Many design blogs are full of helpful howto guides and tutorials on using Photoshop Illustrator, Flash, etc. This is great if you have a design in mind that you wish to accomplish. But how do you actually design something?

Design concepts explained

The design concepts explained series aims to explain various processes of design. If you’re itching to use those Photoshop tutorials but are stuck for inspiration, if you wish to find out what a ‘designer’ actually does, or if you are a seasoned pro who wants to refresh their memory, then read on!

Affordance

This week we focus on the concept of Affordance. Designers in many different specialties use it, but we mainly concentrate on its use in graphic design, user interface design and game design.

The term ‘Affordance’ has a strong basis in psychology. It describes the understanding of how we interact with an object. To see this process in action, imagine a two-year-old child with a pile of shapes and a hollow box with silhouettes of those shapes cut into it. To play the game, the child must fit the correct shapes through the correct holes. This seemingly fun game is actually a trick – it’s not there to entertain, but to educate. It’s teaching the child how objects interact with other objects, and helps build on their understanding of how the world works.

Affordance in game design

So how is this concept used in design? The game ‘Chronicles of Riddick’ manipulates our understanding of a real-world object to give us a clue of how to interact with the main menu.

Thanks to toy designers tricking us into learning during our childhood, we can understand that this cube has six sides and when an option is selected, it rotates to display different options. Our understanding of how this object works in the real world allows us to use this menu intuitively.

Affordance in iPhone apps

Let’s use a different example, this time from an iPhone application. In just a few seconds of seeing this interface, we intuitively know how to turn each setting on and off. This interface has been designed to afford pushing and afford switching to manipulate the controls, without any instruction to the user.

Affordance in web design

Affordance is used abundantly in web design. Perhaps it is used a little too much, especially when it comes to those 3D buttons! Below are a few examples used on well-known, popular websites.

Summary

Before seeking out the Photoshop tutorials on how to make buttons with bezels, tutorials on how to use gradients to give the appearance of 3D buttons, or guides on how to make those shiny reflective round buttons that look lickable, remember to ask yourself “why use affordance?”

The examples shown above help users understand how to interact with the interface. At the end of the day, design is all about the user and these concepts should be used for their advantage, and not clutter, complicate or hinder the interface.

Further reading

Book (link to Amazon UK): Interaction design beyond human-computer interaction
This book covers many aspects of interaction design, of which affordance is a small part. A recommended read for anyone involved in interaction design.

Video (link to iTunesU): RWTH Aachen University, Designing Interactive Systems
These videos give a strong introduction into interaction design and cover many concepts, of which affordance is one of them.

Macro photography allows photographers to get up close and personal with a subject, capturing detail and allowing the viewer to see the world from an unseen angle. This collection is themed on flowers and light and is a beautiful collection to both aspire and inspire, enjoy.

A former oil rig worker spent 15 years building an exact replica of a North Sea platform – out of more than four million matchsticks. David Reynolds, 51, spent up to 10 hours each day painstakingly crafting the half a ton model of the Brent Bravo rig in his living room. The full article and image gallery can be viewed here.

A picture paints a thousand words and here are 10 that do that with flair. I love the photo of the storm over the island, such a tremendous image. If you like them why not give it a “Thumbs Up!”

Storm over an island

Massive Butterfly

Penguin Army

Clever cement advertisement

Crazy Soil erosion

Traffic deadlock in downtown hell hole

BIG wave coming

Weird Lego

Summit view

Massive Coconut Crab

The concept-only Sand+Time Watch is a digital timekeeper with a little stone age twist. In ordinary mode, it works like a conventional watch displaying hours at the top and minutes on the bottom. But in screensaver mode, the watch turns into a sand clock and you can watch “sand” drop from the top screen to the bottom. The rate of fall is set at a default of one minute but can be changed by the user.

If only this was for sale!

Shoes, a womens indulgence! Typically they are left scattered around the house, on the stairs, under the sofa, they even fill up your side of the wardrobe. They are everywhere! Why you ask is it that we’re showcasing shoes below? Surely these will merely entice your other half to spend your beer money and go out and buy another ‘essential’ pair of over priced shoes. The reason is simple, these aren’t just shoes… they’re Marks and Spencer shoes… just kidding… these boys are ART! I am worried about the back lash I’ll get from this post but I simply don’t care. Bring it on ladies!

The Collection

Artist

Drew

Dillon

Actress

Andre, python

Ari

Andre

Avrey

Bailey

Betty

Brianna

Brianna

Cappy

Cappy

Cappy

Carol

Cecilia

Cole

Dafne

Danika

Darby

Ladies, it’s shopping time >>>

These abstract wallpapers have been specifically selected for there awesomeness from the Wallpaper Abyss. To download any of the following wallpapers simply click on the thumbnail of your choosing, then save the enlarged to either your desktop, to manually add it as a wallpaper, or right click and choose ‘Save as Background Image’ (or something similar). Enjoy.

Here is the first SprintCam v3 showreel, made for NAB 2009 exhibition. Mostly 1000FPS shots, made during a recent rugby competition in the Stade de France, Paris. Absolutely amazing imagery

I-Movix SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

…but red jelly is actually 2500fps!!

