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Hello Mauricio, Thanks for your reply, it really got me thinking this morning. You said, and I quote: "In the digital medium we now know if people actually use/process the information and we cannot do what we want anymore." Something about this statement made me pause. For me, a sure sign that a designer has come into their full creative powers is his demonstration of knowing the constraints of a medium, adhering to the best practices working within those constraints defined by our field, then actively re-defining those best practices and constraints. A handy example is Jason Santa-Maria. One of the things that struck me about his early work was his affinity to setting really large type on the Web when others weren't. At the time, large type on the Web was a pretty big design conceit, but really, Jason was just applying to the Web the timeless lessons of typography born from print. Now, we see large type all over the web, I think, due in part to his work. He also went on to startup Typekit, which re-defined the constraints of setting type on the Web. You are right in that, in the digital medium, we can observe all of the user behaviors that Don has already pointed out, yet, I dislike the idea of this ability limiting our design activities. I wonder if Santa-Maria paid too much attention to user behavior research, he would have gone on to accomplish the things I've already mentioned. Generally, what should our relationship to the best practices of working within the constraints of a medium? A demarcation of the bounds of design activity or a provocation to apply what we know are timeless lessons of design? —M --------------------------- Michael Yap MFA Candidate Interaction Design School of Visual Arts (SVA) tel (415) 317-3428 web fancifuldevices.com twitter michaelryap --------------------------- On Nov 1, 2011, at 9:38 AM, G. Mauricio Mejía wrote: > Hi all, > > Don said: "Getting legible type -- form size, contrast, and line length -- is a real challenge. But it can be done." > I would hightlight (impied in Don's post): Getting white space -- balance, rythm, proportion, and harmony -- is a real challenge. But it can be done. > > Another thought: > Interaction and web design have revealed the complexities not only of technical and compositional challenges but also communicative and interactive challenges, which are the actual real challenges. Difficulties on legibility, composition, usability, interaction have always been there in other visual media (print, environmental, audiovisual). But it was easier for designers to ignore them and go with an ego-centered design decision-making style. In the digital medium we now know if people actually use/process the information and we cannot do what we want anymore. > > We should apply what we are forced to learn in digital media to traditional media. > > G. Mauricio Mejía > A little bit experienced web/interaction designer > http://www.mauricio-mejia.com