LOCATE
In order for any communications to be clear, the user (here i go again) needs to be able to find information that he/she is looking for. That means many things. Among them are:
1. choosing correct fonts
2. management of white space
3. grouping of information
4. understanding the "color" of black and white
5. graphic design (look & feel)
6. placement of information
7. font choice/size/weight of different types of information
8. hierarchy of information
Talking about font choices, weights, and sizes can be a very long, technical discussion. It is the hardest thing a graphic designer has to learn because everything a designer does involves typography. There are hundreds of fonts, some very similar, but they all have their particular nuances. Even Arial and Helvetica although very similar, (Arial is based on Helvetica) are quite different. A deep discussion at this point would be too involved, but if you are interested, I would suggest reading Just My Type by Simon Garfield, a good book that is both informative and interesting. I will go into typography in more detail in a future blog.
White space management is extremely important. Most often, I run into the client who says "oh, here is an empty space, let's add a message" or something to that effect. In reality, finding information on a document or website can be challenging if the page is jammed with text and the eye cannot distinguish areas of content. In fact, I would say that white space is THE most important consideration.
Next to white space, grouping of information is next. I have seen designers put so much space between lines, that each line looks to be its own thought making the a paragraph read as multiple areas. Here is a little example. On the left side the eye sees one group of information on the right side, the eye is seeing multiple pieces of content making reading more difficult.
next time - the color of black and white and why it is important.
