea. A project must have a clear order, and maintain focus.

Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability by Luke Wroblewski

When creating a Web site that effectively communicates a message, you should begin by asking numerous questions questions like "What is my Web site's goal?", "Who is my audience?", "Why are they likely to come to my site?", "How do they communicate?"

The way of communication is of peak importance. Content must not only be fresh, but it must also be relevant to the viewers mind. In order to correctly represent the idea, one must have a good understanding of his audience and employer, for the more you understand them, the better you will rationalize the way they think. It is quite frustrating for a client to have an awe-inspiring project, yet his agenda and ideas are not represented at all. Not only is the message inaccurate, but the author has presumed to speak with the authority of the company. The easiest way to get a customers attention is through web pages. When someone drives past a billboard, they might not be able to recall the companys telephone number or mailing addressjust the web address. However, that one item should present everything to the potential consumer, in a brief amount of time. The consumer has instant access to the companys policies, pricings, examples of products, telephone numbers, and maybe even a street-level map. There, a company can hand a customer what could be called, an electronic brochure. Adversely, if the design has good quality material, and is visually stunning, amateur developers tend to think that they have arrived. It can be noted that good material and outstanding graphics, do not equate to an effective website.

Keep It Simple by Peter-Paul Koch

Clients make this mistake all the time because they are beginners by definition. They (and many developers) are misled by the magic words "interactive multimedia". A site should be interactive! It should be multimedial! (whatever that may mean) The site should move, dance, prance, and who cares whether the subject calls for it? We're creative, right?

Design must surely come first, without it, the project, grand though it may be, ceases to have the rhythm and cadence of order. Every great building had a designer; so too must a web page. A designer should not have to redo his webpage to compliment the ability to move freely and feel at ease. Rather, from the first design, the user should feel confident, not navigating a sea of never ending menus and/or links. Designers must resist the urge to be complex, for the result will certainly tend to be even more complex. Furthermore, a user will not always think like a web designer, so it is necessary to have an objective, non-technical opinion, Technology presents another obstacle for grand designs, for, if the technology changes, it most likely alters the projects effectiveness. However, it shouldntnot if the design is

based on the premise of usability first. That implies that a given web page should and must operate fluidly, especially when viewed in diverse browsers. As effective as a website may be, in both content and user consideration, it may still lack some of the basic design principles. There is a group of theories and studies relating design to psychology. The findings show that the majority of people will recognize an image based upon patterns and familiar shapes. The brain loves symmetry and perfection, so it's no surprise that when the eye looks at a broken circle or circles next to a square, we wonder, "Why?" The mind is always searching for reasonorder. When it cannot find it, we pause, and subconsciously ponder, deliberately taking in the new information. Objects that move in harmony are seen as one unit, and objects placed in close proximity are also seen as one unit. Multiple books, lying on a table, are referred to as a "stack" of books. Likewise, we do not call a newspaper "a multi-paged journal". The eye simply does not see the object's parts, or, more accurately, it does not prefer to notice them. The detail in a visual advertisement might not even be noticed in the first, or even the second viewing. The designer must convey his message in a way that is easily caught, and a good designer knows, "What you see... isn't always what they get".

Wroblewski, Luke Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability

John Wiley & Sons, 2002

Barnes, Vince "Why Create A Website?"

htmlgoodies.com. 04 Jan 2005. 22 Aug 2007 <http://www.htmlgoodies.com/introduction/intro/article.php/3473571>

Koch, Peter-Paul "Keep it Simple"

Digital Web Magazine. 26 Aug 2002. 22 Aug 2007 <http://www.digital-web.com/articles/keep_it_simple/>

Pedroza, Carlos "Visual Perception"

SDSU College of Education. 14 Aug 2003. SDSU. 22 Aug 2007

<http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/visualperc1/start.htm>