Components... Examples...

Hello classmates! I hope you all are enjoying our class and learning from each other as much as I am. :)

Our readings from the Krause text covers a wide range of topics related to components of design. In reality, any one of these sections actually require at least one entire semester course, but a cursory reading of the essentials is helpful here. I can connect them a bit to our class work as well as other projects I have worked on or am currently working on.

So, components, or "the visual elements used within a design" as it is loosely defined by Krause, can be images, illustrations, symbols and icons or indexes, type, strokes (lines), backgrounds or other visual flourishes. In my previous journal I talked about the composition of design and music. In the components section, it is more useful to compare it to cooking, and to consider how we use components or ingredients in creating with food. Too much of one thing, or the use of a spice "just because" without some purpose integral to the message or function of the design, can spoil our recipe. Also, a lack of understanding can limit the options available to us, dull our creativity and result in a bland or ineffective design. There are some good examples in the book and many online of good use of lines, backgrounds and other flourishes. To me, anything considered "decorative" is best to be avoided in general as these are so often misused and overused enough to destroy the very foundations of good and effective design. I consider them strongly flavored ingredients best used very sparingly if at all.

Design classes where I was required to execute a narrative design using only primatives (circle, triangle, square/rectangle) were some of the most challenging, but some of the most interesting I have had to take. At first, we can think to ourselves, "Damn, how do I tell a story using only those 3 shapes?!" But then, we begin to re-think and re-see the possibilities of these shapes and how they can be used to great effect.

Example of narrative design using only primitives. "Seeking Balance"

Symbols, icons and indexes are all semiotic triggers connecting signified concepts with some signifying object. Here is a link to a mini-module I created that is related to work I am doing to train math teachers in communication.

The study of semiotics also includes type. A good study of typography is very helpful, as the only thing more deadly to good design than "decorative" elements, are "decorative" fonts. Below is a well-circulated video that makes good fun of font culture...

Using images is also an essential part of multimodal communication. This is a matter of aesthetic intuition, but can be underestimated and also misused. The issues related to copyright and attribution are also important. There are many options for royalty-free images at Creative Commons and other media archives, and the author/link info is readily available for our conscientious academic and/or professional use.

Color, I find, is best used as a palette that is a part of the overall style definitions of my design. Meaning, in a particular design or set of designs that will be associated with each other, I will keep to and define a set of fonts (and type styles), colors, etc. or "styles" for that design. This is really helpful when I will need to create more than one of a similar design. It also helps keep the design aesthetics more cohesive. We can use the colors in the images we choose sometimes to define our color palette. The book mentions this also. The eyedropper tool in Photoshop can pick up the color and you can save them in your swatches palette. These can also be saved and loaded into other designs as well. Designers also make good use of the Pantone color forecasts and trends indicators, and industry-specific color considerations seen in the aesthetics of already existing designs.

My 3-slide assignment in Storyline this week did not involve a great deal of complexity in components, but I have established a design, with styles, derived from a template and incorporated into my module.