Category: design principles

These are posts that emphasize John LeMasney’s understanding and appreciation of the tenets and principles of design.

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18 of 365: Common fate #design principle

18 of 365 - Common fate design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
18 of 365 - Common fate design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
18 of 365 - Common fate design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
18 of 365 – Common fate design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Common fate is another of the gestalt principles, and states that objects that are closer to each other or grouped in some way comparative to the overall set seem to be together, on a common path, or associated more closely than other design elements.

In this illustration, I started with a line of identical circles, evenly spaced. As the story progresses, the line of circles breaks into two even lines, creating two distinct groups. In the third part of the story, some of the circles go off on their own, and some of the circle pairs start to travel together, but none are a part of the original lines anymore.

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brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights portfolio professional activities research interests teaching experience

17 of 365: Color #design principle

17 of 365 - Color design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
17 of 365 – Color design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Color is an incredibly rich and deep topic for design, but color theory has been established to make working with color as a designer easier. One misconception about color is that color is equated with emotion, e.g. blue=trust or yellow = fear. Blue used in context can evoke trust, but in and of itself, it does not have emotional predetermination. However, rules exist for easy use of color, such as 5 colors or less in a design, matching colors with their compliment (the color across from it on a color wheel) or adjacent color (the color next to it on the color wheel). Also, tints, opacity, and intensity can all affect the look and feel of a design. Darker tints, for example, can evoke solemnity and seriousness.

In this illustration, I wanted to introduce the idea of complimentary color and the effect of tinting and darkening colors for effect.

 

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brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights portfolio professional experience research interests teaching experience

16 of 365: Cognitive Dissonance #design principle

16 of 365 - Cognitive dissonance design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
16 of 365 - Cognitive dissonance design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
16 of 365 - Cognitive dissonance design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
16 of 365 – Cognitive dissonance design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Cognitive Dissonance occurs when a statement or idea causes conflict or discomfort because there is a motivating part and a demotivating part of the idea. For instance, cognitive dissonance occurs when you want to leave or stop using a service because of the cost, but you will have to do a lot of work or lose features when you leave. If you’ve ever tried to leave your cable company, for instance, they may have tried to cause cognitive dissonance by offering free services if you stay.

In this illustration, I repeat a statement that has caused plenty of cognitive dissonance, if you love me, you’ll do something that I’d like you to do that you’d rather not do. If the emotional connection with this person is strong, you are more likely to act to show that.

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brand consulting curriculum vitae design principles Illustration insights portfolio research interests teaching experience

15 of 365: Closure #design #principle

15 of 365 - Closure design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
15 of 365 - Closure design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
15 of 365 - Closure design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
15 of 365 – Closure design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Closure is part of a set of design principles called the Gestalt principles of perception. Closure says that when we see a set of individual elements, we tend to put them together as a set in our mind. Humans fill in missing information to try to solve each shape as part of a set with collective meaning.

In this illustration, I took the image of a rabbit, and broke it down into a series of lines. By using the viewer’s innate ability to resolve missing parts, it makes the image of the rabbit simpler, design wise, and more interesting aesthetically.

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14 of 365: Classical conditioning #design #principle

14 of 365 - Classic conditioning design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
14 of 365 - Classic conditioning design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
14 of 365 - Classic conditioning design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
14 of 365 – Classic conditioning design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Classical conditioning is a method by which a subject, object, idea or action is associated with an emotional or bodily response in the mind of an observer. The most famous example of classical conditioning is Pavlov’s dogs that began to salivate when their trainers arrived, even when food was not present, because the dogs associated their presence with being fed. Designers can do the same thing over time with associations in their designs, such as a beautiful girl and a soda, or negatively influence observers with skulls and crossbones on cigarette boxes. Classical conditioning can influence the behavior of observers who believe an action or image that works to associate an idea with an emotional response.

In this illustration, I have personified the idea of software, and asked observers to believe that one classification of software, open source, treats you well, and another classification of software, proprietary, does not.  This is a true story.

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13 of 365: Chunking #design #principle

13 of 365 - Chunking design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
13 of 365 - Chunking design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
13 of 365 - Chunking design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
13 of 365 – Chunking design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com

Chunking is a method by which you take ideas that need to be taught or remembered, and break them down into memorable, consumable chunks. Studies show that we have more difficulty remembering a list of ten words than two lists of five words each. The most effective chunking consists of four items, give or take one. It can be used to help remember numbers, ideas, and lots of other chunks.

In this illustration, I decided to show that trying to convey a birthday, social security number, and phone number is more difficult as a single string, less difficult with chunk based formatting, and easier still with one idea per line.

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