Month: November 2024

Let’s rewind

In order to understand how neurodesign can enrich creative work, it is important to build a foundation of understanding. It should be mentioned here again that such a young discipline is constantly evolving and that any knowledge can constantly expand.

Our minds seem limitless; to this day they remain a mystery of research. The way people think involves a variety of closely linked processes, including attention, memory and emotions. This chapter introduces a number of heuristics that, when used deliberately, improve the usability of products, convey emotions such as pleasure and inspire action. Based on the groundwork of pioneers such as Jacon Neilsen, Ben Shneiderman, Alex F. Osborn. Like many designers, my go-to heuristic evaluation approach is Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design, first published in 1994 and updated in 2020. The essence is basically that design should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a reasonable amount of time. Their work can be summarized in the following guidelines for neurodesigners:

• Users should not be forced to memorize information
• Users should be given shortcuts
• The interface used for communication should be clearly understandable
• It should be possible for users to undo decisions
• There should be consistency in the use of systems on which the interface is used
• Simplicity
• Assistance should be offered and focus on solving users’ problems efficiently
• It should always be written for the user, not the system or the individual
• Visual design should enhance, not obfuscate
• The context of the user should always be considered
• User unpredictability must be taken into account

Neurodesign Heuristics

Essentially, six neurodesign heuristics can be derived that promote creative work. Contrary to the conventional scientific approach, there is no consistent answer in creativity research as to how these heuristics should be applied due to the need for flexibility and openness when it comes to designing and creative work in general. Understanding one’s own user goes beyond generalized design rules. The limited capacity of the human brain to process information requires designers to avoid interfaces that require users to memorize information. Designs should be tailored to the user in order to have a positive user experience. Using these heuristics, designers can test, optimize and observe within the design process. The application is dynamic and can therefore only serve as a catalog of questions and answers for the designer.

Whitespace

Only necessary information that is relevant to the user should be presented. The guiding principle “Design is art with meaning” is one of the guiding principles in the creativity industry:

“Design is art in the second power. You have to multiply aesthetics with fulfillment of purpose. This removes it from the dimension of art. Art pursues aesthetics for the sake of aesthetics. It is one-dimensional.”

Otl Aicher, from “Die Welt als Entwurf”, Ernst & Sohn, 1991

The limbic system (emotional brain) should therefore be relieved of the decision as far as possible. As already mentioned, humans are exposed to a constant flood of stimuli. This limits perception due to our limbic system. Designers could therefore ask themselves the following questions:

Are there competing colors, luminosity, textures?
Is good readability and harmony of typography guaranteed?
Can the text be shortened to improve the reading flow?
Is there a clear visual hierarchy?
Is the formal language supportive and clear?
Should elements be separated by color?
Would a repetitive layout support or hinder perception?

Faces

Images are the main content of human thoughts. Images are processed when we read. Words are broken down into letters and letters into patterns and shapes. Methods that are taught in every first semester of a competent design school. These shapes are processed in the brain, then transformed into the meaning of the words and finally the words are transformed into images. Basic knowledge that can be of great importance when using visual materials in the design process. Neurodesigners can direct human attention with images of human faces and evoke the desired emotions.

• Are images of people used?
• Do the emotions of the people match the customer and the concept?
• Where does it direct the user’s gaze?
• Is the focus on call-to-actions (CTA) or important information?

One way to check these questions is to overlay designs with heatmaps during the design process. Heatmaps are used to graphically represent complex data for visualization with the help of colors. Typically, heat maps are used to analyze user behavior after it has already taken place – a website heat map can provide information about which area is clicked on most often, where users stop scrolling, how users behave when visiting a website, where they look and how they navigate.

One of the earliest heat maps was used to depict the population of Parisian districts, as you can see here. Heatmaps originated in the 19th century when they were drawn manually in a grid system in grayscale.

Heatmaps use a colour spectrum from red to blue to visualize data points. The warmer tones indicate higher data values and the cooler tones represent lower data values.By analyzing with the help of a heat map, designers can understand which elements get the most attention and which are overlooked. What do users look at most often? But the confusion of elements should also be examined. Multiple designs and layouts should be tested to create a smoother experience. Design changes should then be applied that are supported by the data collected.

Colors

The moment the eye perceives color, it connects to the brain, which sends signals to the endocrine system and releases hormones responsible for mood and emotion. The correctly selected colors help to put recipients in a mood that compels them to act. Research by Colorcom has shown that it only takes 90 seconds for people to make a subconscious judgment about a product, and that between 62% and 90% of this judgment is based on color alone.

