martes, 23 de marzo de 2010

The Lost Principles of Design by Fuel Your Creativity

The Lost Principles of Design

The Lost Principles of Design
In the instant age that design has evolved into recently many of us often stray away from the basics. If you had a professor in college who taught you the fundamentals of design these may be engrained into your head. For the self-taught, you may have a book on your desk with these very principles. However, the more and more people that flood the internet for design content need to learn the basics before trying to make a stellar gradient in Photoshop. While this is cool and amazing right now, there will come a point where this style is strayed away from and a new style is made. In history, this lesson has repeated itself with movements like the Bauhaus and Swiss Modernism and will soon come label our current trends as part of history. The fundamentals of design will however, never change. They are the glue that holds the industry together and we need to learn & take them to heart.
Balance
Arranging parts to achieve a state of equilibrium between forces of influences.
Examples: Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, Radial
Contrast
Interaction of contradictory elements. Expresses the duality seen in opposites.
Examples: Large & Small, rough & smooth, thick & thin, light & dark, organic & geometric
Emphasis & Subordination
Establishing centers of interest which focus the viewer’s attention. If all the elements are given relatively equal weight, there will be no emphasis.
Directional Forces
Both implied and actual, they help guide the eye and mind movement of the viewer. They can also bind the work into a single entity.
Proportion
The size relationship of parts to the entire work, and each to the other. Very often associated with figural art.
Scale
The real apparent size of an object seen in relation to other objects, people, its environment, or the proportions of the picture plane.
Repetition & Rhythm
The recurrence of a design element coupled with a certain order to the repetition. Provides continuity, flow, direction forces etc.
Unity within Variety
The force operating within a work of art which can give it the appearance of oneness or resolution. The consistency of the concept.
When a a variety of these are combined a design becomes very successful and hard to ignore. It is something that commands attention, guides your eye through and keeps you visually entertained. Combining these together is referred to as Gestalt – a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole.

In the instant design age many of us often stray away from the basics in design. If you had a professor in college who taught you the fundamentals of design these may be engrained into your skull. For the self-taught, you may have a book on your desk with these very principles that you refer to on a daily basis. However, the more and more people that flood the internet for design content need to learn the basics before trying to make a stellar gradient in Photoshop. While this is cool and amazing right now, there will come a point where this style is left behind and a new style is made. In history, this lesson has repeated itself with movements like the Bauhaus and Swiss Modernism and will soon label our current trends as part of history.

The fundamentals of design will however, never change. They are the glue that holds the industry together and we need to learn & take them to heart.

Balance

Arranging parts to achieve a state of equilibrium between forces of influences.

Examples: Symmetrical, Asymmetrical, Radial

Principles-01

Principles-02

Contrast

Interaction of contradictory elements. Expresses the duality seen in opposites.

Examples: Large & Small, rough & smooth, thick & thin, light & dark, organic & geometric

Principles-03

Principles-04

Emphasis & Subordination

Establishing centers of interest which focus the viewer’s attention. If all the elements are given relatively equal weight, there will be no emphasis.

Principles-05

Directional Forces

Both implied and actual, they help guide the eye and mind movement of the viewer. They can also bind the work into a single entity.

Principles-06

Proportion

The size relationship of parts to the entire work, and each to the other. Very often associated with figural art. (the image shows the Golden Ratio)

Principles-07

Scale

The real, apparent size of an object seen in relation to other objects, people, its environment, or the proportions of the picture plane.

Principles-08

Repetition & Rhythm

The recurrence of a design element coupled with a certain order to the repetition. Provides continuity, flow, direction forces etc.

Principles-09

Unity within Variety

The force operating within a work of art which can give it the appearance of oneness or resolution. The consistency of the concept.

Principles-10

When a a variety of these are combined a design becomes very successful and hard to ignore. It is something that commands attention, guides your eye through and keeps you visually entertained. Combining these together is referred to as Gestalt – a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole.

