Process Post – Week 6

In this week’s lecture, we had a guest lecture from Mauvé Page. We discussed design theory, publication design, and interaction design, as well as some basic development methods.

First are foremost we talked about design and things such as symmetric vs. asymmetric. Looking at my own blog, I find it quite symmetric. For example on the front page there are equally many pictures on each side, if a vertical line is drawn in the middle of the website.

We also talked about proportion, hereof the size and scale of different elements on a website. Another important thing is constrast, as it creates focus. Ideally, there are no more than three main areas of focus. On my own blog, I think the choice of the color blue is creating a constrast, focus and rhythm. The fact that the name of the blog are bigger than the description, makes it the first thing the eye sees. Furthermore, does size of the first pictures create some focus as well. The smaller images are all squared with sharp edges, which is contrasting from the rest of the front page.

Unity is the harmony of design and consistency of colors and forms, which Life on Exchange must say to fulfil. The blue color and the square images are something that recurs throughout the entire blog.

Next, we discussed proximity which concerns that things that are close together, belong together. This is very important to create a clear and user-friendly blog. In continuation if this, I want to mention the importance of choosing typefaces. The reason why this is important, is because it is related to the websites legibility, readability, flexibility and its identity. For example on my blog I have chosen a font that I think reminds me of a typewriting machine, which I think is associated to personal, creative expression and deliberate writing.

Lastly, I want to mention the 3 P’s of critique:

1. Praise: Recognize what was done well to boost morale
2. Probe: Ask questions to gain insights into the situation
3. Propose: Offer solutions for improvement based on gained insights

These are often used in the context of providing feedback. The praise