The general notion of balance in visual design is apparent, but what is lacking is a more precise specification of how that balance is defined in concrete terms and achieved with specific design techniques, the exact location of the tipping point, as it were, between effective and overused colors, forms, and imagery. This paper will report results from an empirical study of restaurant menu design, with findings that can be generalized to web page and help menus. Participants agreed that too much color and too many images overload the senses, making it almost impossible to glean any information about the food. Participants also agreed that colorless presentations felt bland and uninviting. Menus designs that achieved balance were found to deploy unified decorative effects and a limited number of indicative strategies, consistent with principles discussed by Manning (2006, 2008).
When it comes to environmental sustainability, opinions often run deep. In one extreme are people that believe humans have not, nor can they, do anything to the earth that will jeopardize its future. The other extreme blames humanity for all of earth's woes: global warming, melting ice caps, dying species, etc. In between these two extremes are a mass of people that are not sure what to believe. Environmental sites, therefore, want to encourage activism and promote their message in the most effective way possible.The purpose of this study will be to look at these environmental sites and determine• The intended message of the site • The intended design theme • If the intended message and design theme are well matched A well-designed site will have a design theme that matches the intended message of the prose. This alignment of design and information will create the best experience for the viewer, and would drive the environmental sites purposes further. This paper will use a model of visual form/visual purpose connections based on the semiotic of C.S. Peirce. This paper will take his approach and apply it to environmental web site design and report on the effectiveness of these site's overall design purposes.Index Terms -Peirce, website design, environmental sites, form and purpose.
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