Bytes in Space

Flasher

2007-03-25T22:57:00.000-05:00

In this new rich world of interactive content for the Internet, you cannot ignore the most prevalent browser plug-in in the world... Flash. Why should we care about Flash? It revolutionized the way the web handled graphics. Instead of the popular bitmap image formats, JPEG & GIF, it utilized a much more compact vector based method. Instead of large indexes of colors and coordinates, Flash used mathematical formulas. Something like a simple square only needed two coordinates to show its size.

However, the fun did not end there. ActionScript gave way to ways programmers could weave Flash into applications, creating "events" when users clicked on objects. Combined with compressed video and audio, it became an extremely rich environment for users to explore. It gave some of the web's more artistic designers a free canvas to explore hypertext and create content without the hindrance of simple HTML.

One exploration of Flash is LAB by Mathieu Badimon. His primary site is in French, however his site LAB is in English, and is a series of projects revolving around manipulating objects on a Flash "canvas". There is no real rhyme, or reason to the content on this site, in and of itself. Yet these projects give the user insight to how scripting and Flash animations can blend together to create interactive interfaces. The "Warped Text" project could probably be the framework for an online text manipulation program, where users create content similar to Word Art for use in other programs.

I will admit that by and large, I personally think Flash adds no value to Information Architecture. Yet from a design and user interface standpoint, it is truly an amazing tool to implement your wildest creations. It eliminates the boundaries of HTML and lets artist and creators enjoy newfound freedom.

What is Web 2.0?

2007-03-11T22:36:00.000-05:00

What is this thing called Web 2.0? Is it yet another invention by Al Gore? No, this movement called Web 2.0 is about moving forward to another "level" in how people interact with their machines.

Think about how running jobs on a mainframe computer evolved to the operating systems running on the PCs of today. It was a step, an evolutionary step, in how we think of computers. When this thing called the Internet came to our doorsteps, we were amazed that we could be viewing content from all over the world! From online chatting to the boom of Internet commerce, the computing world was forever changed.

What Web 2.0 is doing is changing our perspectives yet again. What was once just a simple web page is not an online application. We don't just view and click... we interact with the content. For the first time ever, major software companies are releasing versions of their software that is available online. Not to download, but to use directly online! This is not about some small upstart software company... the industry-standard bitmap image editing program is going to have an online counterpart.

So what is Web 2.0? It is the Internet being used as a platform (much like Mac OS, Winows, Linux, etc.) that allows them to do more than buy stuff or chat. People will have a newfound freedom that will make the "old" Internet look like a C:\ prompt.

Styling & Profiling

2007-02-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

What is style? More importantly, what defines a company's style, and how does it make them stand apart from the competition?

Two opposing giants in the software/hardware industry such as Macintosh and Microsoft definitely use different styles. For an example, I will look at their competing digital music players, the iPod and Zune.

The iPod's style is sleek, modern, and conservative. The box is simple and grayscale, adding to its modern look and feel. The trademark apple used for the Macintosh logo is prominently displayed on the box as well as the device pictured on the box. The logo is simple with the lowercase "i" following in suite with the popular iMac line of computers. They use a serif font with no real logo to be seen other than the apple discussed above. Simple, modern, conservative, but all the while elegant; Apple has created a pop culture icon for the post-millennial era.

Microsoft's Zune however uses a different style to lure customers to their side. They chose a rich earth tone brown box with vibrant oranges and raspberry accents. The logo is all lowercase, using a sans serif font. It also has a complex geometric shape that is actually a 3D wire frame rendering of a "Z". However, much like the iPod, they kept their overall box design simplistic. As white was the prominent color for iPod, brown is for Zune. They are appealing to the organic or human side of computing and music. This organic side is trademark of Microsoft, considering the widely recognized landscape desktop wallpaper from Windows XP. They recognize that it is not about the machine, but the people using it.

While both styles are effective, and are widely recognized... what makes them a style? I discussed several aspects, such as colors, fonts, and logos. All of these contribute to a product's intended style (and audience). You won't find many widescreen plasma televisions using bright primary colors and large playful cartoon letters. Just like you won't find many kid's toys with modern, sharp edged logos, and muted colors. Also, the pictures used on the product lend to the style. Are they photographs or clip-art drawings? Black & white or color?

