Interaction Design

Today graphic design is seen as a means to make something pretty. I can’t begin to tell you how many time I have heard someone say to me “ it’s ok we will make it look pretty later”.

The idea that what a graphic designer does is less important may be because of this generation. A generation where everything is done on computers and earlier traditional methods are no longer practiced by the majority. It’s not a bad thing that the industry is evolving; it’s inevitable that things will change. We just need to change with them. With these changes we some to the issue that now anyone with word and a couple free fonts loaded on their computer think they are a designer. They can make any flyer look pretty and some think that’s all it takes. When people jump to these conclusions that graphic designers merely make things look good they are missing the point. What is the good of a website or design that it fun to look at but completely impossible to navigate. You need to see all angles of the project and exactly how to make a visual map of the design that is easy to follow.

Now I’m not saying that aesthetics are not important, because that’s what keeps people coming back. Would you keep going back to a dirty old worn out restaurant or the brand new restaurant two blocks farther, if they sold the exact same things. You will in the end be willing to go just a little bit out of your way to see something pleasing to the eye. You may also turn completely away if it is horrible and hard to look at. You cannot make something simply fun to look out though it must have a point, or an objective. Why continue going in one direction if you don’t know where you are going.

As Stephen P. Anderson states in his article “ In defense of eye candy”
“In many design conversations, there is a belief that applications are made enjoyable because we make them easy to use and efficient (interestingly, whether it’s stated or not, these conversations value the role that aesthetics plays in cognition). However, when we talk about how emotions influence interactions, it’s closer to the truth to say things that are enjoyable will be easy to use and efficient.” It’s not just about designing something you also need to make it understandable. Are you creating a skin for this object or are you changing the inside, Influencing how it works and how people react to it or are you simply making it pretty for pretties sake.

According to a 2002 study, the “appeal of the overall visual design of a site, including layout, typography, font size, and color schemes,” is the number one factor we use to evaluate a website’s credibility. I know personally I will leave a website if it’s hard to read, understand or navigate.

With the introduction of web design to the design world, you no longer print booklets but create websites, kind of the same as an instant poster. Web design is in a way the new frontier of graphic design, since It is fairly new and still has a long way to go before it is in any way mastered. Web design has it’s hurdles such as typographical limitations. The available amount of typeface is very limited since the typeface needs to be available on the computer the user is viewing the site from, not your personal computer. So even if you own Scala that does not mean that everyone computer in the world owns it too.

The job of a graphic designer never really changed, we need to change people’s mind about our importance. How one single button changed on a website could increase profits by thousands or dollars. Or how print ads influence a companies profit. There will always be a place for us in the world as long as someone is trying to sell an idea. As designers we need to not just dress up that idea but change it in a way that not only make it appealing to the eye but changes the way you communicate in an understandable, clean way.

This is a current PDF of my  Style Guide for my Portfolio site.

My current Portfolio site mock-up’s. They are alot better them my first one’s these are a redesign,  but i am having a bit of trouble turning them into a website.

As for typography i am still having a hard time living with he limited font choices on the web but i am working at getting used to thinking in web terms of type.

Helvetica is the main body copy and if not available on their computer Tahoma will be used, then any sans serif font. Regular helvetica is used most often. Bold is used for subheads. Oblique is used for emphasis, and when needed in body copy.

There are only three main types of text used H1, H2 and body copy. H1 is most important and describes what is on the page so search engines can find what the page is about easily. all types can be links, they will be blue. H2 will not be blue even though they will be links. you can tell they are links because an arrow will point to them when you hover over them. The body copy is used for everything besides the subheads and the headers. such as informations on all sidebars and meta information.

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The Implementation of my website did not go too great this is all i could get done with wordpress. i have a very hard time this time around for some reason, but i tried as hard as i could, I could just never understand wordpress.

www.alyssarichardson.com/portfolio

I sketched around 3 pages of thumbnails for this project and everytime i re-sketch thumbnail it reminds me how important it really is. It will always remind me that my first idea is almost never my best and you just need to keep exploring all of the options you can until you finally find the right soultion. My scanner is not working right now so i will upload my thumbnails in a little bit.

My frame for my portfolio site is  3 divs so very simple. a header, content and sidebar. the blog wire frame diffres just a little bit from the main wire frame. the side bar is a little skinner.

Wire Frame A

Wire Frame Blog

Besides all my portfolio the only main images used will be my header information, directional arrows and the hello speech bubbles. There are not many images used in my site so it is limited. Most navigation is just plain text.The Speech bubble only appears in the sidebar used to call out information. Logo is used in the header. Directional arrows are used for navigation.

Images

Here is my Grey box for the portfolio site. Yet again i can still see the importance of a Grey box even after making one for so many things. it really helps you visualize the site in a new way.

Grey box

The research stage of my portfolio website.

What do you want to say?
I want to tell and show people my photography in hopes that I will get a job or an interest in my photography. I want to inform people what I offer. In the future I will add my graphic design work and portfolio to the website as well. I want it to be obvious when you enter the site that I am a photographer and not to leave people wondering where they are.

Who do you want to say it to?
Future employers, clients, anyone who happens across my page, family members. The portfolio is for anyone who is interested in my photography, or just wants to look at it. Family members will most likely look at my blog to see whats going on with me, and in my life. The Photography section will also double as a a portfolio for future clients who would like to hire me.

How do you want to say it?
I will make it obvious with lots of photos and images. I do not want them to be confused as to where they are. There will be opening paragraphs explaining where they are and what the site is about.