Information Design In My Life

Information Design

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Vitamin Text Hell The Vitamin Water bottle is an experimental design. It does not use negative space (it obliterates it). The logo is positioned vertically in order to allow for maximum writing space on the bottle. And they use it. Rather than giving a clear path for reading, the reader is led in a funny zagging way, though this may also be a curse of the cylindrical medium. I consider the bottle awkward and the text overbearing. I don’t drink to read. Since the logo is sideways, it does not necessarily have a top. It’s title is placed out of the normal living space, making it strangely discomforting.

I prefer the Pepsi can. It uses the vertical logo more comfortably, and simple text-less design is welcoming, rather than sterile (which it could have been with a little less care). It might be considered overwhelming to cover your product with words, cluttering it with text. The primary purpose of Vitamin Water is not to convey ideas, but to be drank. The reading portion is optional. It does tend to make the bottle seem design awkward, but that’s not an issue with their demographics-- the ironic college student and the 18-30 female afternoon jogger. The design of the bottle either acts as a complement to the consumer’s personal style or is unimportant, the buyer instead being focused on the word “vitamin” and the health connotations of easy-toconsume magic anti-cancer water.

Old, Spicy Men Old Spice has recently begun to use plainer wording in its advertising and in the design of its labels. This plain method is becoming more popular. Some companies are afraid to adopt it because they feel that it will make them unprofessional. Old Spice does not escape unprofessionality (they don’t intend to). It highlights the sentence “EXPERIENCE IS EVERYTHING!” Playful. It shows the consumer that it is not a stuffy old man’s deodorant. I enjoy this straightforward approach. It’s simplified, but not suspicious. It seems inviting, even though it might give you a rash. Some companies attempt to disguise poorly-conceived products with flashy marketing and vague but not untrue testimonials and praise (layman or medical). Watch an infomercial.

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I Hate My Ex-Girlfriend The Irezumi Flash movie was the splash/start page for my ex-girlfriend’s Asian Cultures class project. I intended to draw the user’s eye to the scales of the fish by making them pulsate, drawing the user to maybe run his cursor over them. The page was fairly simple, and so there weren’t many other options at this point. It was highlight scales or get out. Even though the largest scale (the one that leads to the most important page) is on the right side of the webpage, the user is drawn to try it first since it is the largest and closest to the head of the fish (the beginning of the fish). I attempt to defy the normal top-left corner design. Overall it’s fairly successful.

Pano-o... Pan-a-hoy... I’m Throwing This Out Panohaya Landscaping gets down to business. It simply wants to convey a clear message: 15% OFF. The bold, highlighted 15% OFF text declares that it is the most important item on the page. It’s rivaled only by the name of the landscapers (Panohaya, an awkward name that makes you read it several times). A customer will read the title and the discount first. If interested, then maybe read the smaller text. The picture does serve a purpose: credibility. Were it full only of text, one might be less inclined to look at it at all. The attempt as a cartoon is endearing and makes the tag more friendly, even if the picture is unimpressive and entirely unnecessary. The tag uses contrast properly. One-color prints usually don’t have any other choice. They avoid using a picture gradient background, like so many other things that I’ve found attached to my door handle.