Author Archives: Amanda Douville

The Official Debut Album of Robert Carl-Heinz Shell

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The first item I placed on my album cover was the album title “What Makes Your Extraordinary.” I decided to place this text box in the bottom right-hand corner since it is mostly filled with black space. I figured putting the album name here would be a good choice since it stands out against the stark, black background. I decided to make the letters a light shade of blue to correspond with the shading of the mountains in the distance.

For the artist name “Robert Carl-Heinz Shell” I decided to put most of the emphasis on this. I placed his name directly in the middle of the cover since that is the first place the eye tends to go. To add further emphasis on his name, I decided to add the same text image, only significantly less opaque, behind it multiple times. I faded his name into the center text box to further draw the viewer’s eye to the center of the screen. I feel that the faint letters also fill in the negative space instead of leaving it a big empty hole on the top. I also decided to make the letters a dark shade of teal blue to match the mountains in the background as well.

As far as font choice goes, I decided to use a sans serif font it is a lot easier for most people to read. Now a days, most people get their music and purchase cd’s online, which means they receive digital album covers that go directly to their computers, phones and mp3 players. I decided to use a sans serif font for that exact reason, well and because it honestly just looks cleaner. If Robert Car-Heinz Shelll was actually a musician and not a South African author and professor of African Studies, he might actually consider using this. Maybe.

The Gestalt Theory Around Port Jefferson Station

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While on this photo expedition, I didn’t realize just how popular and utilized the Gestalt theory was until I began to look. Just a quick drive down the street and I was able to easily identify the theory being used in advertisements and logos we see everyday. First, I was on my way to school when I noticed this Teachers Federal Credit Union sign that encompasses 3 principles of the Gestalt theory.

The first principle illustrated on the sign is closure. The “TFC” is cut at the top of the letters, however, the eye is used to seeing these letters and fills in what is missing. The second principle is figure/ground. The letters are shadowed and placed behind a graphic of Long Island creating a sense of positive and negative space. The letters are “put on stage” by the island graphic, which also emphasizes the fact that this bank is a Long Island special. Lastly, the third principle would be slight continuation since there is essentially a line that is cutting through the letters, which leads the eye across all four letters.

Turning into the parking lot to get some dinner, I noticed another common sign I see everywhere that also exhibits a principle of the Gestalt theory, Subway.

In this image, Subway decided to use the principle of continuation and leading lines. Instead of simply writing out the word subway with this font and color choice, they decided to cap the two end letters with arrows, a great tool when it comes to graphic design. By putting an arrow on the first and last letters of the word, the eye tends to follow the curves and easily glides across each letter. Since the arrows are pointing in opposite directions, it forces the eye to completely and slowly scan the word.

Finally, on my way home a Suffolk Transit mini bus pulled up right next to me. I looked over on to realize that the logo is also full of Gestalt theory principles.

The first principle this logo contains is closure. Just like the TFCU sign, the letters “ST” are broken by the lines passing through. The eye fills in the blank spaces to decipher the letters, even though the “S” is only made up of three slightly bent rectangles. The second and most prominent principle in this logo is continuation and leading lines as well. The three bold lines run across the entire sides of the bus. Towards the front, those lines lead right into the “ST” logo, which is exactly where the eyes go. The leading lines are also incorporated into the actual logo which makes the logo stand out even more than if it was just solid lettering.

What Makes a Good Website

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What Makes a Good Portfolio Site:

Since I am an aspiring photographer, I am constantly looking through the portfolios of many photographers from many backgrounds. One of my favorite magazines has always been National Geographic and staff photographer Pete McBride has showcased numerous memorable photo galleries and videos throughout the years. Below is a screen shot of McBride’s home screen.

My first reaction to his website is that it is very clean, organized and easy to use. The large image in the middle rotates about every 4 seconds to reveal another recently added image. Having a slideshow right on your homepage allows viewers to quickly get a sense of your best and most recent work.

When you click on the ‘portfolios’ tab, the center image changes to display the first link under the portfolio section, which in this case is his most profound work of the Colorado River. When you hover a mouse over the main image, faint arrows appear that then allow the viewer to quickly and easily scroll through the album. There is also an option to view the entire gallery when you click in the middle if the viewer is in a rush or needs to quickly navigate to a certain photo. Under there is a ‘video’ tab that display McBride’s three most profound video pieces.

Under the video link, there is a ‘published’ link. I particularly found this link useful and a good example of what makes a good portfolio. All journalists feature their published work on their personal websites. However, most of the time they will include only the text or only the photo individually and say where and when it was published. McBride has full-size images of his published work, just as it appeared in National Geographic magazine. Not only does this look cleaner and more professional, but the viewer is getting to see the story just as it was intended to view. An example below:

Another aspect of his site that I liked was his logo. Although all portfolios display the author’s name, only some chose to include a name logo. I think having a logo is an important aspect to a portfolio because not only does it make you look more professional, but it can also play into the scheme of the website, as McBride did. His logo includes his initials in the same colors as the website giving it a very composed, polished look.

The main reason I chose McBride’s portfolio, however, was because it was mobile friendly. I went through a long list of journalists before I chose McBride, all of which had great portfolio sites, but either didn’t adjust properly or didn’t appear at all when I opened it on my iPhone. McBride’s site, pictured below, displayed his menu under his name/logo and then went into full screen mode when you click on an image. Next to the full size image is a small navigation tool that brings the viewer back to the menu when clicked. I think it is very important to make your portfolio website mobile-friendly since a lot of the time viewers will be looking at it on a phone for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 What Makes a Good Project Site:

After spending a great deal of time looking for a good project website, I came across a News21 project put together by the 2011 “Powering a Nation” fellows at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The special report entitled, “Coal: A Love Story” took a deep look into what coal mining means for many Southerners.

The project site was arranged as an interactive film, something I have never really seen before. When you first arrive at the site, the first link to click is right below the title and says “start your experience.” When you click on this link, an introduction video appears opening up to the story. When the video is over, an arrow moves down the video pointing to the “next” button. The viewer keeps clicking the ‘next’ button after every video plays to navigate through each aspect of the video story. I thought this was an extremely interesting, engaging and easy way to lay out a video story.

Mixed in with the video story was additional links to useful and relevant information. For example, after a segment that provides the viewer with information on the rising price of coal mining, the segment that follows gives viewers a chance to calculate their coal use and to learn more about where it came from.

Each story that follows brings the viewer into a subsequent topic such as the story of a teen trying to speak out again pollution in Chicago. I feel that the way each story was placed played a role in telling the entire story. A lot of time must have went into placement of stories, graphics and interactives, and I think they did a great job since one leads to the other. The site is very easy to navigate and keeps the viewers involved and engaged, all of which are very important when putting together a project site.

Finally, I checked the website on my iPhone to see if the viewer would get the same experience from the interactive film while mobile. To my surprise the website appear exactly the same on my phone as it was on my computer screen. When the viewer clicks on the video it opens up directly on the page, then goes into video mode. When the video is over and the viewer clicks done, it brings the viewer right back to the video screen so they can click next to follow to the next segment. Essentially the site is equally as mobile-friendly and proves to be a great example of a project site.