Lesson 6 - Imaging and Design for Online Environment

 Basic Principles of Graphics and Layout

    When we create our own website we definitely want our users to admire our site and love and enjoy using it. How do we achieve this? We can follow the basic principles of graphics and layout. (1) Balance, (2) emphasis, (3) movement, (4) pattern, repetition, and rhythm, (5) proportion, and (6) variety. These basic principles will guide us in designing our website to attract users.

    Balance is one of the basic principles of graphics and layout. When we place "objects" in our website we should observe balance. They must be evenly distributed on the screen so we do not have a messy looking site. Another principle is the Emphasis. When we want our users to focus on something we need to attract their attention. To do this one example is to Enlargen the objects that we would like to emphasize. In Google's website, we can see that the screen is pretty much empty other than its logo and search bar. This is an example of emphasis. The background is white, the logo is colorful and large so as to focus the users' attention in that area. Movement is another basic principle that can guide us in designing our website. In movement, we guide the viewer's eyes around the screen by using clues to help them browse around the site. In Pattern, Repetition, and Rhythm, we want our objects to have a sense of unity. One example is the alternating pictures of cats and dogs. Proportion is to create a sense of unity where they relate well. When we want to achieve we want our website to not look too hard in the eyes, When we have a title and a text we would not want our title to be way too big or the text to be way too small. Last but not the least, we have variety. To achieve this principle on our website, we must use several design elements to draw our users' attention. For example, we can combine texts and images that are related to each other to make it appealing but not distracting from the site's purpose

Infographics

An example of infographics

    Information graphics (or Infographics in shot) are used to represent information, statistical data, or knowledge in a graphical manner. It is usually done in a creative way to attract users.

Why do we use infographics?

1. To communicate a reason
2. To present a lot of data or info in a way that is compact and easy to comprehend
3. To analyze data in order to discover cause-and-effect relationships.
4. To periodically monitor the route of certain parameters.

We have different types of infographics for different purposes some of them are:

1. Cause-and-effect infographics - used to show cause-and-effect relationships
2. Chronological Infographics - used to show sequence of events
3. Quantitative infographics - used to show statistical data
4. Directional infographics - used to show steps on how something is done
5. Product infographics - used to show information about your product

When you're not sure of what to place in your infographics, here are some tips to guide you in creating an effective and visually appealing infographics.

1. Simplicity rocks
2. Nothing takes effect w/out a cause
3. Draw your boundaries
4. Think in color
5. Layout is not just about typograph
6. Make it appealing
7. Be verifiable