Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers ...acdowd-designs.com/NBgig_present_acdowd.pdf · Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers, Instructors, and Presenters

Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers, Instructors, and Presenters • © 2012 Angela C. Dowd

© 2012 Angela C. Dowd

Visual Design Strategies for Instructional DesignersInstructors, and Presenters

www.acdowd-designs.com • [email protected]

http://www.acdowd-designs.com

mailto:acdowd%40acdowd-designs.com?subject=Visual%20Design%20Strategies

Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers, Instructors, and Presenters • © 2012 Angela C.


You don’t have to be an artist...

Acrylic on wood (4’ x 4.5’) Angela Dowd



We all have potential for creativity

What types of visual design decisions do you make at work?

In your personal life?



Visual Cues Make a Difference

According to dual encoding, adding a

relevant visual to text improves learning by

providing two memory traces. The words

offer one view of the content and the visual

offers asecond complimentary view. (Clark, 2008)

“

”Clark, Ruth Colvin, 2008. Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement. Pfeiffer (imprint of Wiley)

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Expertise-Cognitive-Performance-Improvement/dp/0787988448

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Expertise-Cognitive-Performance-Improvement/dp/0787988448



Consider the word...

Innovation

Now look at it...


Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers, Instructors, and Presenters • © 2012 Angela C. DowdParticipant Guide cover designed for Alamo Learning Systems



Here’s another example

Profits Gap Social Values


Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers, Instructors, and Presenters • © 2012 Angela C. DowdPresentation slide designed for Profits and Social Values: Closing the Gap, Darwin Gillett

http://www.noblebusinesssolutions.com/blog/



Presentation plan...

Introduce a few basic design principles

Show examples of how they work

Discuss how they relate to learning theories

Share a hands-on activity at the end



There are many design principles

ContrastSymmetryRepetitionFlowFocal PointMovementProportionRhythmUnity

AccessibilityAlignmentForgivenessHierarchyPragnanzLegibilityRedundancyVisibility80/20 rule

Mental ModelShapingSimilarityAffordanceClosureFigure/groundProximityConsistencyWayfinding...



This presentation focuses on three...

Figure/ground

Proximity

Consistency



Design Principles are often related to Learning Theories

Gestalt Learning Theory encompasses several design principles, including Figure/ground and Proximity.

Cognitive Consistency Theory and Cognitive Dissonance Theory support the principle of Consistency.



Gestalt Learning Theory

From 1910 —1914 Max Wertheimer worked with Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka developing the fundamental concepts of Gestalt theory.

The word gestalt means shape in the German language. There are numerous Principles that emerged from Gestalt Learning Theory.

http://psy.ed.asu.edu/~classics/Wertheimer/Forms/forms.htm

http://psy.ed.asu.edu/~classics/Wertheimer/Forms/forms.htm



Gestalt: Figure/ground Principle

Figure ground suggests that the eye tends to

see the objects rather than the spaces or holes

between them.



Gestalt: Figure/ground Principle

Reversible Stable Ambiguous



Art piece by MC Escher

Reversible Figure/ground



Ambiguous Figure/ground

Photo by Angela Dowd, graphic from Creative Commons www.creativecommons.org

http://www.creativecommons.org



Stable Figure/ground

Photo by Angela Dowd, graphic from Creative Commons www.creativecommons.org




Choose a Stable Figure/ground

You can increase the probability of recall

by making the important learning items

“figures” in the composition.



Gestalt: Proximity Principle

The principle of Proximity suggests that when assorted elements are grouped closely together, they are perceived as wholes.




Are you the concept person at work? Do you like to look at the big picture? Is it part of your job to oversee the visual design production process? Are you fascinated by details? Have you been online trying to find clip art that is a good fit? Do you spend hours looking through stock photo websites to find the right image? Are you a photographer? Do you create your own images? Do you love working with color? If you visit Veer at http://www.veer.com/products/images/, you will find wonderful photos and also fonts. At www.Vectorious.net you will find a large library of incredibly creative vector illustrations and even several free vectors that are quite lovely. If color is your passion you can design your own template themes using an interactive Adobe tool named kuler, which can be found at https://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/rating?time=30.

Are you...• the concept person at work? • someone who likes to look at the big picture?• fascinated by details?• a photographer?• an artist/designer creating your own visuals?

