Archive: Under The Loupe

April 13, 2006

Under The Loupe #5: Visual Thinking

After a brief hiatus, Under The Loupe is back. This week we will be flexing that lump of worms between your ears. One of the biggest things that can separate a good design from a great design is a strong concept. Strong concepts don’t always just come to us; sometimes they take work. Perhaps not real physical labor, but… more »

February 16, 2006

Under The Loupe #4: Keeping a Sketchbook

This week we are going to take a brief look at the benefits of maintaining a sketchbook and the impact it can have on your own creative process. To be thorough in the context of this series, let’s define a “sketchbook” as a place to store simple visual representations of ideas and concepts. Sketchbooks are about as basic as it… more »

February 2, 2006

Under The Loupe #3: Critiquing

This week on the Loupe we’ll be dealing with that situation everyone loves to hate, Critiques. Though this won’t be a detailed process to critiquing (you should hopefully be somewhat familiar with the nature of a critique already), I will try and shed some light on constructive and respectful critiquing. First off, let’s all get on the same page; a… more »

January 19, 2006

Under The Loupe #2: Hierarchy and Focal Point

This week is a 2-for-1 deal! We’ll take a quick look at two formidable bedfellows, Hierarchy and Focal Point. Hierarchy in design is simply the ranked classification of information, and Focal Point refers to a main area of visual interest. The power these two tools hold can not be overstated. They allow us to guide viewers to the things… more »

January 5, 2006

Under The Loupe #1: White Space

Under The Loupe is a new bi-weekly feature I’m starting here where I will focus on a small technique, detail, or building block of well-formed and well-informed design. Some things you may already know and some you may not, either way, I enjoy talking about design and I still feel there is more need for design-related writing online. This is… more »