Basic knowledge of color psychology can therefore be useful for designers on the road to improved conversion. Each person’s visual perception is very individual. Designers should bear in mind that the effect of color can vary due to factors such as age, culture and gender, e.g. children like the color yellow very much. Adults, on the other hand, usually find it less attractive. Faber Birren explains this in his work Color Psychology and Color Therapy: “With increasing maturity, the preference for hues with shorter wavelengths (blue, green, violet) increases compared to hues with longer wavelengths (red, orange and yellow). Another difference between the perception of children and adults is that children can change their favorite colors quickly, while the color preferences of adults are usually not changeable. However, color psychology can become an effective tool in the hands of designers to help them understand users and their needs. Within the design process, designers could ask themselves the following questions:

• Are the colors appropriate and thoughtfully chosen for the target audience?
• Are colors consistent with the cultural environment?
• Are there competing bright elements?
• Do the colors convey the right message and mood?
• Are there color preferences and meanings? L
• Should different colors be tested with target group representatives if they are undecided?
• How can color combinations best ensure user perception?
• Are CTAs brighter than other elements in the design?

Gestalt

The brain uses Gestalt principles, psychological patterns, to group and recognize visual stimuli. These principles include. They are the framework for how our brain perceives and organizes visual information. Complex images and content are organized into concrete, meaningful patterns. In the early 1920s, the German psychologist May Wertheimer and two other colleagues founded this theory. The application of these principles is an essential tool that designers can use to emphasize and communicate visual contexts if the recipient’s interpretation is understood.

Emergence: The entire form of the object is understood before its individual parts.
Reification: The eye tends to fill in gaps and create shapes even without explicit details. Negative space, for example, is about creating shapes from gaps, like the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo.
Invariance: People recognize similar shapes even if they vary in color, size, orientation or weight.
Multistable perception: If there is more than one possible interpretation of an ambiguous shape, the eye will perceive each interpretation simultaneously. Thus, the eye always tries to resolve unstable shapes, and in the case where there are multiple options for stability, the eye will jump back and forth between multiple interpretations. This often occurs with optical illusions such as Rubin’s vase. Basic figure perception: The eye organizes shapes in three-dimensional space and separates elements into background and foreground. This also applies if the foreground element is completely flat: the eye sees everything surrounding the motif as background.
Past experience: Subjective or cultural experiences influence how a form is interpreted.

In conjunction with empirical values, this principle can be used effectively with the simplest methods. Through the tendency of the mind to perceive a complete form, even if only a few overlapping coils are visible, as in the example of uncoil.io, the missing connections are supplemented by the closedness.Although designers are taught the basic psychological insights in their training, they usually lack a deeper understanding of how the viewer’s perception can be consciously guided instead of relying on gut feelings, as mentioned at the beginning of this work. The Gestalt principles presented describe the psychology and application methods of how visual information is interpreted. Applying these principles can enable designers to produce targeted content without leaving questions unanswered. Questions that could be asked during the application would be:

• Are related content and functions grouped together in clusters?
• Is a consistent tone of voice used?
• Is there a clear foreground and background?
• Are related design objects visually and uniformly connected?
• Can the logo be broken down?
• Can an invisible grid/lines be recognized?
• Can associations or experiences be translated into the design language?
• Are common areas used to summarize information?
• Can content be simplified?
• Is symmetry used to unify elements?
• Is dissymmetry used to create emphasis?
• Can a strong hierarchy be perceived by the eye?
• Can color groupings be used?

Movement

The human mind and eye perceive movement first. (QUELE). This fundamental insight can be used as an advantage by designers in particular. Especially in UX design, movements can be used to bring content to the forefront of the eye. Excessive use should be avoided as it can dampen the effect. As already stated, the human mind is in a constant state of sensory overload and should therefore also be taken into account:

• Does the design have a few minimal micro-interactions to attract attention?
• Can content be emphasized by slight movements?
• Do the microinteractions compete with each other or with the design?
• Do the microinteractions convey feedback or the intention of a function?

Feedback
Users should be motivated because the human mind loves “rewards” far more than solving problems. Therefore, users should receive positive, incremental and timely feedback to motivate their perseverance:

• Is validation provided in real time?
• Is the feedback helpful?
• Is the feedback negative or concise?
• Should improvements be made to the feedback?
• Is there a need for feedback on unknown interfaces?
• How easy is it for users to complete basic tasks when they first see the design?
• How quickly can users complete tasks once they have learned the design?
• How many errors do users make, how serious are these errors, and how easily can they fix the errors?
• If users return to the design after a period of non-use, how easily can they recover their knowledge?

