The central theme to my collage is drawn from what I see as central to my blog as well: musings. In general, musings can be inspired by several aspect of one's life but my personal take on it is my view of the world as seen through a lens tempered with the relationships I have with those the closest to me.
The color scheme is specifically picked to mirror the colors that one would associate with night-time. I write mostly at night during which time the world is the same but you see it differently, the best description I have heard for this time was described by Hawthorne in "The Haunted Mind". The choice of blues, grays, and black are to convey this atmosphere and by overlaying common images (cityscapes, type faces, loved ones) in a broken fashion over one another to obscure their "normalcy" and make them into something almost surreal it allows me to convey how necessary every day things are to a writer and that nothing should be overlooked.
Showing posts with label Writing for New Technologies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing for New Technologies. Show all posts
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Chapter 3, Exercise 2
#2) I've decided to evaluate http://www.questionablecontent.net/ because it is a site that I frequent on a daily basis and the usability of it is designed with a specific audience in mind.
From a Visual Culture perspective, this document is designed to appeal to a specific target audience (english speaking and "indie"). To explain this, a funnel technique would be the most effective means of conveying how the choices the writer has made in the document narrow the audience.
The main page merely states "Questionable Content" without describing exactly what questionable content is. Underneath the page title, there are objects that allow the user to navigate the page. These objects consist of English text instead of a wider reaching symbol, and the text itself includes abbreviations understood only by those who frequent similar sites (RL RSS). The large image on the page is a continuation of an online comic. By offering the most recent comic instead of an explanation of what the user is looking at or the first in the series, the writer is focused on returning users who understand the context of the image without explanation of any kind. Thus, the audience becomes very specific.
From a Visual Rhetoric as User-Centered Design perspective, the decisions made by the writer appear to be dead-on. The design of the site itself is easy to learn and consistent with what the site is for. The writer provides archives for past comics as well as constant updates, links for recommended reading, sales, and tabs available (sort of) for new users that need information about the site.
The intended ethos of this site is definitely that of being part of the hipster/indie scene.
The logos of this site is content first, explanation later if at all.
The pathos is, well...You're either in, or out. Withholding information that would explain what the site is creates a sense of inclusiveness which ties closely in with the indie/hipster mantra. By being a reader and *understanding* the context, you're a member of their really awesome super-secretive club. It makes the reader want to belong.
From a Visual Culture perspective, this document is designed to appeal to a specific target audience (english speaking and "indie"). To explain this, a funnel technique would be the most effective means of conveying how the choices the writer has made in the document narrow the audience.
The main page merely states "Questionable Content" without describing exactly what questionable content is. Underneath the page title, there are objects that allow the user to navigate the page. These objects consist of English text instead of a wider reaching symbol, and the text itself includes abbreviations understood only by those who frequent similar sites (RL RSS). The large image on the page is a continuation of an online comic. By offering the most recent comic instead of an explanation of what the user is looking at or the first in the series, the writer is focused on returning users who understand the context of the image without explanation of any kind. Thus, the audience becomes very specific.
From a Visual Rhetoric as User-Centered Design perspective, the decisions made by the writer appear to be dead-on. The design of the site itself is easy to learn and consistent with what the site is for. The writer provides archives for past comics as well as constant updates, links for recommended reading, sales, and tabs available (sort of) for new users that need information about the site.
The intended ethos of this site is definitely that of being part of the hipster/indie scene.
The logos of this site is content first, explanation later if at all.
The pathos is, well...You're either in, or out. Withholding information that would explain what the site is creates a sense of inclusiveness which ties closely in with the indie/hipster mantra. By being a reader and *understanding* the context, you're a member of their really awesome super-secretive club. It makes the reader want to belong.
Chapter 2, Exercises 1 and 3
#1)
I gathered up a magazine, a mail-order pamphlet, and the uca parking permit pamphlet.
#3) a. The entire page of the document is designed in a triple column layout. Each column reads left to right to the bottom of the page and continues at the top of the next column in the middle of the page, and so on. I count 16 objects. All shapes but one are literal images of the product being offered, while the last one is a bold horizontal line in the upper portion of the middle column. The images are placed to the right of the columns but do not necessarily line up with the description of the image. The color of all objects are in variations of black on coral pamplet-esque paper with various shading of grey to allow an appearance of texture. The value of each object appears to be somewhat high because the black and grey imaging is set against a coral background; the contrast is good. However, the size of each image is not varied enough to allow emphasis to be given to a specific group of items. The size of the objects compared to the text surrounding it isn't significant enough to give proper emphasis to the objects. Their position in the document appears haphazard and lacking any real cohesion. Some objects appear to the left of the description while others will be to the right and slightly above or below their descriptions. It requires a significant amount of effort to find the specific image that goes with the descriptions.
b. The objects on the document that are of similar items (books) appear in the same size but others (like stickers) vary in size with one another, and because the entire document is printed in black and grey, all objects are similar in color. As stated above, the position of the objects seem random. Contrast in this document is poor between the objects; they all appear to be the same in value. The proximity of the objects to one another and related text is poor which makes navigating the document difficult and frustrating. The alignment visually is clean but lacks functionality. Lines are placed randomly and not to separate groups of objects or different themes. The order is arranged differently depending on what the item is which, again, causes a serious navigation issue. There is no form of enclosure other than the separation of text and photos by using columns; however, this is not a functional enclosure, it seems to be a default format that is carried out in every page of the document. I would enclose all similar items in separate sections of the page using bold borders. The most prominent items in the document (the books) would be placed at the top with larger text then sectioned into columns, and the objects that represent each item would be moved to the left. The less expensive items would be moved to the bottom with a similar layout as the items above.
#3) a. The entire page of the document is designed in a triple column layout. Each column reads left to right to the bottom of the page and continues at the top of the next column in the middle of the page, and so on. I count 16 objects. All shapes but one are literal images of the product being offered, while the last one is a bold horizontal line in the upper portion of the middle column. The images are placed to the right of the columns but do not necessarily line up with the description of the image. The color of all objects are in variations of black on coral pamplet-esque paper with various shading of grey to allow an appearance of texture. The value of each object appears to be somewhat high because the black and grey imaging is set against a coral background; the contrast is good. However, the size of each image is not varied enough to allow emphasis to be given to a specific group of items. The size of the objects compared to the text surrounding it isn't significant enough to give proper emphasis to the objects. Their position in the document appears haphazard and lacking any real cohesion. Some objects appear to the left of the description while others will be to the right and slightly above or below their descriptions. It requires a significant amount of effort to find the specific image that goes with the descriptions.
b. The objects on the document that are of similar items (books) appear in the same size but others (like stickers) vary in size with one another, and because the entire document is printed in black and grey, all objects are similar in color. As stated above, the position of the objects seem random. Contrast in this document is poor between the objects; they all appear to be the same in value. The proximity of the objects to one another and related text is poor which makes navigating the document difficult and frustrating. The alignment visually is clean but lacks functionality. Lines are placed randomly and not to separate groups of objects or different themes. The order is arranged differently depending on what the item is which, again, causes a serious navigation issue. There is no form of enclosure other than the separation of text and photos by using columns; however, this is not a functional enclosure, it seems to be a default format that is carried out in every page of the document. I would enclose all similar items in separate sections of the page using bold borders. The most prominent items in the document (the books) would be placed at the top with larger text then sectioned into columns, and the objects that represent each item would be moved to the left. The less expensive items would be moved to the bottom with a similar layout as the items above.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)