Post #20 User-Centered Design

-http://infohost.nmt.edu/~mentor/Peer_Mentoring_Handbook.pdf

For the document that is user friendly I choose the NMT Peer Mentoring Program Handbook. The handbook is used for both mentors and mentees as a guideline. The handbook is very comprehensive with clear distinctions between the different sections in the book. The screenshot above is the table of content, which is also nicely labeled and indented to make the handbook easier to look through if there was a specific question that needed to be asked. The main colors, aside from the title page, are blue and black. All the main sections are in blue and boldfaced. If there is a lot of information about a specific topic all the relevant information is in bullet points which makes it easier to follow along then if there was just a wall of text. The handbook also uses different fonts consistently thought the document to highlight curtain points in the text. The use of different fonts is important in a user-friendly document because it allows people to follow along a lot easier. There are also no awkwardly placed spaces in the document unlike the government document previously discussed. All the text is neatly put together so the rhythm in the text is kept through the handbook. 

Post #19 Document Design

-http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201207_cfpb_Reports_Private-Student-Loans.pdf

I choose the Private Student Loan by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau government PDF as a document that has obscured information because of poor design. All of the documents text is placed awkwardly to the left while the right side has a lot of free space. This misuse of white space creates cramped text in the overall design. The top screenshot is from the PDF and it has a green and purple bar graph, which has a lot of problems from the design point of view. From the design point of view the color choice for the bar graph is just horrible. The dark green and purple blend in with each other and it is very hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. There is very little contrast between the two colors and therefore the graph is unable to show the separation between “school certified” and “direct to consumer” loans. Looking at the bar graph also hurts the eyes because of how the two colors effect each other and our perception of depth. The second screenshot has another infographic, but this one is a diagram with symbolic schools, that at first look like churches. The way that the designers did the percentages on the schools is very weird in that the 5% is barely visible. If they had simply added a little more to the whole and proportioned it through out the other symbols, it would look a lot better. 

Post #18 Color Theory

-http://tgcx555.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/burger-king-ribs/

A fast food restaurant that follows the color theory closely would have to be Burger King. The logo depicts a yellow burger with the red title in the middle of the burger and a blue circular background around the burger. The logo uses color and symbolism to attract attention to itself. The symbol can be considered iconic, indexical and symbolic at the same time. The logo represents a burger with the title “Burger King” being in the middle of the buns. The color theory plays a big part in the logo of Burger King since the three colors that the log uses are blue, red and yellow, which are the primary colors that all other colors come from. By using all the primary colors the logo achieves a curtain level of harmony in that the color contrast each other. By using all three primary colors there is a curtain level of urgency in the logo that come from the three primary colors. The sweeping blue line that runs around the logo creates motion in the logo that adds to the sense of urgency. The logo also uses white space throughout the logo to add to the depth and perspective of the logo. The billboards that have the Burger King logo are usually either white squares or the same shape as the logo. The white space used in the logo blends in with the sign and creates a uniform image. 

Post #17 Remediation

-http://uywvker.servebbs.com/amazon-kindle-fire-hd-scroll-right-scroll-left.html

A new media form that refreshes older media is the Kindle. The Kindle is an electronic device that allows us to reed hundreds of books from a single source. The Kindle tries to take the place of the book that everyone has grown so accustomed to. Instead of creating a device that has a wall of text going on forever like on a web page, the Kindle breaks it down into a book format. Ironically enough the Kindle is trying to replace the book by creating an interface much like reading a book. When using the Kindle, you move from page to page by making a sweeping motion much like turning the page in a book. You can also place bookmarks to which you can come back later if for example you really liked a quote or a line. Kindle also saves your spot much like in the book and it has page numbers like it would in an actual hard cover book. The Kindle also adds a few features that transcend the regular old book. Now you are connected to multimedia where you can share how far in the book you have already read and share quotes from the book with your friends. The introduction of multimedia into the realm of books is probably the biggest innovation that Kindle added in its remediation of books. 

Post #16 Website Ethos

-http://www.foxnews.com/

I choose Fox News website as the website whose credibility might be questioned because of poor design choice. Fox News can be considered at least somewhat credible (sometimes) so it naturally follows that their website would have to have good ethos to uphold their credibility. The two images are form Fox News homepage and at first glance seem normal. The very top picture has some problems that might just undermine Fox News credibility. They have the picture of the burned car and the story about Benghazi whistle-blowers being threatened by the White House. The issue is quite important and serious but right to the left of the picture is an advertisement for a new segment called Constitution USA. I believe that the website is undermined by such advertisement because they are suppose to be a nonbiased news organization and instead it appears that they believe that the government is corrupt and the constitution can save us. The picture right under undermines the website further because this is the quick link to the top stories. When you have heading like “Brosnan Relives Wife’s Death” right next to “Lack of Sleep May Harm Sperm” something is seriously wrong with the websites ethos. One has to wonder what would Brosnan say when he sees his story right next to “Oops! Teigen Has Dress Mess” or “Sheep That Glow in Dark.”

