As a designer I am drawn to minimalism and well organized design. I prefer to create with as few objects as necessary to make my point. I also design with the organization of objects in mind, using grids and other design principals such as hierarchy to keep the design well organized, so the eye knows what goes together and in what order.

Fed Ex: This logo uses Figure/Ground with the arrow in between the “E” and the “X”.

OXXXXXXXXXX
XOXXXXXXXXX
XXOXXXXXXXX
XXXOXXXXXXX
XXXXOXXXXXX
XXXXXOXXXXX
XXXXXXOXXXX
XXXXXXXOXXX
XXXXXXXXOXX
XXXXXXXXXOX
XXXXXXXXXXO

“XO” Shows Gestalt Principal of Similarity. We see that the letter “O” is similar through out the design.

“Broken B”: Shows Gestalt principal of Closure. We know that the shape is the letter “B” even though the lines do not connect.

Andrew’s Design of Gestalt: Figure/Ground:

This is my design using the Gestalt principal of Figure/Ground. I think that this design works because it could be seen as either two dogs, or the Seattle Space Needle.

Sources:

Fed Ex Logo: FexEx.com

“XO” Design: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/gestalt.html

“Broken B”: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/gestalt.html

INDEX: This is showing the meaning through illustration: The person being electrocuted  with the hand touching a wire and the bolt of lightning.

INDEX: This also shows the meaning through illustration. We know this is a warning because we see the mine, the explosion and the detached leg.

INDEX: The image of a oversized moose standing in front of a crushed car warns people to watch out for moose. The visual directly points to the message.

ICON: The shark warning is self contained, it explains to watch out for sharks with the visual message of a shark under water.

ICON:The warning sign is a visual reference to watch out for Kangaroos.

ICON: WiFi icon is visually depicts a WiFi network (even though we cannot physically see WiFi)

SYMBOL: This is a sign for medical doctor. You would have to be taught it to know it.

SYMBOL: The red Maple Leaf is a Symbol for Canada. You would have to be taught this to know it.

SYMBOL: You wouldn’t inherently know that this symbol means Biohazard. You would have to be taught it.

SOURCES:

ICON: Shark -

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/118/309868326_fc97397f49.jpg?v=0

ICON: Land Mine

http://blog.cheaptents.com/Pictures/Misc/landmine-warning-afghanistan.jpg

ICON: Kangaroo

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kangaroo_Warning_Sign.svg

ICON: Social

http://divageekdesigns.com/2008/10/11/11-cool-social-networking-and-rss-feed-icon-sets-twitter-digg-stumbleupon-etc/

INDEX: Electric Sign

http://www.derbyhouse.co.uk/prodshow.asp?id=1512&cat=6&scats=121,29

INDEX: Moose

http://www.hickerphoto.com/funny-road-signs-5135-pictures.htm

SYMBOL Maple leaf

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_Maple_Leaf.svg

SYMBOL: Medical Sign

http://andtalkingaboutwhat.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/doctor-symbol.gif

SYMBOL: Biohazard

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Biohazard_symbol_%28red%29.svg

BUSINESS CARDS:

I saw these business cards that were designed using different textured elements to enhance the “readability” for blind people. Some of the different things used to increase the tactile feel were puff paint, Braille punching, swell paper, felt, and screen printing.

BRAILLE WINE LABLE:

I have previously seen a wine bottle company design Braille wine labels with only Braille and a bright contrasting color for the label, but when I saw these wine labels designed by Michel Chapoutier they took on a whole different look. These labels incorporate a printed design for the seeing and Braille for the blind. This creates an interesting design with the large Braille against the printed design.

BRAILLE PLAYING CARDS:

These playing cards include brail around the printing of the card to indicate which club and number the card is.

Working in the print design field I get inspired by seeing these different ways of incorporating “readability” into print design for the blind. I think that not only can print designers reach a broader audience, but I think that adding a physical texture can make your design really stand out from the thousands of other pieces vying for our attention.

I think that accessibility could be really improved with Braille if there was an easier way to print it on lots of different surfaces cheaply. I see that there are Braliie labelers, but they use a tape and that probably won’t work with most designs. Other Braille labelers are around $700 and can only do 8.5”x11” papers (and may not work on cover paper stock). If there was a way to quickly, and cheaply add Braille to business cards, posters and packaging design I think that many more designers would use it.

Some of the gaps that may even occur if Braille was used is that if there are people who are blind that have not learned Braille, or if a blind person doesn’t have use of their arms to feel the Braille. One way to close these gaps would be to somehow add audio devices into the printed design. At first this may sound silly or impractical, but if you think about those Hallmark cards that sing to you when you open them, it is the exact idea. The Hallmark cards are still reasonably priced with the audio device, still esthetically pleasing, light weight, and send the message via audio. Think if you could get the technology whittled down so you could implant that audio device into a business card that still looks good, or a postcard that you receive in the mail that talks to you when you push the button. The options are endless for audio messages!

I think that the designer should always make designs as accessible to as many people as possible. I know for me part of the hindrance is lack of knowledge on how to get Braille incorporated into design, or how to implant audio chips into postcards. So for designers I think that we first have to care about helping others, and then educate ourselves on how to better reach out with our designs. But even if we never used Braille or audio in our designs, we can use basic principals that all designers should use that will help more people (such as knowing your audience. For older people, using a larger, easier to read font.)

