Beautiful Disaster.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Before i was assigned the task of building a serious weblog for this module, i have already been an avid blogger for some years. My blog served as my personal diary. A space my friends update themselves about me, where i share my favourite links and videos and of course somewhere i post my complains and share my pictures, etc. It is just so much easier to not follow rules nor pay regards to "usability" issues. Thus i felt there were so many challenges for me along the way.

Personally i feel when it comes to design, be it graphic, web or fashion, we need to know who our target audiences are. Once we determine the target, we aim to deliver the final product in accordance to their needs.

{ Visuals }
This weblog is designed to look professional. I chose to use black fonts against the beige background because there is a good level of contrast. According to color psychology, brown is the color of the earth and "implies genuineness". Thus i think it is appropriate for use on this blog since i want my readers to think my commentaries are credible.

The titles and subheads are also made to look different and more prominent than the body text as advised from Parker's reading. Bullet points are also used when appropriate. Bullet points created a difference from blocks of body text. It gives the eyes a break and retain reader's interest.

{ Tone of voice }
Since brown can be quite a serious colour, I decided to adopt a more conversational tone of voice to balance out the overall tone of blog. Afterall i do not want my readers, especially students, to fall asleep. So a conversational tone makes the blog more engaging and sets a difference from textbooks and academic articles. I also believe a less formal tone appeals more emotionally(ethos) to readers. It aids my commentary to be more convincing.

This assignment provided me a great insight about how i can make use of a blog to the fullest. The readers and researches i have done enriched me with a alot of knowledge about document design and it is not just application to websites and blogs but also rules that can be applied to my profession as a graphic designer.

The researches along the way led me to discover several issues i never knew of before. Now i am more aware about the happenings of the blogosphere and i know where to go to when i need information on blogs. I'm sure there are much more issues waiting for me to discover. Thus i'll keep my eyes open.

Now equipped with better knowledge of document design, i definitely see myself making constructive changes to my personal blog to make it more interesting and usable so that it is not limited to just my friends. And i will definitely keep updating to this blog whenever i can.

5:26 PM

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

In this post, i will discuss design issues for the online environment.

Blogs, like websites, are considered multimodal texts. Multimodal text, according to Walsh(2006, p. 104), are "texts that have more than one 'mode' ". This simply means the intended message is communicated with the use of different modes to the target audience. These modes may include static pictures, animated images or icons, music, sounds and even videos.

People visit blogs for countless reasons. Sometimes it is to gain information on something they are interested in, at times they could be just browsing for leisure. Either ways, it is important to create an online environment your reader is comfortable to stay in, and possibly make a returning visit.

{ Challenges of Online Environment }
There are 3 challenges according to Parker(1990, p.270).

Reading from the screen is harder than on print because the brightness and contrast level is higher on screen thus causes eye fatigue sooner than on print.
Reading from screen is "restricted to a horizontal view", thus the page is only revealed partially.
Since we cannot be sure if readers will print the page out, we must design our blog as we are designing for print so that readers can read with ease on screen, making it even easier when printed out.

{ Design Considerations }

Layout
The proper use of layouts and typographic principles will facilitate the reading process for readers.

The text box on this blog has been kept to a single column. The width of the text box has also been kept at a comfortable length. Parker(1990, p. 273) advises against multiplecolumn layout as up-and-down scrolling hinders with the flow of reading. Also having blank spaces on the left and right margins of page adds contrast to page. Readers will not have to make as many eye movements as when it is longer.

By using bullet points, information becomes easier to notice, especially within a blog with lots of words.

Typography
There should be contrast within text to increase legibility. Titles should have the most emphasis. Headings should be more prominent than subheadings (Parker, 1990). Example:

Title

Headlines

Subhead

Bodytext

Emphasis can be created by formatting text in bold, increasing the font size or using a different color. This way readers can scan headlines more quickly. The space between the lines serve as a guide for the eye when advancing from line to line. Increasing the leading of text will also facilitates reading.

Just like for print, do not use more than 2 different fonts within a single webpage. Avoid using all caps or scripts and decorative typefaces.

