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Blogs ยป Archive for September 27th, 2007
Web Directions: Comic book inspiration and the CSS Eleven
Andy Clarke captivated the audience in true Malarkey style this morning, with his keynote presentation Think Like A Mountain at Web Directions South.
Drawing upon one of his childhood loves, comic book art, Andy pointed out the numerous parallels between comic books and web page layout.
Bandying around references to and artwork by comic artists both celebrated and obscure (Frank Miller, Paul Chadwick, Dave Gibbon) Andy highlighted the progression between panels in a comic book (some follow an obvious order; others require a lot more deductive reasoning). As it does in the movies, this technique adds drama by not explicitly showing every detail.
In addition, following an established convention to build trust and familiarity, then busting out of that convention occasionally, is an effective way to create timing for a story, or for a user scanning a page.
Andy also mentioned the rhythm of a page, as defined by its layout. On the Web, similar rhythm can be created by using borders, background images/colours, contrast (font weight). It’s useful to think about the amount of time we want someone to look at our content when laying it out.
While it might not be appropriate to splash exaggerated sound effect …
Web Directions South 2007 opens in Sydney
The SitePoint crew was in the 600-strong audience at the opening of Web Directions South 2007 in Sydney today. Conference runner John Allsopp took the stage to open the conference and introduce some of the major themes.
Top of his list was that the mobile web has arrived. John mentioned devices like the Apple iPhone, Nokia’s WebKit-powered mobile browser, and the Nintendo Wii as devices that are changing the way people use the Web. Reflecting these advancements, the conference this year has a special focus on mobile web technology.
Keynote speaker Rashmi Sinha of SlideShare, then stepped up to speak on The Perils of Popularity, focusing on the current trends in social networking. Sinha showed how the new crop of social networking sites are based around shared activities (e.g. Facebook) and objects (e.g. YouTube).
At several points during her talk, Sinha paused to poll the audience about their current focus, and was surprised to find the Sydney audience seemed to have different priorities than audiences she has addressed in Silicon Valley. For example, only a smattering of Web Directions South attendees indicated they were currently developing Facebook applications, whereas stateside it’s apparently “all about Facebook Apps.”