Over the next few weeks I will discuss the fundamentals that will help to make a design successful. Each article will discuss a particular aspect that needs to be addressed and how that aspect makes a web site work better. This week I will focus on the basic structure. This will include form, symmetry, and balance. I will not be focusing on the technical detail of how to accomplish these things, only the purpose and results that these things have.

When first designing it is important to decide on the symmetrical appearance. Most sites are either aligned on the left or centered, few (if any) are aligned on the right. A site that is aligned on either side should consider the possibility of the negative space on the opposing side. However a centered site will have space on both sides. This amount of space will vary depending on the size of the viewers screen, so the design should account for this by either expanding to accommodate, or by using it as a part of the design. For instance a background image can be fixed to the right side allowing more of it to show as the space on the right is increased.

A centered site gives the impression of symmetry while a right/left aligned site impresses asymmetry. Either can be useful and will depend upon the designers intentions. Centered is generally more formal and is great for fancy or high-class design, or anywhere that symmetry is desired. An off-centered design is usually less formal because of its asymmetrical balance.

Designers must considered must consider balance and symmetry in initial stages of web development because these stages setup the foundation of the design. Once the foundation is laid the “walls” can be built. These walls are the blocks such as the header, the footer, navigation, and content areas. I will discuss these and how they relate to the symmetry and balance in my next article.

Google Chrome 2.0 includes Developer Tools to assist in sifting through code elements, resources, and scripts. If you right click on any element in the browser window you can select “Inspect Element” from the resulting menu. A window will pop up that has the entire HTML in nested rows. This cleans up the source and eliminates the need to scroll and squint as in a text viewer. You can click each row to open up the nested tags and see what is inside so that the entire “wrapper” div is contained in one line while you look at the head source. And if needed you can hover a tag in the tool window and see the matching element highlighted in the browser.

This tool also outlines the CSS so you can see what is being computed by the browser and what is being inherited from higher CSS tags. There is a box that shows the margin, border, padding, and box size, and the ability to turn off specific values and see the results in the browser is also available.

While Google Chrome 2.0 is not much better as a browser that Firefox or IE, it does have some useful tools for a developer/designer. I have come familiar with it and enjoy debugging with it daily.

Yet my favorite part of this season is not the colors or the scenery, it is the drive through it. It is blasting through all of the wonderfully colored leaves as they float through the air onto the open road. It is kicking up the fallen in my draft as I pass. It is all of the playful things that a child should be amused with, not an adult (but I must admit that I am inspired by the simple things). And as the last leaves reach the ground and the trees become barren and thinned, it is not the end of the inspiration nor the end of the change.

The lack of foilage at the end of Autumn makes the mountain bare and the rock formations visible. Again I find myself drawn to simple things like the patterned layers on the cliffside and the boulders that have tumbled down from above, the textures of the tree bark, and the contrast between the parallel tree trunks and the random placement of fallen branches. These all make me want to draw, paint, and recreate the way that the light bounces off the landscape around me.

That light isn’t bounced any more than when a fresh snow has fallen and covered the ground. The crisp clean plane is the opposite of the rough textures that were previous. Every object gets its covering and its shape becomes a mystery as the snow mounds above it. The tree limbs are thickened again but as white icy branches; like icing on a cupcake. And again the drive, even the walk, through a heavy snow shower brings a peace to my soul that sparks creativity every time.

Internet today for dummies: RSS and Social Media

Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter seem to dominate the high-tech world of the internet superhighway. Many people wonder, what is it that attracts so many users to these websites? (Facebook  hit 321.1 million users by 2009.) But social media is much larger than that- it seems that a major division of the internet can be catered to to fit any user’s needs.

There are so many different mediums of social media. The most popular of them would be blogging, social networking, emailing, and video and photo sharing. Many users utilize these tools daily, either viewing or posting their own personal content for any other user to see.

Many internet user’s subscribe and receive mail on a news-based site, such as www.yahoo.com or www.msn.com. These sites, amongst many, allow for RSS (Really Simple Syndication) which is defined as “aggregators allowing web users to create their own content assembled from the Internet’s limitless supply of material” according to Stanley J. Baran’s Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture. What does that really mean? An example would be MyMSN.

Let’s use John as our example. When John signs into his MSN page, he will be taken to his homepage where he can view content he chose- which news feeds and interest categories he is interested in are the ones that appear on the page. This is RSS. On many online journalism sites, there is the RSS logo that, when clicked, will subscribe you to that specific publication.

