Changing Visual Patterns

In my study, I have talked a lot about how we, human being, has being changed and placed our focus and response on visual images rather than reading text. We are facing a “new literacy” in our lives with the expansion of visual media in the form of video content, for example, popular websites like Yahoo, MSN, Youtube, and others providing more video news content. And high quality video production and exchange continues to be made with built-in camera capabilities available in the ubiquitous smart-phone.

The use of visual images is not a new happening. We have used visual images to convey information for many year, for example, traffic signals, identifying public places like airports, buss stops, restrooms, etc. And who among us hasn’t sat in Chinese restaurant and not see and explored their Zodiac sign. Graphic design for public communication continues to be an integral part of visual and spatial information sharing. The reality is that visual images has and will continue to play an important role in our daily lives.

Recently, an article in The New York Time by Daniel Engber took a closer look at the origin of weather icons that are used almost universally to us today. According to Engber, the BBC TV presenters used dots for rain, asterisks for snow, lines to mark off areas of equal pressure, and a triangle for a rain shower in the early 1970s. Mark Allen, a design student at the Norwich School of Art, considered and wanted to make weather icons more intuitive. Afterward, Allen spent time to study and was inspired by the grandfather of pictogram design, Oti Aicher, for his plan for weather icons. Aicher is noted for designing the widely acclaimed 1972 Mnich Olympic icons. Engber later commented that Allen’s design was neither the first nor the last weather icons to be used, but they were perhaps the most elegant one. In fact, Allen’s icons had a long run at BBC and inspired numerous variations at broadcasting networks and print media all over the world.

In 2011, after 30 years use, BBC decided to withdraw Allen's iconic pictograms with the reasoning that, "The weather site consists of a lot of facts and figures and we wanted to balance this out by adding a rich, atmospheric welcome..." What that meant was static icons would be replaced with Javascript animation, wide-screen images, and a whole lot of ‘ambience’. It is also represented a transition to the digital era and “new literacy” for communication.

With this insight, take a few minutes to explore the icons on yours and other cell phones. Note the detail of the design and how are icons used to convey information. Do they communicate the intended use and response? Are they pleasing to the eye? Are they fun but not distracted? How would you design them?

This is the link to how BCC’s contemplation on new weather icon. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/bbcinternet/2011/11/bbc_weather_design_refresh.html

Here is a list of their areas for icon design exploration:

1. Move forwards, not backwards.
2. Simplify.
3. Inject personality.
4. Work with platform difference.
5. Create context.
6. Align.
7. Distribute.
8. Multiple access points.

With user-centered design, a designers make more assumptions about what the intended audiences needs, when, why and where.

My conclusion is that “new literacy” represented the change in our communication, based on our behavior, to meet the needs of daily life. That communication is larger built on a growing desire for social interactivity. The user experience now requires a more vivid and animated visual interaction, not just static images.