Chapter Six Outline

Chapter 6: How to make pictures that inform

I)       How do graphics communicate?

a)      They help add to, replace, reinforce, explain, and illustrate words.

b)      They help eliminate any other possible meanings in words by providing a concrete example of what something is.

II)     How must photos in information design be like?

a)      be in focus

b)      have a focus

c)      mean something

d)      show what you’re telling

e)      tell what you’re showing

f)        appear close to where you talk about them

g)      point readers into the text

III)   Photos must be in focus

a)      In order for a picture to be effective, it must complement what is being focused on by being shot correctly.

IV)   Photos must have a focus

a)      Photos or illustrations should only have enough in it, so it gives exactly what a person needs.

b)      Too much information can distract an audience.

c)      Edit a picture so just the right amount of information is in it for a viewer.

V)    Photos must mean something

a)      Audiences would prefer insightful pictures with great text since that would appeal to an audience, not a fluffed-up page.

VI)  Photos must show what you’re telling

a)      Pictures can help facilitate communication when words fail to do so.

VII)           Photos must tell what you’re showing

a)      Include information under pictures to explain why they are important.

b)      All captions should be legible and consistent.

VIII)         Connecting the dots is tougher than it should be

a)      Do not include a picture that fails to explain the text nor should text be used if it does not explain a graphic.

IX)   Pictures must show up close to where you talk about them

a)      Pictures should be near text in order to complement it because pictures that are not next text do not do much to help explain it.

X)    Pictures must point readers into text (if they point at all)

a)      Place directional photos so that they point towards the text.

b)      Two Gestalt grouping principles apply:

i)        Common fate. People see elements going in the same direction as being related.

ii)       Good continuation. People see elements that are arranged as a line as a group, even if the line contains gaps.

XI)   To flop or not to flop

a)      If a photo can’t be moved in order to use its natural arrow, point it in the opposite direction if it will not suffer from directional change.

Graphic Design Critque

The portfolio site that I have chosen is Bright Box Image and they seem like a very interesting group. When I first arrived at the site, I noticed their use of complementing pastel like colors which gives the site a nice look and feel. The color scheme they chose seems to suit them well and it gives off a warm and homey feel. They chose a very simple one column layout (I ignored the ads on the side) which makes it easy to read and they leave a link right at the end to look at their portfolio work. They make it easy to find all the header links on the top and it easy to contact them since all their contact links are on the bottom. The only thing I would change is the use of the image on the footer because it seems to strain the eyes upon scrolling. Other than that, this was a very good looking site.

I love CSS.

    1.    What is CSS?
    ⁃     CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and it is used to style web pages that are written in HTML
    2.    How is CSS different than HTML?
    ⁃    CSS is different HTML because it does not "create anything" like HTML but it just sets rules on how to display HTML.
    3.    Why use them?
    ⁃    It is useful to use CSS because before, HTML was just used to create a document and when extra tags made to format a document were added on to HTML, it became a major problem when all this extra information was needed to be written on every page. CSS was created so formatting a document  could be done separately. 
    4.    What are the 4 parts of the CSS syntax?
    ⁃    The four parts of CSS syntax are selector, declaration, property, and value.
    5.    Why would you use comments?
    ⁃    Comments can be used to help explain code that is written.
    6.    What is the difference between "id" and "class"
    ⁃    The difference between "id" and "class" is that id is used to make a style for just one element while class is used to make a style for a bunch of elements.
    7.    What are the 3 ways to insert CSS?
    ⁃    The three ways to insert CSS are through an external style sheet, an internal style sheet, and an inline style.
    8.    Can you have multiple styles for one HTML element?
    ⁃    Yes, there can be multiple styles for one HTML element.
    9.    What is "cascading order?"
    ⁃    Cascading order is when styles are put into a certain order where the highest number in that order will be able to override a style in other styles in that order.