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Visual Design (Links
& Recommendations)
Visual organization, look & feel, personality, the visual
design process, and simplicity.
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Visual Organization |
Visible Narratives: Understanding
Visual Organization -Luke Wroblewski
A primer on the visual organization of web pages, which condenses the
core principles of functional aesthetics.
Visually
Critiquing Web Pages -Pete Faraday
This paper explores how visual information is organized in a web page.
Books:
Visual
Explanations, Edward Tufte, 1997.
I list this Tufte book for two reasons: it features (cover image) Edward
Tufte and Colleen Bushell's redesign of an storm simulation and Edward's
redesign of the information presented following the Challenger disaster.
These two information design examples are loaded with lessons all designers
should take to heart.
Envisioning
Information, Edward Tufte, 1990.
Tufte's second book is probably the most applicable as it lays out many
fundamental information design considerations.
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Look, Feel, and Personality |
Who Are You? Get a Personality
(PDF) -Luke Wroblewski
Sample chapter on designing an appropriate and engaging personality
for Web sites from Luke's book, Site Seeing:
A Visual Approach to Web Usability.
Setting
the Mood with Color -Sean Glithero
Artists use a variety of methods to create mood in their works including
color.
Pricing
Beauty: Reflects on Aesthetics & Value -GAIN
Explains why aesthetics is an important value in products.
Branding
and the User Interface, Part 2: Tips on New Media Branding: Behavior
and Color -Cooper
How branding of software user interfaces, with a focus on behavior and
color.
Color
My World -New Architect
The way color is used in a worldwide context is a profound issue that's
often misunderstood or overlooked by Web designers.
Trends
in Web Design (PowerPoint) -Silicon Valley Web Guild Visual Design
Group
Books:
Site Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability,
Luke Wroblewski, 2002.
Shows how good visual design can make a site not just usable, but user-friendly.
PANTONE Guide to Communicating with Color, Leatrice Eiseman, 2000.
A good first overview (though slim on content) of using color to communicate.
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Process |
How
to (and not to) Work with a Designer -Daniel Will-Harris
The trouble is, a lot of people hire designers because they want their
site to “look good.” But that’s just scratching the
surface of what a designer can and should do.
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Simplicity |
The Pursuit of Interface
Design Simplicity -Luke Wroblewski
Why is the process of making things easy so challenging, and what can
we do not to stray from the path to simplicity?
Top 10*
Design Problems -Health InfoDesign
A survey of barriers to simplicity (information density vs. simplicity,
task interruption, indistinct information spaces, etc.) in HealthCare
interfaces.
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