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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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.
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.
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.
10 of 365 - babyface bias by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
10 of 365 – babyface bias by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Baby face bias is a design principle in which designers use the generalized human interpretation of baby-faced features (such as large eyes, round head, small nose and mouth) to represent and codify naiveté, innocence and kindness. By emphasizing or exaggerating baby like features in faces, a design can evoke a feeling of protection, ownership, or forgiveness in a viewer. Alternatively. more angular features, less elongated heads, and other more adult features are less likely to be interpreted as innocent, kind, or naïve.
In the illustration I’ve made here, I took an average image of a female face and exaggerated the eyes, and diminished the nose and mouth to make a baby-faced bias in the viewer.
