Should have done and posted
- master apprentice exercises
- mind maps
- initial sketches
- Research
————— Week 6 group critique and hand-in ——————–
It’s important to separate yourself from your final product to evaluate it – Is it functional? Does it answer the client brief?
The interface
- A minimal, consistent colour pallet can be quite successful.
- Show the design inside your selected device
- Try not to make it too typographically busy
- Create a brand for it also
- UI cards
— DO NOT use photoshop, stick to Figma and illustrator —
Why illustration in UI?
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Illustrations can clarify by giving examples. It is a great way to convey ideas.
It is an efficient way of providing info to the user quickly and to many.
Think of onboarding screen of McDonnalds – great example.
Tips for sketching interfaces
- Its not about being a good artists but a good thinker.
- Use a thicker pen – forces you to draw bigger and eliminates unnecessary details – Sharpies. It’s about getting the ideas down as quickly as possible at the beginning.
- Draw straight lines – it shows confidence. Practice by joining dots and making circles – eventually muscle memory will kick in.
- Be thoughtful about colour
- Make them comprehemsive
- use the right equipment – muji fine liners look up, dotted paper can be helpful.
- time yourself – try doing crazy 8th – fold a piece of paper into 8 and spend 1 minute create a quick scketh in each sections
Illustration should be
- Meaningful
- recognisable
- claryfiable
- attractive
- improving of the user experience and usability
- not overloading the page or screen
- Harmonic and corresponding with general stylistic concept
They can solve problems
- Mark Boulton ( typographic designer ) Understand the problem, thoughtfully considering the client, the business, the market, the goals, the audience
- Look at Apple website and how they narrate and use storytelling through visuals to sell their products
- Quentin Blake
Mascots and characters
- They can add a personality to any brand or product
- Meomi look up
- Can be iconic
- Can be diagrammatic
- data visualisation
- Hyper realistic
- Simple vectors
- hand drawn – can add a certain charm
Illustration for UI
- Onboarding – great way to introduce people to apps – eg tutorial pages
- They can be used as achievement badges
- Consider the audience and what approach would be appropriate
- They can be simple and gently – don’t overdo it with gradients – it can become overpowering
Research
- Focusing too much on one area can cause you to have a narrowed focus. Search different varied sources, this way you will develop a more diverse approach.
- google image
- Flickr
- Dribble
- StumbleUpon
- Blogs
- Brand guidelines
- Books
- Sketching – always start on pencil
Book recommendations
- Visual families
Tasks
- Netflix abstract tv show is a MUST watch. At least evaluate the Ian Spalter: Digital Product Design episode.
- Create icons
- Consider UI
- Create visual mock ups from your wire frames (Illustrator/Figma) minimum of 3