Mockup

I seriously have so much to write about but I wanted to share this little bit. I got this lead on a company called balsalmiq from the site stackoverflow on a article dealing with peoples ideas on the best way to mockup and prototype design ideas for apps and web. The company proposed that their tools have a rough look to them.

a look no-one is afraid to criticize: wireframes created with Mockups are intentionally rough and low-fidelity, with sketchy UI elements and a hand-drawn font. The idea is to encourage as much feedback as possible…no-one will think you’ll be offended by their input, they’ll know immediately that you just ‘threw it together’ quickly.

I think this is something that can be quite valuable to understand and try to have a similar philosophy in protoyping.

Appliance

I have never thought of graphic design in terms of digital vs. print. The design principles are largely universal with only slight differences in the technical aspects of design. A print designer has to be trained in production and learn printing specs for paper, ink and printing methods. A web designer must be trained in proper semantic structuring, styling of web elements and accessibility standards for digital content.

On January 27th 2010 the Apple iPad was announced. I had already produced some web based graphic design but I can say, this day changed the trajectory of my education. In my opinion, the key difference between digital and print is potential. Clearly, there is a much greater opportunity to provide “rich” content using a digital medium. Before the iPad I don’t think digital devices were thought of by the general public as appliances. Refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves ovens and washing machines provide convenient access to a life where everyday tasks are easier to perform. I think the iPad is a symbol of an appliance that provides easy and enjoyable access to content creation and consumption. This is the future that I have spent great deal of effort trying to truly comprehend and embrace for my graphic design education and career.

Mind Map

roomination.v2

roomination.v1