Graphics
Ensure images are compressed for web usage. You do not want your readers to wait too long for the page to load.

Quoting from Schriver (1997, p. 386), the issue should be 'how the communication is designed', and not so much which medium is used. With reference to a transmission model of communication(Shannon and Weaver, 1949), i conclude a well-designed website maximises the intended message to be transmitted to the reader with minimized noise.

4:53 PM

Personal Blog - This was the origin of blogs. Update family and friends of your daily life, "pen" your frustrations at work, complain about the ugly commuter you bumped into. Basically, it is your diary made public.

Blog of Interest(s) - This is a blog about a specific interest. You share your thoughts and experiences, links that interest you or simply for information. It can be a professional blog about your profession, eg. Branding, latest advertising trends, etc. Register your blog with search engines such as Technorati and Blogpulse and soon you will be part of a blog community which shares the same interest as you. It can keep you updated at work too.

The subjects here are endless. It is common to find blogs that write about the latest technologies and gadgets, fashion trends and lists of shopping site, travel experiences and reviews, fan sites for a specific genre of music or particular artist/group are just a few to name.

Start a business - It makes a perfect starting point for young entrepreneurs. Market your second hand clothes, self-made accessories and anything you can think of. It is easy to set up and customize the layout. You even get to choose your own URL. It's cost free and even help you make some extra pocket money!

Online Portfolio - Removes all pains of updating your portfolio (especially for designers). Update it with a few clicks with a blog. Including links to your favourite sites (related to work of course!) makes you look more professional and updated with on-going trends. It is definitely more eco-friendly than printing hardcopies.

Form a community - Creating an account that allows more than 1 user allows you to update your community and stay updated. It can serve as a communication platform.

3:47 PM

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Hello there!

I am currently taking a course with the University of South Australia. This blog is done up Assignment 3 of my Document Design and Publication module.

The purpose of this blog, is to discuss issues related to "blogging" itself. I will be adopting a less formal and conversational tone of voice in this blog.

{ Definition }
So what is a blog? According to Dictionary.com, "(it is) A website that displays in chronological order the postings by one or more individuals and usually has links to comments on specific postings."

{ The Phenomenon }
According to BlogPulse, there are more than 42 million blogs up to date and this number just keeps growing. Blogging is a subjective term, because different people uses blog differently.

Blogs started as online personal journals. The use of it has evolved greatly, but at the end of it, blogs are so popular because it provided a space for people for voice and expression. It no longer take advance IT knowledge to build a page online. Topics for blog include current affairs and political commentaries, IT product reviews, a hobby-related topic etc. The possibilities are endless.

Thus blogging communities begin to form when bloggers (people who blogs) of similar interest find each other, commonly through search engines such as BlogPulse and Technorati.

{ Blog vs Website }
Since blog posts and links are updated frequently and commonly displayed chronologically, it is different from a website. The commenting feature on blogs created more than just a space for blog readers to air their view. It allows conversation, between reader and blog writer and also among readers to exchange opinions. Websites generally refer to their visitors through emails and other contact details provided on a page.

The most common issue about blogging as a new media is it's conflict with journalism. Some classify blogging as "a form of new online journalism" (Deuze¹ 2001). In fact some reputable news source such as The Guardian has a blog. It is quite interesting to see traditional media(website) linking to readers through a new media channel. I believe it serves to attract a whole new group of readers.

This new media has also allowed net users to play the role of reporters and journalists within their community. These posts tend to include personal opinions and are of niche topics unlike the real journalists.

I believe the influence of blogging has plenty of room for expansion. Bloggers can now share information through more than 1 channel with the advance of technology. In a media report by ABC Radio National, Jennifer Wilson, director of a mobile content publishing company, has commented mobile users can now take pictures with their camera phones and post an entry anywhere, anytime. And it is not just pictures. Bloggers can post audio files and videos.

The possibilities to blogging are almost infinite. This phenomenon is here to stay for sure.

^{1 - Mark Deuze is lecturer and research associate at the Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR), The Netherlands. His article HERE.}

3:40 AM