In todays class we looked at Imaging and Photography, and how we can use it in design. Photography and imaging is used in design to show a product, service, emotion or idea in detail. There are some rules that make photography and imaging more effective, for example the golden ratio, rule of thirds etc. These act behind the image to make them more appealing, without even being noticed by the user most of the time.
Golden ratio
Rule of thirds
Photography plays a huge role in the design for a brand. Users often look at images first when they are on social media, websites, apps, so it is important for the photography and imaging to be done correctly to grab the users attention and attract them to the product. Photography in design gives the users the chance to see exactly what the product looks like, without seeing it in person. Some companies abuse this though, and promote their products using imaging, but the actual product looks nowhere near as good as what it looks like. The fast food industry is known for this. Photography and imaging is also used by brands to share information with their customers. An example of this would be Apple showing what their new iPhone using photographs, so that customers can look at it and decide whether they like the design of it, and and perhaps whether they want to buy it. Here are a few of these examples below:
Decorative images are images used simply for decorative purposes, such as making the interface look more full, and they serve no emotional purpose for the user. When used properly, they can be effective, but only when they are used sparingly and to support the brands message. When decorative imagery is used too much, it can take away from the user experience, making the interface too clustered. When using decorative images, they must be high quality, as if they are blurry or stretched they will immediately take away the quality and professionalism from it. They must also fit the context of the interface, and not just be random as this will make the user confused.
Information carrying images serve the purpose of being functional, and providing the user with important information about the product, information that can only be displayed by a high quality image. This is super beneficial as people love looking at images, and if they have enough detail users can stare at images for a long time looking at all the different details. This is commonly done by football teams and sports broadcasters, as people love to look at their favourite players, what facial expression they have, and how they are interacting with each other from the photo. These type of images are made to engage the user, and bring about an emotional connection from the brand to the user.
Creative Commons is a non-profit organisation that offer a set of tools that are used to help people get their work copyright permitted, and this means that their work is protected from people stealing it and using it for their own benefit. There are different licenses for different types of users, such as individuals to large corporate companies. Creative Commons enable designers to grow, as their work has their name credited. Their vision is to create a more ethical, inclusive, fair and purposeful environment around the internet. They are most recognisable by their brand logo: “CC”, which stands for Creative Commons, and is often seen beside brand word marks and logo marks. Their main focus is to provide licenses for creative and academic individuals and companies to make sharing their work safer.
Todays class was really useful for me as I previously had no knowledge of photography and imaging, so learning about what makes photography and imaging effective in design, and what needs to be considered when using it. I really learnt a lot especially from finding out the difference from decorative and information based images and how these principles can be used in UI and UX. I will definitely carry some of the things that I learned from todays class in my task for making my music app.