Audio Pod Cast:

I enjoyed listening to the Podcast and even though it was about web design I think that it helped me realize that many people will view my designs and interact with them. I need to remember to make my designs as accessible as possible. I also have to make sure that if I am trying to incorporate elements for people with disabilities that I really try to think from their perspective and test it out. The great example from the Podcast was the Seattle Metro bus route that read the bus routes incorrectly from left to right instead of reading it in the boxes the text was in. Also the website read the words in HTML (I think) so that it would read each word and incorporate works like “Break” and unnecessary info. As designer it is completely useless if we incorporate an element in our designs if we don’t ensure that it works like we intended.

Sources:

Business Cards:

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/july1/degree-shows-09-ravensbourne-graphic-design

Braille Wine Label:

http://bordeaux-undiscovered.blogspot.com/2009/11/braille-wine-labels.html

Braille Playing Cards:

Dictionary Definition:

“An interruption is a break in uniformity or continuity (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). As it applies to art and design, interruption can be described as the disruption of a compositions uniformity, continuity, repetition, rhythm, or harmony. In art and design, emphasis exists when stress or importance is given to certain components (Landa).

Our Definition:

“Interruptions as Emphasis” is when the disruption becomes the most prominent or the focal point. Interruptions can break up the monotony of a design and create visually stimulating variety.”

Examples of Interruption:

Encourage Opinion by Robin Cameron

The Study Of Light In The Blog Galaxy by Robin Cameron

Examples of Interruption As Emphasis:

Scheharazade Remix by Maja Sten

Artist & Title Unknown from the book World Of Graphic Design

Poster For World Peace, by Geoffrey Caban

Dessins by Jacques Camus

Examples of Interruption From Our Background (Graphic Design):

Carry Me There by Amy Ruppel

Hitchcock For Haiti by Matt Needle

The Avon Gorge Fly Poster Graffiti by HeathBunting

Andrew & Anne’s 3 Designs:

Anne Hornung’s Interruption Design

Ann Hornung Interruption Design

Andrew’s Interruption Design

SOURCES:

Dictionary definition:

Landa & Websters dictionary.

Artwork/Designs from books:

Art Deco Textiles by Alain-Rene Hardy pg. 189

World Graphic Design by Geoffrey Caban pgs. 17 & 65

Over & Over by Mike Perry pgs. 34,37 & 210

Examples from our background:

The Avon Gorge Fly Poster Graffiti, by Heath Bunting

http://irational.org/heath/avon_gorge_fly_poster_graffiti/

Carry Me There by Amy Ruppel

http://pikaland.com/2010/01/20/carry-me-there

Galactic Tutorial Poster by Spoon Graphics

http://www.blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/create-a-trendy-galactic-poster-design-in-photoshop

Hitchcock by Matt Needle

http://designyoutrust.com/2010/02/11/hitchcock-4-haiti/

Reasons To Stop Smoking

http://designyoutrust.com/2010/02/09/63-reasons-to-stop-smoking/

My wife was confused as to why I was showing her the first photos, so I had to explain to her again that first she would see photos and then see shapes and she would have to try to see what it was. At first I didn’t think that she would see what it is, but on the last click she saw it. I was surprised that she saw it because I didn’t see it when I first did the experiment on my self and I think I am a much more visual person than her. I think her “ah ha” moment was obviously at the last click when she saw it.

Bogus religiosity is where the original piece (art, images, or designs) are reproduced in such quantity that it lessens the value of the reproductions and makes the original piece seem even more rare. Because the original piece seems so much more rare, a buyer will pay a large sum for it. Thus making the piece seem more important, valuable, or greater just because it was so expensive to buy.

2. How does your experience with modern design expand on the author’s conclusion about art and a “new kind of power”?

I don’t know if this is the quote you are referring to on page 32 and reproduction of art? I agree with the author’s view about the fact that reproduction can dilute the importance or mystery of the piece. If everyone has a reproduction of the piece of art, or if the art is slapped on coffee mugs, puzzles, t-shirts, and mouse pads it becomes common, something we don’t think twice about any more. I think that this may be true for art in our time as well. I use to do picture framing as a job, and it amazed me how many artists had their art produced as posters. It became so commonplace to see these artist pieces; you begin to forget that there is an actual original somewhere. I think that these reproductions totally diminishes the original piece, because if you took a kid now days to a museum and showed him Van Gogh, Worhal, Picasso, Monet, Ansel Adams, or Dali he would say, “So what, I’ve already seen that, we have that framed in our living room.”

Gilchrist teaches the reader the importance of knowing certain terms and concepts in order to better understand his book. Some of the terms he uses is: Distal Stimulus, which is the way an object looks without the observer looking at that object. Proximal Stimulus is when the human eye sees the object and how the eye and light interact. Percept is what the human eye perceives to see when looking at objects from the light reflecting. Gilchrist also gives a definition between the difference of lightness and brightness. Brightness is the defined as the perceived quantity of reflectance, and Lightness is defined as the perceived light on an object.

Gilchrist also subtly describes the definition of tone in the introduction. In his writing on Lightness Constance he says, “Perceived lightness of a surface remains roughly constant even though the illumination, and thus the luminance of the surface, changes.” I had always thought of tone as something that the eye can see an obviously change in depth of colors. But Gilchrist shows that depending on how grey, black, and white (in his example) are put together, tone can be perceived by the eye even though it is not there. Therefore we can create tone without actually creating tone. This is important to remember when designing if you want or do not want your audience to see tone through this method.

I was amazed at some of the examples the Gilchrist used to show how the human eye perceives lightness. This is a fascinating book and am interested in reading the rest of it.