Design Inspiration

Thursday 4/12 Recap

We all need to push our designs further. Check out current design trends. PUSH beyond where you are now.

Due Tuesday:

Next Tuesday: All 7 pages due for 1 point each (show in class as PDF for credit).

For Reference:

Here are some of the links referenced in class today:

http://www.getfinch.com/finch/entry/design-is-not-the-goal/

http://www.commarts.com/Webpicks

Smashing Magazine Navigation Trends

Reading Assignment for Thursday 2/17

Krug: Chapter 8
UX: Chapter 4
Saffer: Chapter 3

Beautiful Interfaces

As we work on designing our iPad apps, there are a lot of things to consider. A user interface is so much more than a book, or a brochure. It’s a tool. Remember that! But beyond all of the usability aspects we’ve covered, there’s also sheer aesthetics and style. To get inspired, I encourage you all to search for sites like this, that showcase different user interface designs.

40 Useful iPad Apps With Beautiful Interfaces

Mood Boards

Here’s the link I showed today in class with examples of mood boards:

http://weblog.404creative.com/2007/02/14/website-mood-boards-a-successful-precursor-to-visual-prototyping/

iPad PSD Template Download

A good set of tools to help you get started once we get into design.

http://www.teehanlax.com/blog/2010/02/01/ipad-gui-psd/

Thanks http://www.teehanlax.co!

Welcome

Starting on January 18, 2011, the Principles of Usability class at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota will be meeting every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Each student will be taking turns recapping our class on the blog. The class will meet almost 30 times, and the class is about 10 – 12 students. So we’ll hear from each student 2 or 3 times. These posts will be graded, and should contain the following:

• Title

• Introduction and overview paragraph (What did we do?): Topics covered, Class activities, etc.

• Visual examples of the topics covered in class discussion. Be creative! (5 minimum)

• Conclusion: What the author truly learned, or was inspired by during today’s class, and explain how this will apply to their work as a designer

Other Requirements (only follow if you want a good grade):

• Use of subheads and attention to “scan-ability”, i.e. Keeping paragraphs at a desirable length, using helpful subheads

• Blog length of at least 500 words, but not more than 1,500

• Crediting visual examples if taken from another source, and linking to them

• Use of Categories and Tags that pertain to the subject matter

• Correct spelling and grammar — this will affect your grade

• Reference Smashing Magazine’s blog posts, and other well-known blogs. We will discuss what makes a good blog post, and who’s assigned to what blog.