Some know this technique as a ‘Typographic Terrorists’ piece, but to those that don’t this is an expert example of a piece of art created merely out of typography. We saw this piece shooting around and wanted to showcase it as a piece of excellence, created by the very talented Dylan Roscover.

Typographic portrait of Steve Jobs

Click to enlarge

Throughout the month of March I challenged myself to commit a random act of kindness (RAKs) every day, and I thought I’d take this opportunity to share my experiences.

Good manners or an act of kindness?

When you do good, like make a colleague a cuppa, or do the washing up can you class it as an act of kindness or just you being courteous? My thoughts…

If you make a stranger a cuppa this could be seen as an act of kindness, though make a colleague three cuppas in a day and the act dilutes and is ignored. If you organise a surprise party for your wife this could be seen as an act of kindness, though buy her an anniversary present every year for 30 years and this is seen as an expected commitment. What I’m starting to realise is the first time you do something for someone they remember it and you both get the feel good factor. Now repeat the act time and time again and that act dilutes to nothing more than a passing gesture. Once this same act is repeated, the gratitude received back becomes less and less, though the act of kindness may still stay the same. Now good manners seem to come from years of repetitive acts, helping and giving to others time and time again. The more you give, the less you get back. You may not agree with this but it is in my experience how human nature rolls. If the receiver of an act of kindness gets too used to receiving without giving back then this exchange of good feelings can start to diminish. Once this relationship starts to break down it takes time and energy to rebuild it back up. Luckily all it could take is one memorable act of kindness and the world is at peace again. That’s why I took a whole month out to really focus on giving something back.

Everyday Acts of Kindness

These are the most important acts IMO and the ones that may dilute in impact overtime:

• Make someone a cuppa – This month I made over 150 brews, I stopped counting half way through the month.
• Cook – I have taken on the roll as head chef in the household. I get home earlier than my partner and try to create a tasty meal in time for her arrival home
• Empty the trash – Yup, I’m now the bin man. I used to pile it high until it emptied itself but now I empty it.
• Driving – I have to drive through stationery rush-hour traffic every morning. This month I made a real effort to let cars out at busy junctions, averaged about 4 a day for a month. I didn’t get much thanks back but knew it helped these travelers get to where they needed to be that little bit quicker.
• Smile – I’m busy and stressed like a lot people and it’s hard to break away from a task and smile at a potentially rude intruder. This though I did, and found it helped to build relationships. A welcoming smile is your greatest asset, you should use it more
• Listen – If you listen to people you learn a lot more than from just hearing your own voice. You make them feel more important and they feel better for it.

A one-off Act of Kindness

The really important, memorable and even life changing acts. This month I set up an act that reminded me of my childhood. When you grow up you tend to remember the small things than others would never notice but one that may have impacted you.

I remember being in a hardware shop with my father when I was about 10. It was one of those scenarios when my dad had the sudden urge to put some shelves up and took me down to the store to buy some plugs and screws. It was the summer holidays and I was bored daily, my friends were either out or on holiday on the Costa Del Sol and there was never anything to do. At the time I was into micromachines in a big way and I used to nag my parents for money all the time. Unfortunately we were never blessed financially, my friends used to get £5 a week pocket money but my parents couldn’t afford it. At best I had copper in my pocket but then I used to lose it while out playing football or something. Now back at the store, while my father was looking about, I wondered around. I pondered down an aisle, past two men and stopped to look at something. It was at that point that I saw, shining and glittering in the summers sun, a pound coin, just laying there. My eyes and mouth open in awe. I looked around and it seemed like a big black hole had opened up and swallowed up everyone in the shop, there was no one around. I took the opportunity to slide my foot over the coin to hide it and made my way down to “scratch my ankle”. I grabbed it! It was mine I thought! It made me soooo happy, yet a little guilty that someone dropped it.

That moment stayed with me, over all over memories. I made that pound last me an unfathomable amount of time. It gave me independence momentarily and gave me options at the pick and mix stand.

Now I wanted to setup a similar scenario, to do a secret act of kindness that would hopefully stay with someone as long as this stayed with me.

I went shopping as usual, got a trolley and put a pound in to release it. On the way back to load up the car I noticed a family nearby doing the same. The boy asked if he could take the trolley back and his mother said yes. I thought this is perfect. I’ll take my trolley back first and leave the pound in the slot for ’someone’ to find. I did this and retreated to the car, closing the door behind me. The boy moments later pushed the trolley back, with some difficulty, to the trolley park and maneuvered the trolley into place behind mine. It was at that point that he went to release his pound and noticed mine. I remember his expression clearly, it was exactly the same as mine, and he secured the pound as I did, sneakily putting it into his pocket. He went back to the car and the family drove away.

Now I don’t know what happened next, if he told his mum or if he kept it a secret but the expression on his face is memorable enough to stay with me, a clear repeat of a fond childhood memory of mine. You may say a pound is nothing today and that kids are spoilt, but sometimes it takes the smallest things to change us and to stay with us forever.

Final thoughts

Simple good manners or a memorable act of kindness? Who cares? Remember, never give to receive, don’t do something for someone because you expect the same back, you’ll be disappointed. Instead do it to make an impression, that way you gain what you set out to achieve, personal feel-good satisfaction. Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for reading, take care.