[thelist] look and feel compromises

[Dwain Alford]

On 10/23/06, Joel D Canfield <joel at spinhead.com> wrote:
>
> > be careful of visual design training.  use your own sensibilities and
> > incorporate technique with what you learn.
>
> indeed; I spent some time learning about wine a while back - but I still
> know the difference between what I like and what I don't like, and I
> drink the former ;) I'm not likely to succumb to being artsy for the
> sake of being artsy; I'm more interested in the psychology of design so
> I don't struggle with seemingly simple issues like center or
> left-aligned? dark blue or black? would you like fries with that?
> [sorry; that was the *other* training class I took . . . ]
>

i hear ya.  i was on another list and asked for the folks to look at a
personal site i had designed.  i got a comment: "my instructor says" and
that was about as far as i got with that post.  centering, la and ra are all
personal choices and what the madness to your method is.

now the psychology to that could lead you down a dark and winding road. ;o)
questions like, "why did you arrange things like that" and "what was the
purpose of this" come to mind.  as you begin to answer these surface
questions, down you go into the pit.  you discover your real intentions.

of course, you say, the design needs to grab you and hold your attention and
make you want to go deeper.  of course, you say, this is my intended
audience.  for me, it's is it clean and easy to read?  is there enough of
the "right" information on the page?

for me, the psychology of design is about giving the visitor the information
they seek without over-dramatizing, thus overwhelming the visitor, with
glitz and glamor.  clients think they want the glitz and glam because
everybody else is doing it.  they want to be set apart and fail to see they
are becoming one of the pack.  the pure psychology of design is to present
the client in a professional manner suitable to their business with a touch
of flair.  what is flair?  what does it mean to you?

dwain