Time to look back on days gone by…

I thought it would be appropriate to share some reflections with you on the blog writing process. This is, after all, a way to express, through words, thoughts, images and design, and then gives me a medium project my consciousness onto the internet.

Writing a blog helps you to filter everything you say, and tailor your words for the audience reading it. I have learnt to write in  a light-hearted, conversational style, injected with humour and pop-cultural references to keep the blog up to date with the happenings in the world. I have also noticed that using direct hyperlinks to pages helps readers to easily navigate the web without becoming frustrated. Readers also connect to photos. I have found the saying ‘ You can’t judge a book by it’s cover’ to be especially true in this case, as a blog post can immediately be judged by the image used, no matter whether the writing is worthy of a Pulitzer prize.

I have undoubtedly grown in my ability to achieve a clean-cut, professional looking blog design. To begin with, I was blindly fiddling around with bright colours and fun fonts, but I realised all of the greatest design blogs feature a minimal colour scheme. It’s useful to feature a sidebar with easy access to past blogs and information about yourself so new readers can easily see what the blog is all about.

All in all, I think blogging has a rightful place in the world. People like to hear or learn from others who are on the same wavelength as themselves, and blogs make this possible in the most wonderful of ways. To actually maintain a blog is a lot of hard work at times, however the wonderful privilege of sharing your voice with anyone who wants to hear it should not be overshadowed by the downsides of blogging.

Let's have the talk: Safe text and image design

These next issues that we are going to discuss are the birds and bees of design. Really, they are things we should have known long before we knew that we needed to know them. So, without further ado, I give you a rundown on six design principles that will have you yelling for more.

1 // Balance

This one is imperative. Balance refers to the visual weight of objects and how they are placed on a page to best please the eye. There are a few key rules that need to be taken into consideration when looking at balance, which we have outlined here thanks to Diana Reep (2006, p.135).

• Big weighs more than small.
• Dark weighs more than light.
• Colour weighs more than black and white. 
• Unusual shapes weigh more than simple circles or squares.

When an object or colour weighs more it is important to give the object white space around it, giving the eye room to breathe.

2 // Proportion

Here we're looking at the size, placement and format of text and images. Each image should be the size that is helpful for the reader to comprehend, rather than making all images an identical size for the sake of consistency. The same rule applies to text. Headings can be different sizes and thicknesses depending on the importance of the heading. 

3 // Sequence

A reader's eyes will enter a page at the top left hand corner, and move from left to right, top to bottom scanning the information. The best designers use this to their advantage, and highlight different important parts of the page by sequencing their information to the best effect. It keeps the reader interested and helps them to easily confirm the important facts. 

4 // Consistency

I can't believe how many people seem to get this wrong. Consistency is simple. For the ease of the reader, keep margins, fonts, font sizes, colours and weights all the same. This doesn't make your work boring, it makes it possible for other people to look at it without feeling as though they're being hypnotised. 

5 // Use headings

Throughout this post I have made use of headings to break up the slabs of text. This can help to call attention to a particular topic, help readers find the specific information they're searching for or to show the change in sections. If there is one thing readers love, it's text broken up into readable sections, with headings explaining exactly what you will read underneath. 

6 // Use white space

White space is a designer's best kept secret. It refers to the areas that we leave blank in design, whether it be a paragraph indentation, space around a title or image, or a wider margin. This is imperative to ensuring that your design is easy on the eye and helps instigate the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) principle. 


There you have it. Six principles that are fantastic springboards into the world of design.

Alex from Target is just proof that the internet is the most unpredictable place of all

Have you heard of Alex from Target? It's hard not to have. The sixteen year old who was bagging groceries was suddenly bagging marriage proposals when a photo of him working went viral on Twitter. If you're still confused, watch his interview on Ellen below.

Poor Alex seems just as surprised as we all are about his new found fame. But who is really to blame for his overnight success? Is it the thrall of teenage girls admiring his fine physique? Well, that may have something to do with it, but without the social networking vehicle that is Twitter, the girls would be giggling about Alex in the school yard, not kissing the television. 

I think what we can really learn from Adam's fame is the absolute unpredicatbility of the internet. The ability we all have to self publish and promote oursleves for free is only possible through the realms of the internet, while apparently the ability to make an absolute stranger famous is also on the cards. All I can say is look out Dan from Woolworths and Lachlan from Wendys, the teenage girl population is coming to get you.

Scoping out the competition

For about four summers now, Hungry Jacks has offered a $1 large frozen Coke. It has been a brilliant move for the company, however, main competitor McDonalds has cottoned on to their success, and they've bitten back with the same promotion and taken it further by reducing other items too. In any occupation, it's important to have a look at what others around you are doing, and then do it better. So today we're going to have a little look at two of my favourite blogs, and what they're doing right.

// 1

I AM GALLA

Blog written by Adam Gallagher

If you haven't seen this blog, head there now. It is a unique take on fashion blogging because it focuses on men's fashion, yet somehow attracts the ladies (one look at Gallagher's photos will tell you why). 

The great thing about I Am Galla is that Gallagher has used an extremely simple colour pallet of blacks, whites and greys, which pair perfectly with the subtlety of colour in his photos. This pallet also reflects what the blog is about and how a Californian by birth can become a high street blogger in New York. He's also laid out a very logical site, with photo hyperlinks and interesting headings. Special touches unique to I Am Galla include his world map that depicts where he is in the world at any one time, and a YouTube channel. 