In summary, style may not be easily defined, but it is almost always easily recognized. Websites, commercial products, newspapers, magazines... all of them have a style comprised of many elements. These many elements, or pillars, give the item character, personality, and allow it to stand out in a crowd.

Speak without saying a word

2007-02-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

I today's commercial arena of marketing, it is very important that your customers can identify your brand without thinking very much. One such way is communicating to them via pictures rather than words. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, a well designed and marketed logo should say one thing... your company.

To twist things even further, I will use a logo that is not for a company, but rather a band. Many bands come up with a logo to accompany their name (or perhaps it is their name). One that comes to mind is the classic rock/pop band The Monkees. Their logo was simply their name with the text in the shape of a guitar. It was easily recognizable and soon accompanied all of their album covers.

The band I will talk about is the German metal band Rammstein. While still somewhat obscure here in the states, they draw massive crowds in Europe. Their first logo was simply their name in a block-style, industrial font (Fig 1). It was on the covers of their first two albums, as well as the singles from those albums. The marketing machine was in full swing as their logo was on numerous T-shirts and posters all over the world.
Between their second and third album, their popularity grew by leaps and bounds in the US. This was mostly in part to the music sharing program Napster, and the advent of Internet technologies that let fans across the globe communicate (web sites, forums, mailing lists, etc.). As fans talked about Rammstein via this new medium, a common abbreviation arose... "R+". This was taken from the plus sign used to represent the "t" in their name. In 2000 a contest for a new logo was issued, and it was no surprise that an adaptation of the R+ abbreviation won (Fig 2).

This new logo has been featured on all of their new albums, singles, and live DVDs. One resounding example of this branding is their official online store. Not only does nearly every item have this logo, sometimes it is the only one present. Even the store section labels rely heavily on the logo.

This use of a logo, close to the branding strategies of corporate America, certainly show how one picture, a logo, can communicate quite a bit to us. Although it uses one letter and a mathematical operator, Rammstein fans around the world identify with it and understand what it means.

Typography and IA

2007-01-31T18:12:00.000-05:00

How does typography, the style, arrangement or appearance of typeset matter, affect Information Architecture? Well from a purely IA perspective, it does not. Information Architects probably care very little what font their information will be presented in, let alone document design. Yet IA without the interaction of graphic designers, developers, content managers, or other disciplines is uncommon, if not pointless.

From a designer's perspective, typography can create page unity. This not only makes the document readable, but also gives it structure and aids in organizing thoughts. For instance, putting all document titles in a bold face makes them stand out more. This way a user can easily skim the document, looking for topics of interest. But does this aid someone with an interest in IA? No. However, the document designer should work closely with the IA to ensure the visual structure matches the intended structure of the information. A mistake with headings, sub-headings, and content on the designer’s part could lead to a difficult to interpret document. See what I mean in the example below:

The first list of headings has no changes in the text font face or size. Although the use of indentation and nested bulleted items helps the reader understand how the layout and structure should be, use of typography can further enhance it.

The second list of headings uses regular and “small capital” letters, larger font sizes, bold face, and italic text to help the reader distinguish the major headings and sub-headings. These changes in text help the reader follow the flow of information more easily, and help emphasize the groupings and structures an IA had in mind.

So as you can see... the proper use of font variations can certainly lend itself to the presentation and structure of information. It may be subtle at times, but sometimes the simple tricks work the best.

School versus the Internet

2007-01-29T23:08:00.000-05:00

What makes a traditional school different from the Internet? When it comes to audience-centered design, not that much. Teachers develop curriculum to aid students in their journey to knowledge. Web developers employ information architecture concepts to help users find the information they are looking for. The goal of both medium is to help the customer (or student) find what they are looking for.

My earlier school days seem very "Web 1.0" modeled. Although there was not a lot of inter-topic hyperlinking, there were definitive paths and topics I was given. The teacher was my tour guide on this journey, and showed me how to use tools along the way. As more collaborative methods of teaching emerge, it is not surprising to see "Web 2.0" be the dawn of complex communities and wikis. My first experience of any real team project was towards the very end of my senior year in college. Yet as I entered my masters program, I was thrust into it from the start. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the school, level of education, or the movement to Web 2.0 thinking; but it sure happened!

