Cathy Nelson alerted me to this site via twitter and being that I’ve been immersed in my K12 presentation on design, I began to consider why this works.
As Cathy alludes to, it’s very familiar format. Reminds me of a combination of the Apple ads and Lee LeFever’s plain English explanation videos of web 2.0 tools and concepts. There are certainly many similarities and I’m not sure which came first but there are some important design elements that make these effective communication. The common elements include:
- Whitespace…both literally in the use of a plain white background but also negative space which focuses the ideas.No distractions, just you and the ideas.
- Personal touch…with all the ability we have in technology to automate and create very slick interfaces and interactions, we are still drawn to people just talking; talking like they’re your friend, not a sales person. He’s not wearing a suit and tie, just a regular guy talking to regular people.
- Simple messages….using familiar tools and approaches to convey ideas. Pen and a white board.
I think this is a trend we’ll be seeing more and more. Simple is good. But the use of complex tools such as flash (as used in the UPS ads) enables slick interactivity. The average user still struggles with creating visually interactive work of this nature but as with most things, these tools will become more prevalent. The key is for us to examine the simple, clean nature of these experiences and never lose sight of the importance of clear, concise communication. Show kids these sites as examples of effective communication techniques.
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October 8th, 2007 at 8:37 am
This is a great post Dean. The first thing I tell students when designing anything digital is about “Occam’s razor”. If there are two solutions - take the simpler. Sometimes communication is less about what is written and more about how it is written. I have found this site to be valuable for solid principles of web design: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/
October 8th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Thanks for the link Dean. I think there is something about the whiteboard format and we’ve been trying to figure it out. We’ve been talking a lot about signal vs. noise and how, using paper cut-out, you can focus on pure signal. When compared to a screencast for instance, it’s clear that there are numerous things on the screen - the noise interferes. We all need more signal in our lives.
October 8th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Dean–thanks for the nod back to my blog. When I twittered about that, i was saddened that no one (known to me anyway) from my network responded. But I made the post b/c I thought it was awful close to the common craft material. The TV spot i saw really reminded me of the humming and describing how RSS works, etc. that we have all used in presentations. Oh how I wanted to write something about it, but I couldn’t quite put it into words. You have made a GREAT post about it.
PS–In my post “I Stream, UStream,…” I mentioned you b/c I think you were the first one to introduce me to UStream. Weren’t you th one who shared the Ustream of a puppy in a crate? Go back and read my blog–it was posted on October 6th (and should still be at the top of my TechnoTuesday Blog.)
October 8th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
or was it Darren Draper? one of you had a puppy in a crate on Ustream….
October 8th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
That was me….I’ll fire it up again sometime to demo when I’m working with teachers.
http://ustream.tv/channel/watching-charlotte
October 9th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Some links around the Simplicity theme that you might like:
http://del.icio.us/dtruss/powerpoint
Dave.
October 20th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Hello Dean.
Really enjoyed your video on Design Matters. Great production that supports the principles you put out. White space rules!
Best wishes.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I have been visiting this site a lot lately, so i thought it is a good idea to show my appreciation with a comment.
Thanks,
Jim Mirkalami
PS: I am a single dad