The world of multimedia and the process of mass media have shaped who and what America is and more importantly the World. More specifically, the idea and history of the magazine has contoured society and culture. Magazines have contributed to our national culture over the last century by bringing the most important topics into the forefront. With the increase in publication in the early 21^st century, the ideals, theories, stories, and headlines printed in magazines helped society understand issues and formulate their own thoughts.

The future of magazines is an obvious one, along with everything else; the media will become all digital. Predicting the future, I truly think all magazines will develop some creative way to get magazines to your iPhone, Blackberry, etc. that is interactive and appealing. With the new ideas of being green, I can see a decrease in paper manufacturing, which will lead to more online and interactive programs.

The idea of commercialism in today’s society has improved the quality of magazines and given more people the chance to read it. In my eyes, advertising in magazines, and all mediums, is a great way to get funding and increase popularity. Advertising also reflects the times we are in, more ads becoming sex oriented, etc. Advertising is an amazing thing for businesses. On the other hand, the integrity of the magazine may decrease. A magazine full of ads is not good, so the balance is an extraordinary fine line. In the future, there may be ads integrated into the articles like they do on television.

Another great topic of discussion is the idea of the magazine’s web presence. It is essential for every company to have a great website in today’s market place and with magazines, they can integrate articles with blogs. The web is a great thing for people, and the reason it is great is the fact that it is free. If a company charges for the service, they will most likely be less successful than free websites, but then again, advertising can be used to make a profit and continue the company and readers.

The idea of popularity is a great question. Business owners and executives are always looking for the next big thing. Looking at previous history, the things that will be popular in ten or twenty years are music, pop culture, movies, etc. As always, the styles and trends will be something that is unpredictable. It will be interesting to see.

Throughout history, art as a medium of expression has been important to the success of government, society, and most of all opinions and ideals. The idea that composition and creativity can actually create something infamous is an understatement and with the conception of the Internet, it makes about anybody capable of creating something…good or bad. The differences that are going to make you a better designer than that other guy is going to be your fundamental knowledge of the essentials. The objects of fundamentals will separate you from the other designers and your business competition because you know what is qualified as a good design. There is actually more than what meets the eye.

            In this particular article, the design essential that we will focus on is the differences between formal and informal design in both graphic design and web design. Although, most of the examples will focus on graphic design, the same elements can be applied to the ideas of web design.

            The first most vital tidbit of information is the definition of formal design: “Conscious symmetrical repetition, while clearly creating perfect balance within a design”. Think of formal balance in design as sort of a hierarchy or checklist to make sure you have all of these elements or characteristics.

-       Balance- The equilibrium that results from looking at images and judging them against mass.

-       Rhythm- The repetition of certain elements to create a sense of movement.

-       Proportion- The comparison of dimensions or distribution.

-       Dominance- The visual weight of a design.

-       Unity- The relationship between the individual parts of the design.

The definition and qualifications of formal design are simple enough to understand. We designers actually use these principles everyday. For example, balance, rhythm, proportion, dominance, and unity are the ideas that successful designer’s use to create magnificent websites or compositions. As an example, Twitter uses the essential elements to create a successful website in the eyes of designers and viewers alike. Take a look at the content, it is centered and therefore uses the rule of formal balance. How about the navigation? With the idea of the relative box surrounding it, proportion and dominance come into play with the content box. And finally, unity is achieved with the idea of the rounded corners of the content and all of the other elements to create a design that pulls together for the fact that they share the same qualities.

In opposition to formal design is obviously informal design. Informal design concepts are just as important and may actually cause more planning than formal design concepts might take. Another name for informal design is asymmetrical balance. With the ideas of informal design in place, can you think of any examples? In web design, it is very hard to relate asymmetrical balance to a website for the fact that there is always a natural idea to make the final web composition balanced and visually easy to navigate and get around. In web design, there are not many examples of informal design. After researching, I found only one example of informal design that can be relatable and that is the idea of the human face. On all faces, the eye, mouth, or other elements may not be similar to the other side. The concepts of Informal design are a hard one to grasp and usually most people just consider informal design concepts the opposite of formal design concepts and that may make some sense of the concepts.

