Information Design

In my own definition, i believe information design is about providing ideas and information in which people can understand clearly in the form of graphics. If you notice around the area, information design is everywhere and is used so frequently to guide and inform people.

Examples of information design
Some very common examples of information design can be street and road signs which are seen on the streets wherever you go which is helped to direct people and inform them of what is coming up ahead of them. This is easily done through pictures which are common everywhere using the same images so people do not get misled. They also provide warning for drivers as well as pedestrians. Another example of an information design is the map of the CityRail network in Sydney. It shows a large image of the train stops and lines that trains take through the Sydney suburban areas. You can view and browse the sites for Cityrail and the RTA through the related links on the side. You can find out the various street signs and the map of the Cityrail network there.

Interactive Design

So interactive design, what is it? To me, interactive design is the set of rules and responses which are applied to a system which users interact with. It focuses on simplicity and ease of use so that it helps the user can navigate through the system so they feel comfortable browsing when browsing.

Example of Interactive Design
A good website for interactive design is the Samsung Australia website. That is www.samsung.com/au. It is a flash based website where you can experience music and flashy links that come alive as soon as you click or just simply cross over with your cursor. Although the site keeps changing its interactive design, i remember at one point it had a feature where you could rotate the phone and it would show you each different angle of the phone. A very good way for users to interact with the site to get a better idea and gain more information from it. Click on the Samsung Australia link to gain access to the website. Another great interactive site is the Adobe site.

Web 2.0

Well, what is Web 2.0 exactly? in my own definition, it is term that basically describes the evolution of the web allowing users to not only read and gather information off the web, that is web 1.0, but to contribute to it. This allows users much more freedom to express their ideas and opinions to others that have access to the web.

Examples of Web 2.0
Some examples that people should be well aware of nowadays are wikipedia, facebook, myspace and weblogs (blogs) such as blogspot. All these web 2.0 sites can be accessed via the related links.

What's this blog about?

Welcome to my blog!
It's basically a place where i can discuss my designs and work with others out there. You can also comment on it as you wish. The purpose of this is to get me started on my career as a professional designer and where better to start than on a blog. Anyway this is for university purposes only, that is for the unit 100789 - Interactive Design 1 that i am currently studying at my university. However as it is still a university project, this blog may hopefully develop into something i will do permanently after university. Enjoy and thank you for visiting.

Peter