Design Mind

I have finished reading Robin Williams's design book, and while the prior four posts probably suffice for "enough said" about design, I want to wrap up by saying that Williams has shown me that I seem to have a natural flair for design.  There were a few moments in the prior posts when I had seemed to read her mind.  That continued to the end ...

• I discovered in my contrast post that repetition was my favorite design principle and that I had founded my class site on it.  Well ... "While the same four basic principles I've mentioned over and over in this book (contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity) also apply to web design, repetition is one of the most important for a web site. The other three principles helps pages look good and make sense, but repetition lets your visitors know whether they're still in the same web site" (139). 
• I also mentioned that I chose my theme because I wanted a horizontal navigation bar that was visible without scrolling.  well ... "Don't make visitors scroll to see the navigation links!" (140).

 Thanks for taking this design journey with me.

References
Book image source
Williams, Robin. The  Non-Designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice. Third ed. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press, 2008. Print.

Design Principle #4: Contrast

"Contrast is created when two elements are different" (65).

"[C]reate some contrast ... their eyes will be attracted to certain parts ... as they skim ..." (72).

I am playing a bit of a contrast joke with my color choice for this principle. I chose blue as an accent color last semester on my first Google Sites page. Dr. Rodrigo kindly pointed out that this was not the best choice as most hyperlinks are in blue, so I was risking tricking my readers into thinking my blue words were hyperlinks. Blue therefore is a terrible example of contrast because "[i]f two items are not exactly the same, then make them different. Really different" (65).

Design Principle #3: Repetition

Repetition:

 "Repeat some aspect of the design 

throughout the entire piece" (51).

Repetition is my favorite aspect of design. The ways you can do this overtly or subtly are very fun for me to play with. Repetition is definitely a design aspect with room for pushing the boundaries.

Design Principle #2: Alignment

Alignment

Nothing should be placed on the page arbitrarily. 

Every item should have visual connection with something else on the page (33).
 
I am a center-alignment user.  I admit it, and well, I can't deny it anyway because all you have to do is look at the post right below this one to see my center-alignment in action.  But that is about to change!

Design Principle #1: Proximity

Proximity

"Items relating to each other should be grouped close together ...

This helps organize information, reduces clutter, and gives the reader a clear structure" (13).

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