Hierarchy

Given what I read, the most important aspect to keep in mind while arranging type on a page or screen is visual hierarchy. For example, every article mentions the importance of hierarchy; it is a natural concept in everyday life. It continues to be an important concept while designing a flyer, brochure, etc. Western cultures naturally read from left to right and top to bottom. So, something important to keep in mind while designing a page is putting the most important information on the top left and continue down from there. Also, spacing, bolding, enlarging, changing a typeface for the more important information will help bring out the message being sent.

4-5 Specific Guidelines I will try to apply to my work while designing a page:

1.) As mentioned above, trying to make the most important information the most visible.
2.) Larger items tend to be seen first, so again, if I want something to be noticed first, I will enlarge it so it will catch the eye of the reader.
3.) I will keep in mind what the message is. This will help the importance of visual hierarchy.
4.) I will also keep in mind that hierarchy makes a clear separation to signal change from one level to another.
5.) Type, scale, weight, and alignment are all very important aspects of visual hierarchy.

There wasn't anything that necessarily surprised me, but the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) was something I've never heard of before. I found this concept to be very interesting and a wonderful way connect different types of technology. I felt the information I read was sufficient in the point of hierarchy and visual hierarchy. I honestly don't know if any information was left out or should have been included. I think from what I've read, I got a good sense of what is important.

Design Brief #3

After reading design brief three, my biggest concern is fitting all the words on the page. I feel like this is the most we've had to put onto a page so far. I had a little trouble with design brief two, the poem mainly, so, I hope I can get the hang of working with adobe photoshop a little quicker. I find this particular assignment fun, though. I look forward to working with photos and words. The questions I have so far are:

1.) Is working with photoshop similar to working with illustrator? Is it similar to working with in design?

2.) If photoshop is completely different then the other two programs, what can I expect?

3.) Will I have a difficult time figuring out how to use the program? Or have I learned a lot of the basic tools already?

In general, like I mentioned, my biggest concern is actually understanding how to use the tools. I think when I am aware of what to do, I have so many more options. I'm worried that I won't catch on quick enough, therefore, my designs will not be up to par.

Designing Forms

After reading the four articles about designing forms, I learned new information that will help me when designing my own form. One important thing to keep in mind while designing a form is to create a "user-friendly" form that strives toward legibility and readability. In order to have a clear understanding of what information is wanted/needed, the designer of the forms must design a form that is visually clear and concise. Some general guidelines to follow when creating a form are to: use one typeface. Switching the typeface will often confuse the reader and create a less legible form. Using lowercase letters are important as well because uppercase letters can reduce the legibility of the form. I think when creating a form, in general, one should stay more on the professional side than artistic. A form is used to analyze and gather information, and anything that is "to all over the place"will defer the reader from properly filling out the correct information.

Specific guidelines that I will try to apply to my work are:
1.) Unity
2.) Harmony
3.) Clear/Concise
4.) Simplicity
5.) Rhythm

Although we already learned about this, the alphabet and a half theory was really interesting. In the article, "Visual Communication for Forms Design" there was an example of the same sequence of words in two different formats. After reading both, I found that the longer sequence was easier to read, however, this may not be the case for everyone.