Week 4: 3 points and a question

White once again emphasizes the concept of space through the use of the seven different design components: unity, gestalt, space, dominance, hierarchy, balance, and color. He probes a little deeper and certainly relates the designer’s goal to that of an architect and less to an artist. It is about developing the blank space and creating an aesthetically appealing and purposeful design within that space through visualizing everything as shapes.

Flower discusses the importance of reader-centered designs in regards to producing “functional documents.” His main point is that “functional prose should be structured around a human agent performing actions in a particular situation;” in other words, organize text around the reader’s questions to create a document that aims to aid rather than teach.

Kostelnick’s piece fuses the information from White and Flower’s in an in-depth look at modernism vs. postmodernism. It is not his aim to create a definitive gap between the two, but he rather, place them on a continuum that encourages hybrids. He holds that universal advocates see visuals as geared towards achieving a purpose; whereas, cultural focused advocates are geared towards meeting an audience needs. Both are critical when designing a document and relaying information to an audience.

Based on Kostelnick’s definition of global and cultural-focused approaches to information design, which strategy does White advocate throughout his book, The Elements of Graphic Design?