Based on findings from psychology, color theory and biology, designers can use these neurodesign heuristics to check their work with well-founded methods and apply them using the previous list of questions. Both the creative industry and research are mainly concerned with creative intuition, which has undoubtedly led to a large proportion of successful innovations, but can also distort designs. As has been established, one’s own perception is subjective and therefore not always the most reliable guide. With the heuristics presented, the design process can be tailored much more closely to the target group.

Resources:

• Greene, Bell, and Boyer’s (1983) Greene, Bell, and Boyer’s (1983). Coloring the environment: Hue, arousal, and boredom. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 21 (4), 253-‐‑254.  
• Birren, 2013 – https://www.morawa.at/detail/ISBN-9781639231331/Faber-Birren/Color-Psychology-And-Color-Therapy?CSPCHD=026000000000IRAss3Gnfodt$q9nVhOMJLK$nZKQP0O98_2fiQ
• https://www.helpscout.com/blog/psychology-of-color/
• Baddeley, A. Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nat Rev Neurosci 4, 829–839 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1201
• Baddeley, A., Eysenck, M. W., & Anderson, M. C. (2009). Memory. Psychology Press. 
  
  

Illustrations are much more than simple drawings – they have become into an important design element that supports brands in countless ways. Wheater on packaging, in advertising, in web design or as part of a logo: Illustrations offer a wide range of creative possibilities They can be used either as stand-alone logos, as part of logos or as creative design elements such as symbols, pictograms or scenes. The key is to align the aesthetic and style with the brand to emphasise its idendtity. With illustrations, creativity knows no bounds.

Benefits of Illustrations as Brand Ambassadors:

Creating  attention:

Illustrations are visually appealing und more appealing than plain text, which is often perceived as intimidating. Infographics or other design elements can make complex content more accessible and quicker to communicate. At a time when attention spans are decreasing,it is crucial to use clear shaps and coulors that can be immediatly associated with a brand.

Evoking emotions:

Illustrations can be used to create strong emotions through targeted couloring and stylistic orientation. They are creativ, personal and can convey moods and feelings in an impressive way. Whether the aim is to bring characters to life or to create a certain atmosphere – illustrations connect on an emotional level that words alone often can´t achieve.

Conveying information:

Illustrationen sind hervorragend geeignet, komplexe Prozesse oder abstrakte Inhalte einfach darzustellen. Im Gegensatz zu Fotos, die in manchen Kontexten begrenzt sind, können Illustrationen Sachverhalte visuell auf den Punkt bringen. Besonders bei technischen oder abstrakten Themen helfen sie, Inhalte zugänglicher zu machen, Geschichten zu erzählen und Fantasie zu wecken. Zudem überbrücken sie kulturelle und sprachliche Barrieren, da sie universell verständlich sind.

Illustrations are ideal for representing complex processes or abstract content in a simple way. Unlike photos, which can be limiting in some contexts, illustrations can clarify facts visually. Particulary with technical or abstract topics, they help to make content more accessible, tell stories or awaken the imagination. Besides that they bridge cultre and linguistic barriers as they are universally understandable.

Individuality:

Custom-created for a brand, illustrations reflect its values and character. They can be easily adjusted to diffrent target groups or purposes and therefore are offer a high level of flexibility. In contrast to photos, which are often considered interchangeable, illustrations are standing out thorgh their idividuality. With the so-called “modular illustration system” (“Illustrations-Baukastensystem“), design elements can be easily customised and expanded. For example parts such as heads, hair, cloths or scenery objects are created, which can then be individually assembled.

Building recognition:

A consistent illustration style strengthens brand identity and makes it possible to recognize a brand by its visual elements alone. The use of brand-specific colours and design elements creates an individual recognition value that makes illustrations clearly superior to photos.

Application on different channels:

Illustrations can be flexibly adapted to different formats and media – whether online or offline. They can be customised for different channels and are therefore a multifunctional tool for strengthening brand visibility.

Resources

www.concrete-designs.de – Illustrationen-im-Markendesign

www.factor.partners.de – Visuelle-Markenkraft;  S.Stroth

www.wirdesign.de – Mit Illustrationen die Marke prägen; S.Conzatti; 2021

www.designstripe.com – How to use Illustrations for your-Brand; J.Pereira

Pictures

Products design illustration – www.concrete-designs.de

Informations graphic – www.designstripe.com

abstract illustration for technical brand – www.factor.partners.de

Designers must navigate cultural differences, as color associations vary widely across regions. For instance, while white symbolizes purity in Western cultures, it is associated with mourning in many Asian countries. Color has also played a defining role in reinforcing gender norms in design. From the stereotypical “pink for girls” and “blue for boys” dichotomy to the subtle color cues used in advertising and branding, color theory has often been a tool for segmenting audiences along gender lines. However, as more and more people become aware of the fluidity of gender, we are beginning to challenge these conventions, seeking to create visuals that exploit these traditional norms and promote inclusivity.

