11.+Visuals

=V i s u a l s =

As a very visual person, I find this topic important. And I find the banner a bit annoying, but I did that on purpose. I wanted something to attract attention and to be overwhelming since it is the main heading. Everything else will be much more mellow - promise!

The top banner is such a strong visual because of the hues chosen. Both are bright, full, vibrant colors. The yellow jumps off of the blue because of the contrast. The only reason to set up something like this is to scream "look here!" I would only use this in very specific circumstances with students because I know that I would lose many of them. I might have moved on, but they would still be staring at the blue and yellow. I would use this as the only visual to be projected onto the screen. Something like this can only be used to convey a single idea; like "quiet" or "look here" or some similar few word simple command.

The sites that I went through presented the content that backs up what many visual people already know. We know what looks good, but we cannot explain //why// it looks good. In instructional design, just using your own aesthetics to determine what looks good is not enough. If your task is to create visuals for a client, then you need to be able to explain your design choices and be able to make subtle changes that can match what your client thinks "looks good" while still maintaining the standards of a good visual presentation.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was the concept of simplicity. If you are trying to show a concept, then that should be the "content" of the visual. Too often, pictures are used that include extra information that distract the learner from the true focus.

Take these two images of electric motors that I found on Flickr (accessed 11/04):



 

 Obviously the drawn image is simpler than the real image. The drawback with the drawing is that it is not real and therefore means less to most students. The idea here would be to use the drawn image to show the parts and then use a real image juxtaposed with the drawn image so students can see what the parts would look like in a real motor while still having the safety net of the simple drawing.

The other concept that stood out to me was the text information. The information from the [|Web Style Guide regarding tables]  (http://www.webstyleguide.com/page/tables.html ) regarding the number of words per line was very interesting. In this section, the authors talk about how the portion of our eye that is used for reading, the macula, is fairly small. The result of this is that we have to move our eyes to read long lines of text. As we move our eyes, they become tired and retention of information falls. According to Lynch and Horton (2002), the ideal number of words per line is twelve. This was interesting because most of their text had far more than twelve words per line and did require eye movement to read the entire line (much like this work). However, the font and the spaces between lines that they used made it far easier to read. This is another area that I know I always try to consider. There is not much I can do about the line spacing in this wiki, but I do always try to use a simple and soft font (Comic Sans) because it feels easier to read. Additionally, I increase the standard font size to twelve point, again, to make it easier to read.

The final thought that strikes me is the color choice (blues and greens) that I use in this wiki. It was the option that appealed most to me because it is a "cooler" color scheme. This work is not designed to be "exciting" or "inflammatory," it is meant to inform. As such, the color scheme should not draw attention away from the focus, which is the information.