Introduction: Ocular Overload

Note: This post has been slightly edited from the way it appeared on my original blog.

Today’s world is undeniably visual. From the constant barrage of television, to food packages, to the website you’re reading right now – all are designed to draw your attention. Our environment is saturated with imagery; there’s almost nowhere in the U.S. where one couldn’t find some sort of manmade imagery, and there are many places where that imagery is all that can be seen. 

With such ocular overload, we learn fairly early to filter on the fly; blocking out the uninteresting or unimportant in favor of the eye-catching or relevant. This is the rub: what is relevant to you or I might not make it past the visual spam-filter of the next person.

Think about it, if you’re extremely interested in the mating habits of the Greater Duckfooted Spindlefish, then you will likely stop and look over any information you encounter regarding that subject, regardless of how it’s presented. This is because there’s not a lot of information about this very specific subject, which makes each piece more relevant.

Politics, government, and the like, are not at all rare. They may be some of the most covered and discussed items on the Internet, or anywhere else.

Even if your site/brochure/tattoo is about a very philosophical outlook or human-rights issue, it is likely that there are opposing viewpoints in abundance online and elsewhere – and they all probably have more money than you.

Many times, having more money means more ability to hire talented and experienced designers to present their views in a compelling, trust-building way.

If a curious and undecided person is researching an issue online, they will be instantly assaulted by the vast amount of available data, and will likely be quick to scurry away from any site that looks like it was built in 1994… and right into the warm and slightly clammy arms of your adversaries; with their sleek JavaScript interfaces and customizable welcome pages.

You don’t have to be rich to be interesting, you don’t have to hire a designer to look trustworthy (though – shameless plug alert – it helps tremendously), you don’t even have to have shiny-pretty decorations. So, with that in mind…

Here are some ways you can stand out, for free:

1. Simplify.

“Keep it simple, stupid!”

This is perhaps the most overlooked and difficult aspect of design. It’s much easier to over-complicate and clutter something than it is to streamline and simplify it. There’s a reason Apple’s iPod is the best-selling MP3 player by leaps and bounds.

If you don’t have the budget, experience, nor inclination to add a bunch of seamlessly integrated bells-and-whistles, then just don’t. Keep the look of your design clean and efficient, and you’ll add a huge dose of professionalism.

2. Control Your Colors

This is related to #1 – choose two or three colors, and stick with them. Not sure what colors look good together? Here are some great sites for tips and experimentation:

• Kuler
• COLOURLovers
• Color Scheme Designer

This is really just the tip of the color iceberg. Colors have deep-seated psychological and social impact, meanings, and interpretations. Matching color to message could make at least an entire article of its own (stay tuned…).

3. Train Your Type

Fonts are perhaps the most subtle, and easily overlooked aspect of any design. Font choice and type treatment can make or break a design; yet is perhaps one of the hardest aspects of design to master. There are thousands upon thousands of fonts to choose from, ranging from the understated to the absurd – and each one is a microcosm of design in its own right.

Further complicating things, each of these fonts can be spaced, stretched, kerned, tracked, distorted, resized, transformed, and abused in almost limitless ways.

So, to avoid all of these potential pitfalls, it’s probably best to stick with two fonts – one for headlines and important items, and one for the rest.

Again, it ties back to Tip #1 – don’t go crazy with the decorative fonts; choose classic, easily-read fonts until you get really comfortable with things – and even then, use fonts where they look best in the overall design, not just because they might look cool on their own.

4. Stick with the System

Once you have your layout, your colors, and your type; stick with them. Don’t change it all up on each page of your site, or on each version of your logo, and so on. Keeping a consistent look is important to maintaining the message.

This isn’t to say that you can’t have a system of non-system-ness; but I would advise not trying this unless you can make it look very good, and very purposeful – not a nonsensical jumble.

5. White-Space is not Wasted-Space

Give your words and pictures room to breathe. So often, I see sites and layouts that look like walls of text, or have things running into each other all over the place. This creates a very daunting and confusing prospect for the viewer; their eye has no idea where to start, or where to end.

Put some space around the elements in your layout, and the eye will flow more easily to those great colors, type treatments, and content you spent so much time perfecting.

There’s a lot more to this whole design thing than can be laid out in 5 Tips, but I hope that this information will help create a motif that matches your message.