Why Luminance Is The Key Component Of Color

In his book Interaction of Color, Joseph Albers tells us that color is almost never seen exactly as it physically is. All color judgements are relative. How a color appears is affected by the colors of the objects around it.

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Visual Perception — Series Wrap Up And Key Ideas

For a couple of months now I’ve been running a series on visual perception and some of the design principles that arise from it. The series completed last week, but I wanted to offer something of a summary today to highlight what I think are the key points from the entire series.

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Use The Efficient Power Of Emotional Design To Connect With Your Audience

Why do some designs evoke an emotional response where others don’t? Why is it that some designs make a connection with us and deliver meaning on a more personal level? Why do some sites wow us and quickly grab our attention and hold our interest? And perhaps most important, how do they do it?

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How To Make Visually Complex Information Easy To Understand

Our world is complex and it shouldn’t be a surprise that visually depicting a world of complex objects, systems, and processes leads to some rather complex graphics. Simplifying should be a first step, but sometimes all that complex information needs to remain. How can we help people understand our message despite its complexity?

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Using Graphics to Make Abstract Concepts Concrete

Visual information contributes greatly to thinking and cognition. Some concepts are difficult to communicate with words alone and so human beings sketch and draw. We create graphs, charts, diagrams, maps, and timelines to help communicate complex ideas and make them more concrete.

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