Cedric Sagne wrote: > IMHO the catalog layout is really nice, I mean some things are a bit > "over exciting" - but the products fit with this use of rather violent > colours, although the overuse of lines indeed draws attention in a > possibly secondary area, which I also "felt" but could not "say". > > To some extent, yes you need to consider this is a catalog, and also the type of merchandise. I didn't criticize the various images because you have to consider nonverbal communication. There may well be someone leafing through the catalog, knowing what he's looking for, and his mental image is what the product looks like, not the name, not the catalog number. So these need to be prominent (note the white space around the images) and need to be in realistic colors to be most effective. > Greg I was wondering if you would be in a position to create an entry on > the wiki on the link between colours / shapes and unconscious brain > activity? I found the other day on the web a topic on colour association > and use of contrasts and use of colours to convey emotions, but your > point about lines is extremely sharp. > I think what I can do is put together some examples, much as Tufte's books do, of design that works vs. design that defeats itself in some way. There are good examples in the already existent Success Stories, which may only require showing why they're good, or that they were kept simple for a reason.
Tufte has what I would call almost a cult following (disciples, you might say) at least in this country. Where his ideas and recommendations work best is where you can see with your own eyes that what he is saying is indeed true. He has a particular pet peeve of many software GUIs, where you see bright primary colors splashed across the screen serving only to produce something that may look distinctive and attractive from across the room but up close interfere with using the software and produce eye and brain fatigue. Greg
