In chapter two of the book Designing For Emotion, we studied how to design for the human eye. The author discussed many topics, but the most appealing to me was when it discussed contrast. According to webster-merriam contrast means to be different especially in a way that is very obvious and also to compare two people or things to show how they are different.

This concept of contrast I believe is probably the toughest when designing. The  author, Aaron Walter, explains that contrast influences our users’ activity in simple and profound ways. He uses Tumblr as a prime example. I think that Tumblr initially has a clean and simple look that is very different than others, but I don’t think that it is completely simple for users to use because of the design it has once users sign up. The contrast on the page is actually space rather than color or photos.  The user is drawn in to the small menu signup / login in page and the outer is just negative space. This type of contrast is visual rather than cognitive.

Something I disagree with in this section is the statement Donald Norman said in his book titled Emotional Design, “Attractive things make people feel good, which in turn makes them think more creatively. How does that make something easier to use? Simple, by making it easier for people to find solutions to the problems they encounter.” (Excerpt From: Aarron Walter. “Designing for Emotion.” iBooks.) I do think that when things look attractive it does make people feel more creative, but the second part of this statement doesn’t seem so true. Yes people can find the answer to problems they may encounter, but just because something has an attractive design it doesn’t mean that it will be easy to answer a problem you may have. I think having a good design makes users more apt to try your product, website, etc. but ultimately it’s all in what you are saying and ease of use.

-Tori

Originally posted at Tori Beechum - PR Pubs