Daily Sketching
One thing I’d like to do more of in this new year is to make time to draw or sketch — purely for my own enjoyment.
Drawing was something I loved doing as a kid. I would spend hours drawing people, animals, plants, landscapes… anything I saw or imagined.
This changed once I started taking art classes in high school and college. Instead of simply drawing for the pleasure of creating images that I enjoyed, the “act” of drawing took on a new purpose — drawing to fulfill a class requirement or specific design need. I was also becoming increasingly critical of the quality of my drawings. Although this critical assessment was intended to improve the quality the final images and my skills, it took quite a bit of pleasure out of the act of simply drawing.
Since the new year began, I’ve been trying to sketch each day for about 30 to 60 minutes. The subject matter is completely random… objects around me, images found in photos, books or online. The only thing all of these sketches have in common is that they are created simply for the pleasure of drawing.
I’m really enjoying drawing again!
The Elements of User Experience
I first read Jesse James Garrett”s book several years ago when I went back to school to get my Web Design Certification at Seattle Central Community College. At the time, I found this book to be an excellent explanation of how to develop a better “user experience” for web site users.
The Elements of User Experience discusses the various strategies and requirements that should be considered when planning a site. James also introduces a conceptual framework made up of 5 planes — the surface plane, skeleton plane, structure plane, scope plane and the strategy plane for understanding how decisions should be made in designing a website’s user experience.
Currently, I’m working as part of a team to redesign an existing site. When the site was originally created a year and a half ago, our team took the time to clarify what we wanted the site to accomplish, who our audience was, etc. While we felt that we had accurately defined “What” our site needed to be at the time, the needs of our site have changed and it’s time to reconsider what kind of site AND user experience we want to create. This book has been a great book to reread!
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