// 2

Oh Happy Day

Blog written by Jordan Ferney

Oh Happy Day mixes happiness and all things wonderful into a site without being cheesy. It's main focus is to be a lifestyle, decor and party planning hub but in a friendly, non-pretentious way. The design of the site completely reflects this with the careful use of bright yellows and sky blues. The posts mainly feature photos with captions describing the ideas depicted, keeping to the idea that only saying what is necessary is necessary. The site also features a useful search bar for users looking for a particular post. 

So there you have it. Two blogs that are infinitely more fascinating than mine, and that have been of inspiration to me throughout the years. Happy reading!

Making online articles readable

With the way technology is taking the world in recent years, it is not surprising that a large percentage of the reading we do is now online, rather than in print. It would be weird for you to click print on this blog post, right? But it's also a fact that reading online is much more difficult for the eye. Staring at a screen involves eye-balling an abundance of projected light, which, unsurprisingly, can cause eye fatigue. How can we fix this? The answer is here.

Multicolumn Layouts

Firstly, in web publications, it is a must to avoid multicolumn layouts. Because the reader is not presented with an entire page at any one time, a multicolumn layout will force the reader to repeatedly scroll up and down. The simple way to fix this is to stick to single column layouts and be sure to adjust the font size and spacing to reconcile the large slab of text.

Reduce Line Length

Ensure that there is enough white space around the text by reducing the line length. Computer screens are wide, and having to move one's head to read each line is simply uncomfortable for the reader. With a reduced line length, the text will be much more condensed and manageable. 

Paragraphs and white space

As a general rule, for online publications, white space is your best friend. When introducing a new paragraph in print media it is traditional to use a small indentation in the text. For online publications, we look to our best friend for help and use an entire line of white space in between paragraphs. 

Divide the text

By dividing the text into smaller, more easily digestible chunks, the reader can remain interested in the text, and not become overwhelmed by the amount of reading in front of them. By dividing these tips into small paragraphs with sub-headings, you've managed to read 314 words so far without even realising it!

Headings

Headings should clearly be headings. So, the order of importance should also be the order of font size. Headings should also be bold. 

Typeface

Choose a typeface that is sans serif as it is much easier to read on screen than a serif font. Also, choose a font that people can actually read. Save Edwardian Script for your wedding invites, no one wants to navigate through the swirls of calligraphy when reading online.

There you have it! The foolproof guide to making your online ramblings readable for your audience. Information in this post has been referenced from Roger Parker (2003, p. 265-293).




Parker, R 2003, Looking good in print, 5th edition, Paraglyph Press, Scottsdale.  

Texts, Images and their relationship drama

A friend of mine and the man she was dating were once both invited to the same family reunion, but by their own families. It didn’t matter that they weren’t related by blood, they couldn’t been seen at the same party because of how it would be perceived by others. It is the same with text and graphics. Even if they’re not related to one another, the reader will perceive that they are if they’re starring in the same publication. Karen Schriver, in her book ‘Dynamics in document design’ (1996, p. 420), helps us acknowledge the relationship between text and images, and outlines the five different relationships we commonly see.

1 // Redundant

If the text and image are telling the reader the same thing, one of these is superfluous. If the brand Apple featured their logo of an apple, with their brand name underneath, also Apple, the word ‘patronised’ would not be enough to describe how the public would be feeling. As they say, a picture says a thousand words, so it is imperative to know how much is too much.

2 // Complementary

This is when the graphics and text are saying slightly different things, but still relate to one another. It’s like when a woman’s skirt is short and provocative, while her blazer says business. The two items are saying different things, but together they chorus as a provocative work outfit.

3 // Supplementary

Imagine a science textbook with no diagrams. The end result would be an incredibly dull and confusing piece of writing. However, the supplementary relationship is when the text or graphic supports the other, just as in a science textbook when the diagrams support the bulk of the text.

4 // Juxtapositional

This is when the words and pictures are exclaiming different things, but for the main idea to be understood, both elements have to exist.

5 // Stage-setting

Just as the set on a stage excites and intrigues the audience before the actors arrive, the same principles can be used with text and images. Often an image will be used to foreshadow or tease the reader about the upcoming text, much like a book cover.

As you can undoubtedly see, there are many differing relationships that can be found between text and graphics. The importance of recognising and utilising these relationships is vital when producing publications.  

Schriver, K 1997, Dynamics in document design: Creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publications, New York.  

Bank SA deserves to be spanked

We all remember last year when South Australia evolved from a state known for our wine and festivals into what most can only fathom is a giant door in the middle of the house that is Australia.

Indeed, today we are talking about logos. In the world of logos, Bank SA has followed suit and removed one of our only remaining South Australian icons, the Sturt Desert Pea, in favour of a more modern, simplistic, map view of the state.

The beloved old logo

According to polls on Adelaide Now, a mere 13.2% of readers believed the logo had improved. However, we should not simply nostalgically desire for our beloved desert pea to make a comeback, but rather have a look at the facts.

Let me take you back to 2009, when Michael Jackson was still alive and the film Ice Age was in its third reincarnation. It was then that juice brand Tropicana drastically changed their logo, and, reportedly received a myriad of backlash to unrecognisable packaging. Tropicana finally retreated back to their classic 'orange with a straw' logo and once again their customers were sipping sunshine.

So is it possible that Bank SA have shot themselves in the foot? Will their brand no longer be recognisable? Only time will tell. Or the thralls of South Australians searching blindly for their own bank will.

The new, modernised logo