Artist, graphic designer, & tech consultant in Nelson County, VA
Category:Illustration
These are posts featuring illustrations designed by John LeMasney. In general, unless otherwise noted, they are licensed CC-Attribution, cc-by lemasney, and should contain a citation and linkback.
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.
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.
Related articles
Andy Rutledge – Gestalt Principles of Perception – 1: Figure Ground Relationships
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.
12 of 365 - Cathedral effect design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
12 of 365 – Cathedral effect design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
There is research that suggests that people complete tasks differently in environments where there are notably high or notably low ceilings. In environments where the ceiling is not noticeably high or low, it did not have an effect. High ceilings tend to have a cognitive effect of opening up creative and big-picture thinking, whereas lower ceilings have the effect of more detail oriented thinking.
In this illustration, I’m demonstrating the idea of people in both high- and low-ceiling environments.
11 of 365 - Biophilia effect design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
11 of 365 – Biophilia effect design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
The biophilia effect is the idea that when we are placed in environments that contain or seem to contain nature, we are more likely to be able to heal physically and emotionally, think more creatively, and generally function better. In environments where these outcomes are intended, it is preferable to create a natural environment or one where nature appears by posters, installations, or other means.
In this illustration, I show two large plate window environments, one where there is a brick walled view, and one in which there is a bamboo grove. The bamboo grove view, fairly immersive, would theoretically create a more creative, healing environment, regardless of if they were actually there or simply appeared to be there.
8 of 365 - Area alignment design principle by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Area alignment design principle cc-by lemasney.com
The design principle of area alignment says that when you have a series of objects to be aligned that do not have regular shapes, that it is more aesthetically pleasing to centrally align them according to their area and weight than by central alignment of the bounding boxes.
In the illustration I’ve made here, the birds to the left are centrally aligned according to the centers of the bounding boxes, and the birds to the right are centrally aligned according to their area, form, and weight. The area aligned images are more pleasing as a series of aligned objects. These are two different ways of thinking about layout of related objects in a design plane.
“Alignment based on the area of elements versus the edges of elements. With the advent of professional design and engineering software, elements in a design can be aligned with exacting precision. However, the alignment supported by software is based on the edges of elements — including center alignment, which calculates a center based on the edges. This method works well when elements are relatively uniform and symmetrical, but less well when the elements are nonuniform and asymmetrical. In these latter cases, it is preferable to align based on the visual weight or area of the elements, a technique that must be performed using the designer’s eye and judgment. Using edge alignment when area alignment is called for is one of the …” found in Area Alignment – Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design [Book] at https://goo.gl/exykFB