The Internet is designed to help people learn and communicate. The field of study I have most recently delved into is Information Architecture. An entire discipline of thought has been created to help make sense of the vast amounts of information available. Why? Because we want to learn and grow.

But for as cutting edge as the Internet is, or as tried & true as the school system is, they have lessons to learn from each other. For instance, a human teacher can adapt much more quickly to feedback given by a student. From the puzzled look on their faces, students let the teacher know they are not receiving the message. Web sites can only offer a few avenues to the knowledge their users seek, but if poor design, vague information, or even a power outage were to get in their way, users are left in the dark (pun intended).

School systems seem to move at a dinosaur's pace when compared to the evolution of the Internet. The latest tag line from Cisco shows their intended direction towards a "human network". We are communicating via blogs (hi there!), text messaging, E-mail, forums, voice over IP phones. We have local and city-wide Wi-Fi networks, cellular broadband networks, DSL, cable modems, and all sorts of roads to push information at the "speed of business". The flex and innovation of technology would lend itself well to the classroom. So perhaps the greatest lesson a school system can take from the Internet is faster adaptation to what people really want to do: learn and communicate.

Unfortunately the generation of teachers in the position to harness this technology were not raised with it as the current one has. We have adapted, they were born with it; and thus we cannot see that perspective as easily. But the generation gap discussion is for another day and another blog...

Corporate Blog Review

2007-01-21T19:02:00.001-05:00

One of the largest repositories of information on the Internet resides in the world of web logs... or blogs. The "blogosphere" is huge, yet extremely responsive to today's world events. Its quite amazing to see how quickly information disseminates via this mode of communication.

In this section I review three corporate blogs. My intent is to look a few common aspects of the information they present.

Site # 1: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Who is the intended audience? People that are interested in what Google is doing around the world; from the everyday user, to a web devloper.
What is the goal of this blog? Inform the public of Google's dealings around the world.
Does the site allow, encourage, receive comments? No, not from what I've seen... looks to be 1-way communication.
How long are average entries? 1-6 paragraphs; rarely over a page of print.
What visual design elements are utilized? Easily recognizable titles, timestamps to indicate sense of history, relevant images, and labels to help find other postings of the same topic.
What is the overall corporate image that is presented to me through this blog? Inform as well as promote Google's image... especially as a philanthropist.

Site # 2: http://blogs.zdnet.com/

Who is the intended audience? Various levels of technical backgrounds, or at least people who work in the IT field.
What is the goal of this blog? Report the latest news, and offer opinions on the latest happenings in the technical arena.
Does the site allow, encourage, receive comments? Yes, a moderated "Talkback" feature is available for each article.
How long are average entries? About 1-3 pages of print.
What visual design elements are utilized? Easily recognizable titles, article summaries, picture of the author(s), and links the full-size article and related articles.
What is the overall corporate image that is presented to me through this blog? It offers a clean and professional image that aims to deliver the latest news, and more importantly, opinionated columns that are not afraid to ruffle some feathers. Their moderated forum offers a place for differing opinions to "duke it out", as long as they keep things clean. It is very much a "just the facts" news source as it is a place to see different points of view.

Site # 3: http://www.w3.org/QA/

Who is the intended audience? Web Development professionals
What is the goal of this blog? Present and collection of articles for web development professionals
Does the site allow, encourage, receive comments? Yes
How long are average entries? 1-3 printed pages.
What visual design elements are utilized? Clearly delineated titles, easy to see links, and consistent color scheme & markups.
What is the overall corporate image that is presented to me through this blog? The W3 is an international group of professionals that help guide the coding standards and web technologies. The QA blog is a collection of articles and news releases that help web developers create quality, standards conscious, code.

My Vision

2007-01-21T18:01:00.000-05:00

In this blog I hope to explore design theory and how it relates to, and compliments information architecture (IA). IA is one of my latest learning endeavors, and I would like to test my talents by letting good design make the fruits of IA more usable & pleasurable to view.

-Stephen