Design Terms (Random Assignment)
Say you were given 5 random design terms, and were told to define them as they stand alone*, but also in context of each other. What would you do?
Let’s see what I do (as I do it heh) :)
Terms:
- Figure-Ground Relationship
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio
- Symmetry
- Three-Dimensional Projection
- Top-Down Lighting Bias
Figure-Ground Relationship
This term is derived from Gestalt’s principles of perception, so that already gives you an idea of where this is going.
A figure is described as the object that is currently in focus, while the ground refers to objects that are lost in the background. A simple way to think of this is if you were standing on a pasture farm, and there were a single cow in front of you. This cow would be the figure. The grass, the clouds, and the hills (yes, we have hills cause our pasture is a pretty pasture), tend to get lost in the background, or end up being only visible through our periphery.
The cow has a distinct shape, it has color, it has meaning. You can almost imagine the cow in a different context, kind of like cutting the cow from where it currently is, and pasting it over a different background (mental photoshop, if you will).
The ground on the other hand, is rather replaceable. It adds to the experience, definitely, but you don’t notice the effects of it. The ground might be blurred and tends to be shapeless, almost like a natural bokeh you get when shooting your subject with a high aperture.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
This is a simple term, if first, Signal and Noise are defined.
Signal is what you want. It’s the good stuff.
Noise is what you don’t want, it’s the bad stuff.
When there’s too much noise and too little signal, your ratio drops, and you’re sad.
To have more signal, be clear (with your designs; with what you’re communicating), and reduce noise by getting rid of anything that takes away from the clarity (or doesn’t add value to the true purpose).
That’s how you get a high signal-to-noise ratio.
Symmetry
A wise man once sung:
Symmetry is intuitive to most of us, especially because most of nature’s designs exist symmetrical. If something has a line of reflection, a line of rotation, or a line of translation, it has a form of symmetry.
In other words, symmetry is visual equivalence.
Poetically, it’s the “you and me” :)
Three-Dimensional Projection
This refers to our inherent pattern-matching of what may not actually be in 3D to be perceived as 3D. You can imagine this as staring at a really good painting or drawing, and loses yourself in the belief that what you’re staring at is actually real, and is a 3D object, even when deep down you know it couldn’t possibly be one.
This can be brought on by a couple of factors (which I’ll list, but not go through).
Factors to fool someone into thinking your 2D thing is a 3D thing:
- Interposition — Overlapping gives a sense of depth
- Size — Smaller things tend to be perceived as further
- Elevation — Higher things tend to be perceived as further
- Linear Perspective — Two lines appear to converge to form depth
- Texture Gradient — More ‘mush’ = further
- Shading — Darker = further
- Atmospheric Perspective — When the world doesn’t have enough GPU power to process the objects in the distance? And things further away are blurred? Yeah, that.
Top-Down Lighting Bias
An interesting concept that we are so used to the sun and the way the sun lights our natural objects, that if one were to light objects from below, they seem unnatural and scary (imagine your friend using a flashlight from below their face while they tell a scary story to add to the mood).
This falls under the general perception of what is natural based on what we’re used to. We almost ignore shadows when objects are lit top-down, because they aren’t out of the ordinary.
Quick overview of the terms again for easier reference:
- Figure-Ground Relationship
- Signal-to-Noise Ratio
- Symmetry
- Three-Dimensional Projection
- Top-Down Lighting Bias
As one can easily make the connection between most of these terms, they seem to all revolve around the idea of what is natural, and how to emulate nature in design/art. Things that one might not always notice or focus on, tend to be the exact things that make or break good designs. Having an emphasis on empathy also definitely contributes to good design.
Beginning with what the problem is, that a design is aiming to solve, will produce the best designs, and incorporating some of the elements (where appropriate) will enhance them. An example could be to make sure your instruction manual has a high signal-to-noise ratio. Get rid of the gibberish; keep it succint.
What you want your user to focus on should be kept as the Figure, not in the ground, and to enable this, you might consider aspects of Three-Dimensional Projection to bring forward your Figure (in perceived-3D space). Consider the lighting of your object, and how it may seem more or less natural (designing as a friendly child’s toy, or as a horror prop?). Wrap it all up with the familiarity of symmetry so it is more accessible and inclusive, and doesn’t discriminate between left and right handed folks.
But at the same time, consider how these elements make a lot of assumptions of a user/viewer, and how if those assumptions are not true, your designs will still remain as useful/helpful, and therefore being more accessible/inclusive.
Using colors that don’t have a high contrast can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio, and what is important can get lost as the Ground, rather than standing out as the Figure. Someone with low eye-sight might not catch your representation of depth through just 3D Projection, and you may want to combine it with thoughtful lighting to bring out your design’s intent/purpose.
