For this week's reading response, we were assigned to read Chapter 3 of Artful Design, titled "Visual Design." This chapter covered different technologies such as the Ocarina, Sndpeek, Converge, etc... and outlined many artful design principles that applied to the visual design of these technologies. There are a couple of principles that I want to reflect on today for my reading response.
Simplicity, complexity, substance, and authenticity. These concepts are outlined in principles 3.4, 3.5, 3.7, and 3.12. I want to reflect on these concepts because they seem to be the hardest for me to implement when I am designing things. I notice that the most impactful visual designs that I have experienced encompass these four principles. The most prominent example that I can think of right now is a YouTube video uploaded by Ethan Uncurated titled "falling in love again, 6 years later." The video is a 27-minute short film dedicated to Ethan's partner, Evie. The film's composition is simple and simply edited: beautiful camera shots, background music, and short bits of narration here and there. These three elements fill up the 27-minute length of the video without feeling dragged-out or stale. The substance and authenticity of the video's message, paired with the storyline portrayed by the camera shots and narration, capture the attention of the audience. I personally rewatch this video every so often and it always mesmerizes me. Yet, the video only has 3435 views...
Views don't matter. What other people think of your design doesn't matter. For me, this is the foundation of my outlook on life. I'm satisfied if I'm satisfied, not if others are. When I put on an outfit, I just put on what I'm feeling at the moment. Whether it be simple or complex, dressed up or down, I try to embue the clothes I wear with my authentic feeling at the current moment. I add substance to these outfits with accessories such as necklaces, earrings, bags, etc... that all have some sort of special meaning to me. I pick and choose the pieces in my wardrobe to be able to adapt to the simplicities and complexities in my life while retaining an authentic substance.
But other creative endeavours aren't as easy to me as picking out an outfit. An outfit is straightforward: you generally have tops, bottoms, footwear, and accessories. You just have to pick the right pieces in your wardrobe to fulfill your vision. For creative endeavours like our first project, however, we have complete freedom to make an audio visualizer, and there isn't a general structure for how to go about it. How do I balance simplicity and complexity? How do I create something that isn't just technologically impressive? Is a simple design enough if it has substance and authenticity? These questions are on the top of my mind and I don't know where to start. I always fall short of achieving all of these four concepts in projects like these. I have a creative vision, but just not the time or technical expertise to execute it. My ideas are complex, and I feel that I should simplify them... How do I create something that I'm satisfied with?