The Origins of Gendered Color Associations

Let’s take a look at where the association with color and gender originates from, as it is more of a social construct rather than an inherent association. In the early 20th century, retailers and manufacturers began using color to market baby clothes and toys, with the pink/blue binary gaining prominence only in the mid-20th century. These marketing strategies reinforced cultural norms, embedding these associations into societal consciousness. But is blue really for boys and pink for girls?

A study published in 2018 in Frontiers in Psychology examined global color preferences and found that while certain trends exist, individual preferences are shaped more by cultural and personal experiences than by gender. To add to that, blue is both men and women preferred primary color, as it’s associated with clean water, the sky, etc. This goes for a few different colors such as red and green. This challenges that specific colors are inherently masculine or feminine.

Shades or tints?

But it is also nut just the color itself, more than the tint or the shade: a study found, that women heavily prefer soft tints of colors (such as pink) whereas men prefer bright shades (such as ruby red). So although red is shown as a favorite color for both men and women, the subsets of reds they like are very different.

The genetics also play a role in this: women can see more colors than men, as the color vision depends on color cones in our eyes, which are carried on the X-chromosome. Men only inherit one X-chromosome instead of two. These cones tell our brains what color we are experiencing by interpreting wavelengths of light. Because men don’t inherit the same combinations of cones women do, men’s brains often require slightly longer wavelengths of light to experience the same colors. This may be the reason why men prefer colors with short wavelengths, like darker shades of blue and green, or they prefer shades without any wavelengths at all, like white, black, and gray.

The Solution: Gender-Inclusive Color Palettes

Many brands have moved away from rigid gendered color schemes in favor of more inclusive approaches. By doing so, they create a sense of openness and inclusivity that appeals to a broad audience. Gender-neutral color palettes in branding prioritize inclusivity and focus on balanced, universal tones such as greens, yellows, greys, or earth tones.By choosing colors that transcend traditional gender associations, brands can create more inclusive and appealing designs for diverse audiences, fostering a broader sense of belonging and engagement. This approach not only differentiates the brand but also conveys a sense of creativity and adaptability.

To implement gender-neutral color palettes, brands can focus on processes that prioritize diversity and inclusivity, like testing color combinations with diverse user groups to ensure they evoke a universal appeal. Neutral tones could be paired with complementary shades to maintain visual interest while avoiding stereotypical gender cues. But its important to also emphasize the cross-cultural and contextual meanings of colors to avoid reinforcing localized gender norms, thus creating designs that resonate globally.

Additional Sources:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41262-020-00216-4

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ejm-11-2014-0723/full/html

https://www.designerinaction.de/design-wissen/genderneutrale-farben

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/236071469.pdf

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/color-psychology/202410/beyond-pink-and-blue-how-gender-shapes-color-preferences

https://www.colormatters.com/color-symbolism/gender-differences

Male Vs Female Color Perceptions And Preferences

Sustainable graphic design is guided by several foundational principles that inform eco-friendly practices:

1. Resource Efficiency
   Prioritize using materials that are renewable, recycled, or responsibly sourced to minimize environmental degradation.
2. Energy Consciousness
   Consider the energy demands of both print and digital production. For example, optimizing file sizes for websites reduces server load, which translates to lower energy consumption.
3. Durability and Longevity
   Create designs that stand the test of time, reducing the need for frequent updates or reprints.
4. Minimalism
   Adopting simplicity in design not only aligns with aesthetic trends but also minimizes resource usage and reduces waste.

Practical Applications

• Choosing eco-friendly printing methods, such as waterless printing or using soy-based inks, to reduce harmful emissions.
• Designing for digital sustainability by optimizing websites and digital assets for lower energy usage.
• Incorporating recycled materials in packaging or printed media to reduce reliance on virgin resources.

A Designer’s Responsibility Designers hold the responsibility to create with intention and foresight, ensuring their work contributes to a healthier planet. By embracing these principles, the design industry can lead the way toward a more sustainable future.

The Lifecycle Approach

One distinguishing feature of sustainable graphic design is its focus on the lifecycle of a project. This involves asking key questions:

• What are the environmental impacts of the materials being used?
• Can the project be executed with fewer resources or in a more energy-efficient way?
• What happens to the product after it has served its purpose? Is it recyclable, reusable, or biodegradable?

Why It Matters

The urgency of climate change and resource depletion has placed significant pressure on industries to adopt sustainable practices. Graphic design, with its influence on consumer behavior and product development, holds a unique position in driving this change. By adopting sustainable methods, designers can create meaningful work that supports both environmental and social well-being.