Concepts
Space – Maybe one of the easiest ways to think about space is to think about it as the blank canvas and how the elements that are placed on the canvas fill the space, or don’t fill it. Even with web design the designers need to start their design process by considering the size of the page and how the elements will fit onto the page.
Value – Value refers to how light or dark certain colors are along the spectrum form pure white to total black. In design, it is very important to take into account the different values of colors being used because they can make certain elements stand out or blend into other elements of similar value.
Movement – The concept of movement doesn’t only apply to animated designs, but it also applies to static pages as well. With static designs, movement refers to how the viewer’s eyes and attention move around the space. The way elements are arranged in the composition, their size and/or shape, and even the colors of the elements are all things that can direct a viewers eyes to move certain ways around a design.
Unity – The unity of a design has to do with how the different elements relate to each other. When all the elements share a stylistic element, like color, type, or shape, the whole design feels more cohesive and complete. However, when some elements don’t seem to share any visual styles, the whole design can feel disjointed and incomplete.
Continuity – When people look at lines, their eyes tend to follow the movement of the line even after it’s end point. This continuity of movement is important in design because it can determine where the viewers focus is going to go, and can help direct their attention to certain focal points.
Application Possibilities
Space – The final “state-of-the-art” project is going to be extensive and presenting all the information on the website will take a lot of space. The type of elements used for this project will likely vary a lot, from text, to video, to images, which all take up different space and have varying degrees of flexibility with where they are placed. So as I am designing the page I know it is going to be important to pay attention to how the elements fill the entire space of the page, and also the spacing between elements. The over all page shouldn’t be too crowded and it shouldn’t’ be to empty either, so it’s probably ideal to have sections of dense information broken with some breathing room. It’s also going to be important to pay attention to the space around elements to make sure the elements that don’t go together look like they do because the space between them visually links them.
Color – The color choices I make for the “state-of-the-art” project can have a big impact on the overall feel of the website, and how the information is presented. I would like to focus on a more technical topic and look towards the future and how the trends are changing and becoming more technology based. Most people associate those concepts with cool colors, so I know already that my color pallet will probably be blues and greys, with some brighter –but still cool– pop of color to highlight certain sections and elements. Another important factor for the color in the design on the page is going to be taking into account the colors that are used in the other elements that I might use from other courses, such as videos and images. When I search for sample images for example, I might try to pick ones that are inline with my color palette and will keep the piece feeling cohesive, rather than picking an image with bright warm colors that will stand out and throw off the balance of the page.
Focal Points/ Emphasis – Designing the right focal points for this project are going to be crucial for helping the viewers digest the information hat is being presented. I anticipate there being a lot of section to the web page, so each section is going to need to be clearly defined with headers that easily catch the viewer’s attention. I image I might want to also have some sort of navigation to the page to help viewers move through the information and stay oriented, and it would be important to emphasis that for the viewers as well. Another aspect of the focal points on the page to pay attention to while designing is that the media that I use will also create focal points, while also having focal points of their own. So while working with the media I will need to stay aware of how the size and placement of the media creates good or bad focal points, as well as if the focal points in the media draw the viewers attention to something else that could throw off the flow of the page.
Unity – The unity of the page is probably one of the most important concepts to be aware of while designing. It is not usually something that people consciously think about, but it always effects how they feel about whatever piece of design they are looking at. I already plan on working with a smaller color pallet to help keep the unity of the page, but I also plan on working with one or two fonts that not only feel unified to each other, but also connect with the over all feel and focus of the page. The types of videos and images I use are also going to need to be unified to each other and the page as a whole to help achieve the most overall unity. If any certain elements style gets over looked, it could throw off the rest of the page and make it feel incomplete.
Proximity – I think proximity is concept that often goes overlooked, especially with web design where there are some built in spacing options in the code as well for online website building templates, such as those on WordPress. For my “state-of-the-art” project I would like to make sure that I have the most control possible for designing the page and setting the spacing between elements, and even the type. Sometimes I notice that the headlines become awkwardly spaced from the paragraph below them, making them seem like they are not connected, so I plan on putting in some extra time and effort to make sure that there are no gaps that their shouldn’t be on my page that might make the information seem a bit more confusing to the viewers. And at the same time, I don’t want there to be no space between elements when there should be. Lastly I think considering the text, and the line height is one of the most fundamental things a designer should pay attention to with regards to proximity in their design, because it can greatly effect the readability of the text.
Kelsey N Miller 