Post #15 Photographic Portrayals of Violence

-http://www.alexiafoundation.org/blog/2012/08/02/donna-ferrato-how-images-matter/

The image above does a good job in their ethical reserve of violence. Donna Ferrato took the image in 1988, in Minneapolis. Photograph portrays a black man being handcuffed by policeman with a child standing in front and pointing and yelling at the man. The child’s anger appears to be directed strait at the man being handcuffed and one of the policeman looks surprised at the child. There appears to be a black woman standing behind the policeman crying while the television is also playing right next to the man. They all seem to be standing in quite a poor house with books scattered next to the TV. The man being handcuffed pointedly doesn’t look at the camera or the child and is staring at the books on the ground. I think the photograph does a good job in its ethical reserve of violence. The story goes that the man was betting his wife and the child is yelling, “I hate you for hitting my mom, I hope you don’t come back to the house.” The photographer could have instead taken a picture of the woman and her injuries, but instead decided to take a picture of the man being arrested. In this picture the victim of violence is not clearly defined. The man could be considered to be one since he is the one being arrested and is the center of the photo. The photo also doesn’t appear to have been manipulated in any way.

Post #14 Your Favorite Animated TV Show

-http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/819130/Banksy-produces-seething-social-commentary-on-The-Simpsons

My favorite cartoon show of all time is The Simpsons. The Simpsons follow the life of an “average” American family through their daily lives with hilarious mishaps and events happening to them thought the episodes. The show has quite a bit of both social and political satire in it and isn’t afraid to pull any punches. The screenshot that I choose is part of one of the episodes intros. It depicts Chinese women who appear almost identical working on the drawing of The Simpsons cartoon. The screenshot symbolizes the injustice that are happening out there with companies using both cheap and forced labor to make their products. A lot of people know about this but no one has done anything so The Simpsons show their own cartoon being made, making the statement that unless something is done then this injustice will continue and maybe even evolve into other areas like cartoon making, although doubtful. The cartoon show has a very distinctive artistic style that is very unique. All the people are drawn very simply and the normal skin color for white people is yellow. Color plays a very distinct role since you can’t tell what nationality the cartoon is presenting to you unless they divert from the color yellow. The animation goes further into the social commentary as can be seen in the screenshot. All the workers are frowning and unhappy to show that this is not the work they want to be doing. Some of the workers also have injuries and one even has an eye patch. This could mean ether the conditions where they make The Simpsons is so bad or they are mistreated. 

Post #13 Informational Graphics

-http://www.vizworld.com/2009/07/health-care-reform-obfuscated-by-infographics/

A good example of an infographic that, in my opinion, obfuscates the information is the Health Care Reform bill graph. House Republican John Boehner released the graph on July 31, 2009. The graph could be one of the worst infographics out there because it doesn’t make the bill or the process any easier to understand. The infographic is flowchart with so many arrows leading in so many different directions that it is easy to simply get lost in the multitude of it all.  A flowchart usually has a clear starting point from which the viewer can then move to the next point and so forth and so forth. On this infographic there doesn’t appear to be any sort of starting point and if there is then it is so covered up by all the other stuff that it is easy to miss. The graph also uses a multitude of colors and usually that wouldn’t have been a bad idea. Colors help us distinct different elements in the same graph. In this graph there are so many different colors and they don’t appear to follow any set rules. Some boxes that are colored have the same colored arrows leading from them but then at the same time there are colored boxes that have totally different colors coming from them. Apparently in an effort to make the graph more understandably the makers also included some cultural symbols but there are only three of them and the symbolism doesn’t appear to follow any rules either since there are red and white lines that come from the symbols. 

Post #12 Film titles/credits

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJUJxKQegR8

I choose Austin Powers the Spy Who Shagged Me title sequence that best suits the film. In the screen shot we see Austin Powers looking directly at the camera butt naked with the title of the film covering his private area. There are women, on the stairwell staring at him as if he was completely insane, which he might be. Around the title there are different colored flowers that in the title sequence spin in place. The title sequence is such a great fit for this movie because it doesn’t take itself very seriously, just like the movie. From the very beginning Austin Powers is ridiculous and funny and does the most absurd things like walking through the hotel lobby naked and dancing. Through out the title sequence there are sexual innuendos that are reappearing throughout the film, but they never go too far. The different colored flowers also go well with the film since it is a throwback to the 60’s from which Austin Powers is from. The colors and the flowers remind me of the hippies and Austin Powers can be considered to be one. The colors and the font of the title also creates contrast to the Austin Powers and his dancing in the hotel lobby in that every time we are about to see something inappropriate the letters or the flowers cover it up. The title sequence is basically a situation comedy that is happening right inform of our eyes. The rhythm in the sequence is also very memorable since Austin Powers seem to be dancing to the same music that we are hearing and therefore the camera follows him in a very fluid motion. The title sequence plays on the viewer’s imagination by having very suggestive objects all around Austin as he is walking around.

Post #11 Typography

-http://www.luckymanpress.com/teach/pages/Links/Guide2Fonts.html

My favorite computer font that I use almost exclusively is Times New Roman. The modern Times New Roman is a typeface that has its roots in the old Latin lettering. The excepted font size for Times New Roman is 12 points because it is the easiest to read at this size. The reason why I like Times New Roman so much is because of the ease with which it is to read. The letters are all spaced out accordingly and there is enough of a curvature in every letter to distinct them from each other. The numbers also show up very well in Times New Roman. The curves are probably the most distinctive aspect of the font and it almost seams like somebody hand wrote the letters. With the letters put together there is a flow to the text that that not many other fonts can follow and that is without using the italic function on Word. Its easy to see why Times New Roman is used in books and newspapers, it has such a distinctive style that is very familiar to us all, even to those who have never seen it. I can almost relate my handwriting, if I was writing neatly of course, to the font of Times New Roman.