Do you...• oversee the visual design production process?• search online for clip art that is a good fit?• spend hours looking through stock photo websites?• feel passionate about color?

Here are some resources for you!Color: https://kuler.adobe.com/Vectors: www.Vectorious.netPhotos: www.veer.com

No Proximity Proximity applied




Ensure labels supporting information are near the elements they describe.

Locate unrelated elements far from one another.

Emphasize differences between groups while minimizing differences between items in a group.

Group by position to show the order of tasks and subtasks and how the eye scans the screen.

Cooper; Reimann; Cronin, 2007. About Face 3: the Essentials of Interaction Design. Wiley Publishing, Inc.

http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Essentials-Interaction-Design/dp/0470084111



Proximity and Spatial Contiguity

Students generated a median of over 50%

more creative solutions to transfer problems

when verbal and visual explanations were

integrated than when they were separated.

(Mayer, 1997)

A Learner-Centered Approach to Multimedia Explanations: Deriving Instructional Design Principles from Cognitive Theory (Moreno, Mayer, 2000)

“”

http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2000/2/05/printver.asp

http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2000/2/05/printver.asp



Proximity would help here...

Slides for talk on “Enthusiastic Amateurs and Overcoming Institutional Inertia” given by Brian Kelly, UKOLN at the Mashed Libraries 2009 (‘Mash Oop North’) event.

www.creativecommons.org




Proximity makes things clearer

www.creativecommons.orgExpanding to Russia With Loveby faberNovel on Apr 12, 2012




Consistency

According to the principle of consistency,

systems are more usable and learnable when

similar parts are expressed in similar ways.

(Lidwell, Holden, Butler, 2003)

Lidwell, William; Holden, Kritina; Butler, Jill. 2003. Universal Principles of Design. Rockport Publishers.

“”

http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879



Consistency

Not consistent Grid used for consistency



Consistency — No unifying pattern

A presentation on using Creative Commons in the classroom, delivered to the Centro de Formacion de la Cooperacion Espanola in Guatemala in October 2008. This slideshow draws on the excellent “Creative Commons in our Schools” presenta-tion by Mark Woolley: http://www.slideshare.net/markwoolley/creative-commons-in-our-schools/ www.creativecommons




Consistency — A unifying pattern exists

www.creativecommons.orgExpanding to Russia With Loveby faberNovel on Apr 12, 2012




Know the rules so you can break them if you need to...

Will the user’s current knowledge help them

understand how to use what I’m designing?“ ”

User Interface Engineering Consistency in Design is the Wrong Approach by Jared Spool

Sometimes consistency is not the answer. The quote above is from a blog post by Jared Spool, author, researcher and user interface educator. The title is Consistency in Design is the Wrong Approach.

http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2005/09/15/consistency-in-design-is-the-wrong-approach/





Summary: Gestalt Figure/ground Principle

Reversible Stable Ambiguous



Summary: Gestalt Proximity Principle

Are you the concept person at work? Do you like to look at the big picture? Is it part of your job to oversee the visual design production process? Are you fascinated by details? Have you been online trying to find clip art that is a good fit? Do you spend hours looking through stock photo websites to find the right image? Are you a photographer? Do you create your own images? Do you love working with color? If you visit Veer at http://www.veer.com/products/images/, you will find wonderful photos and also fonts. At www.Vectorious.net you will find a large library of incredibly creative vector illustrations and even several free vectors that are quite lovely. If color is your passion you can design your own template themes using an interactive Adobe tool named kuler, which can be found at https://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/rating?time=30.

Are you...• the concept person at work? • someone who likes to look at the big picture?• fascinated by details?• a photographer?• an artist/designer creating your own visuals?

Do you...• oversee the visual design production process?• search online for clip art that is a good fit?• spend hours looking through stock photo websites?• feel passionate about color?

Here are some resources for you!Color: https://kuler.adobe.com/Vectors: www.Vectorious.netPhotos: www.veer.com

No Proximity Proximity applied



Summary: Consistency

Not consistent Grid used for consistency



Think on paper...

Thumbnail sketches are a good way to start practicing these principles. We will do some in the activity.



Thank you!Angela C. [email protected]

mailto:acdowd%40acdowd-designs.com?subject=Visual%20Design%20Strategies

http://www.acdowd-designs.com

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Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers ...acdowd-designs.com/NBgig_present_acdowd.pdf · Visual Design Strategies for Instructional Designers, Instructors, and Presenters