Posted via web from Album de recortes

miércoles, 3 de marzo de 2010

Web analytics KPI: Ejemplo de metricas por tipo de objetivo

  1. Si nuestro site es de tipo comercial, está claro que nuestro objetivo es vender, vender y vender, gastando lo mínimo posible, por lo que tenemos que tener en cuenta:
    • Tasa de Conversión (conversiones/visitas) – ¿Vendemos? ¿Persuadimos?
    • Average Order Amount ( importe/conversiones) – ¿Cuánto es de media la venta?
    • Visit Value (importe/visitas) – ¿El tráfico es de calidad?
    • Customer Loyalty (visitantes que repiten/nuevos) – ¿Son fieles? ¿Futuros clientes?
    • Stickiness (>2 páginas/visitantes) – ¿Les gustamos? ¿Les retenemos?
    • Search Engine Referrals (visitas buscadores/visitas) – ¿Y el SEO como va? ¿Y el SEM?
  2. Si nuestro site es de soporte o de servicios, el objetivo será dar respuesta inmediata a los clientes, evitando la saturación de otros canales, como el telefónico, por ejemplo. Así que unas métricas interesantes pueden ser:
    • Tasa de Conversión (conversiones/visitas) – ¿Encuentran lo que buscan?
    • Tasa de Rebote (visitas <30 seg/visitas) – ¿Es esto lo que se esperan?
    • Length of Visit (contenidos vistos/visita) – ¿Se queda demasiado tiempo?
    • Top Internal Search Phrases - ¿Qué buscan exactamente?
  3. Si nuestro site es de contenidos, como un blog, el objetivo será incrementar la fidelidad del lector, o llevar adeptos a cualquiera de los canales offline:
    • Tasa de Conversión (conversiones/visitas) – ¿Se suscriben o registran?
    • Depth of Visit (páginas vistas/visita) – ¿Les generamos interés?
    • Content Depth (páginas vistas content/visitas contenido) – ¿Qué contenido interesa más?
    • New Visitor Percentage (nuevos visitantes/visitantes únicos) – ¿Atraemos nuevos visitantes?
    • Committed visitor share (visitas de más de 19 min/visitas) – ¿Tenemos muchos fieles?
  4. Si el site es para conseguir contactos (lead generation), nuestro objetivo será incrementar nuestra red de contactos, obviamente :)
    • Tasa de Conversión (leads/visitantes) – ¿Cuántos leads conseguimos?
    • Cost per Lead (leads/inversión en marketing) – ¿Cuánto nos cuesta cada lead?
    • New visitor Percentage (nuevos visitantes/visitantes únicos) – ¿Cuántos son potenciales?
    • Single Access ratio (single access pages/total entry pages) – ¿Cuántos se van sin ir más allá?
  5. Para una campaña: nuestro objetivo será estudiar lo que se genera previamente al click y después lo que pasa en el site:
    • Tasa de Conversión (conversiones/visitas) – ¿Cuántas ventas conseguimos?
    • Clickthrough/Impresiones: (cuantas veces se interesan por nuestro anuncio/cuantas veces se muestra nuestro anuncio) – ¿Está funcionando nuestro anuncio?
    • Tasa de Rebote (visitas <30 seg/visitas) – ¿Está funcionando nuestra landing page?
    • ROI – ¿qué beneficio hemos conseguido con la campaña?

Posted via web from Album de recortes

Internet supera a la televisión en horas de exposición (via Marketing Directo)

El consumo de Internet supera a la televisión en términos de horas diarias en España, según el estudio Mediascope Europe, realizado por la Asociación Española de Publicidad Interactiva (EIAA), que fue presentado en Madrid el martes.

La investigación de la EIAA reveló que los españoles dedican una media de 13,6 horas semanales a internet, mientras que el tiempo consumido por la televisión se sitúa en 13 horas

Con respecto a la utilización d dispositivos móviles, es estudio sitúa el acceso en 5,5 horas semanales de media con 2,3 millones de usuarios, consolidándose como el tercer pasatiempos favorito tras la lectura de prensa y de revistas.

Con respecto al rol que juega internet en las vidas de los consumidores, el 25% de los españoles dice utilizarlo para jugar, el 36% para escuchar radio y el 46% para ver películas.

"La innovación tecnológica junto con el continuo deseo de los consumidores de la fusión de los medios de comunicación presenta una gran oportunidad para los anunciantes de ver cómo nos estamos moviendo en el 2010", concluyó Michael Kleindl, presidente de la EIAA.

Hago notar que hubo un récord de volumen de negocio en el Comercio online (III trimestre 2009).

Posted via web from Album de recortes