            One concept that creates discussion is the idea that designers should design with the viewer in mind. In web design, this idea is essential to the success of the website. A particular theory or study that talks about this visual relationship between the designer and the viewer is the Gestalt Theory. “The Gestalt Theory is involved with visual perception and the psychology of art among other things. It is concerned with the relationship between the parts and the whole of a composition” The five Gestalt concepts that may help you as a designer with the success of your website or composition are:

-       Closure: The mind supplies the missing pieces in a composition

-       Continuance- The eye continues in the direction it is going

-       Similarity- What an items looks like in relation to other items

-       Proximity- Where items are in relationship to each other

-       Alignment- Lining up objects to organize and form groups

With these characteristics of the psychology of the viewer, does it help you as a designer achieve the effect you were looking for? In my eyes, it creates a stepping-stone to understanding the viewer and how to achieve success, however you as a designer should not live on these ideas alone. Experiment with different designs and see what the viewer takes a liking to. Look at the past designers like Jacques-David, van Gogh, Picasso; they did not have these resources or the actual science of design. Just have fun with your concepts and in the end, you will have success.

            In conclusion, the ideas behind formal and informal design may help you to achieve your success as a graphic or web designer. The philosophies laid down by past designers and artists are an extremely easy way to determine success and what has worked in the past. When learning the design essentials, I realized that I apply these qualifications to my designs without even knowing it. But now to have the arsenal of knowing these fundamentals, it makes it easier and unproblematic to create a unique design that I know the viewer, customer, or teacher will understand and appreciate.

Other resources used in this article:

Design Notes: Gestalt (http://daphne.palomar.edu/design/gestalt.html)

Design Basics by David Lauer 

My name is Tyler Kraupp and I am the creator and lead designer for Halite Silver Studios and I am introducing a new blog for the community that can help people learn about Internet technologies, design, development, and running a successful online business. The blog name is IdahoFallsWebDesign.net and can be located at www.idahofallswebdesign.net. If you are curious to learn how to support a local community blog and also be beneficial for your company contact myself and we can work out an extremely good deal for you.

There are three options for advertising:

- A 125×125 thumbnail on every page
- A 250×230 thumbnail on every page
- A 125×125 thumbnail on the ‘Links” page

We here at HSS think it is extremely important to support local businesses, therefore local businesses get the first grab. If you guys are not interested in this great business opportunity, these thumbnail ad spaces will be sold to outside businesses.

Even though it is not much, I can expect at least 1,000 visitors per month to the site already. I have not began to market this new website and after we get some advertising, that number will jump. (Graphs can be provided if needed).

Because of the lack of visitors (for now) I am charging a low fee. Here is the breakdown of the costs:

- A 125×125 thumbnail on every page is $20.00 a month.
- A 250×120 thumbnail on every page is $40.00 a month.
- A 125×125 thumbnail on the ‘Links’ page is $15.00 a month.

Thank you for the opportunity. Call me if you have any questions.

Tyler Kraupp
208.520.5285
tyler@hssmedia.com
www.idahofallswebdesign.net
www.hssmedia.com

When one describes the Neo-Classical period, it is evident that most of the art simply can relate to the Greek and Roman periods, but it also has new ideas and contributions that make it relative to the 18th and 19th centuries and parts of the Enlightenment. For example, take a look at the painting Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (http://www.flickr.com/photos/elissacorsini/2346213890/). It is evident that David was trying to mix new ideals of the Neo-Classical period with that of the ancient remembrance of Socrates, an Athenian hero. A second example of mixed ideals is the sculpture of Washington in toga (http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyneighborlady/230019770/). The face of Washington is very Neo-Classical in that it is detailed and accurate, but the body resembles Greek and Roman sculpture.

The fact that Neo-Classical is called classical is actually quite accurate. The idea that the artists need to resemble true virtue and articulate to the people that monarchy and terrible leaders are a thing of the past, they started recreating the ideas behind the Greek and Roman periods. They wanted to say that government was a good thing, not a tyranny. This idea made it classic in that it resembled many artists before them. (Thomas Buser, 1995).

To sum it up, the ideas behind the Neo-Classical time period were far more important than what meets the eye. The world was in an uproar with revolutions and society unhappiness. But when the artists, sculptors, and architects recreated what they were seeing and what they wanted to portray to society, it became evident that the arts were the most important thing in many people’s lives. Therefore, the artists relied on prior art, the Greek and Roman periods, as inspiration, but they also recreated their own ideas. The art in the Neo-Classical time period set the stage for artists to express their true ideas, whether it be about the government, nature, or human life.

I was also featured on Local News 8 for the same reason. I loved the publicity and gained many clients from the experience. Check out the article here.

Tyler Kraupp on the Big Idea with Donny D.