Badass Ideas

Because the web is interactive, establishing a visual hierarchy through typography is essential in guiding the user to the information they are seeking online. Visual Hierarchy is the arrangement of elements in a gradual series in order of importance, enticing users to interact with a web site through visual cues. Typography online is less an element and more an interface, where characteristics such as size, weight, style, color, and location help the user to navigate the site through emphasis.

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When I found out that I will be teaching two typography classes this summer at CDIA Boston University I got really excited and began to dive into some type research. In my intro to graphic design class I talk about the evolution of letters and we do a project that revolves around illuminated letters. Some of the students end up coming up with some really fun stuff.

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For a little under 3 years I worked on the US Army’s web team. The entire experience could be pages of blog posts in itself, I learned a lot about design, the web, our government, our military, friendship, talent and about life. We were responsible for the design and maintenance of Army.mil at the height of the Iraq war, and as a designer I found myself feeling pretty rejected by other designers and the design community.

Sure, maybe I was a little self conscious. When you are in design school you are programed to design for big brands and big ideas, but I would show people my portfolio full of army history sites and sites that featured guns and find myself having to defend the reasons I chose to design for our nation’s military. Despite the fact that I worked with  talented designers and developers  and the fact we were doing amazing design it went unnoticed and sometimes even scoffed at by other designers.

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Do you ever browse the web and find a hideous website featured in a web design gallery? I regularly ponder society’s perception of “Good Design” and what people consider beautiful, and it brings me back to my studies from college. If only I knew at the time that philosophy and postmodern minimalism would come back to haunt me as a designer.

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I had a wonderful time at SXSW this year and met tons of fantastic folks who came out to my presentation. Thanks to everyone who was there, I had a blast and I hope you all did too!