John Lemza's Clio II Blog

Written In Stone

As I read Jean Baptist Piggin’s style guide on Macro-Typography my mind hyper-linked to mental images of the cave paintings in Lascaux, France. Those familiar Paleolithic pictures of animals, humans, and designs which were painted and etched over 16,000 years ago offer an early view into communicating through symbols. Just as macro-typography concerns itself with the “role of presentation” with focus on “patterns: distributing blank space, choosing colours [sic] and conveying meaning by proper arrangement” I saw similarity in the Lascaux drawings; bison arranged in herds, hunters moving in groups, all carefully placed and colored to tell a tale. Archaeologists have applied an ‘iconographic method’ in their analysis of the images spending time studying aspects such as placement of objects and relative sizes and have come to understand the inherent deliberateness of the artists. This seems very similar in its application to the deliberate placement and manipulation of type which as Erin Kissane notes in Typography Matters, “is all about providing as many helpful cues for the reader’s eye as possible.” The Paleolithic pictographs effectively communicated their message just as with a skillful eye and an understanding of best practices we as designers can create a suitable environment on the web tablet that not only communicates information but does it in a manner that is easy to interpret and digest. Effective use of type is one vehicle to accomplish this.

 

Nested in an understanding of typography is that of text-sizing and creating footnotes. As a novitiate I took for granted the power of the browser to make all the necessary adjustments for text-sizing and have since discovered my mistake. New management rules in my toolkit should now remedy that. The challenge for me will be in the proper application. Theory always seems easy, it’s the mechanics that make things run which are more difficult. Similarly the debate on footnotes appears to have generated several solutions to their emplacement on digital pages. The solutions neatly outlined in Professor Petrik’s essay on managing footnotes seem to hold the key for doing this properly though implementation is still the greatest challenge. As with text-size I can understand that managing the typography of the page to provide the greatest advantage to the user and reader will allow them to make better sense out of those grazing herds of footnotes and endnotes. But while there are many techniques we can employ I am coming to realize no specific one is written in stone.

Preparing the Pallet

I found that Donald Norman’s comments in his piece, “Attractive Things Work Better,” ran parallel to my own experiences in academia. As a teacher I discovered that one of the most important tasks in preparing for learning was to ‘prepare the pallet.’ In other words I understood early on that creating a proper environment would prepare my students for the lesson and materials I was going to present. As Norman commented, “The emotional system changes how the cognitive system operates.” As my students gathered I generally had smooth jazz music playing on the computer to relax away tensions and set an open mood. As the class progressed I used a variety of tools to engage their minds and tap into their cognitive abilities. It was not uncommon for me to employ videos and YouTube clips during my instruction. These were devices that not only captured their attention but were also things to which their generation could relate. Was I pandering to them too much? Perhaps, opinions vary, but my students were always more interested in learning history than traveling down the hall to learn calculus in a naked, sterile environment. As Norman went on to note, design of a machine, website, or an environment is important because the relaxed mind “is more creative.”

 

Wroblewski and Fogg were not far behind Norman. Wroblewski noted that “The right personality makes a connection with your audience,” and Fogg added that “visual design may be the first test of a site’s credibility.” That impression is important to setting the pallet for communication and reception. I would even suggest that proportionally the design and presentation of a web site is twice as important as the content. This is not to say that content is not important to researchers and historians who live on mining facts. Rather the implication is that sites with valuable content may be by-passed altogether if they don’t hook the historian whose initial visit to a site can be measured in nano-seconds.

 

In his blog Alan Brody suggests that “good design is only the gatekeeper” and that “usability is really the key.” I find that a difficult point to argue, because once past the ‘gate’ the site must be easily navigated and its function credible. I agree also that a good user experience is important. Yet I recommend caution accepting any argument that too readily emphasizes the claim “function should trump form.” If design in this argument cannot trump function in importance it must at least be considered an equal partner. But then again I’ve always be attracted by the “sizzle.”

Helpful Information

Last Wednesday evening I was struggling through the web page set-up instructions posted on the GMU IT on-line site. I was stuck several times, because of my own inexperience, and though the IT representative was very helpful on the phone he recommended that I stop their office for more assistance. I made the trip on Thursday morning from home (2 hours), waited patiently for my turn to be noticed at the the counter and was politely, but promptly, informed that I was in the wrong place. I was sent over to the "Star Center"Johnson Center. It wasn't hard to locate; there's a big sign with a star on it hanging over the door. After signing in and announcing my needs I was quickly ushered over to a student who listened to my case. The Star Center is set up to assist individuals working through the spectrum of digital difficulties. It was very assuring to have this student tutor walk me through the steps, discuss writing code with me, and patiently answering my multitude of novice questions. If you find that you are stuck and have questions I recommend trying the Star Center. I arrived there at noon and there was no line. Hope this helps! Good luck!

John

on the second floor of the

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Welcome to my blog! "By Endurance We Conquer." Not an original motto, I borrowed it from Ernest Shackelton, one of my heroes, but it certainly represents what I think is admirable and a trait I endeavor to emulate. Please feel free to comment on this site, suggest ways to make it better, or just leave comments to my posts.