Nevada Falls Remix
Remember that moment in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opens her eyes and Oz is in color? Just magic, at least it was when I was a kid.
I have apparently lost my mind, because I agreed to redo my husband's official website. The risk to marital harmony notwithstanding, as it will surprise no one that neither party takes instruction well, we have negotiated a trade for services that is equally advantageous, and I badly want what he will do in exchange. More on that later.
I almost always design a new site in Photoshop, and usually in black and white. I use tons layers and smart objects, which later get re-used as jpgs and gifs for the site itself. I argue for this extra step because:
- Some, a good number in fact of your viewers will be color-blind. Rely on contrast, not color, to make essential points.
- Most people have a hard time with verbalizing color preferences. But these preferences are instantaneous, visceral, unbending. People can't see the forest for the trees, if they don't like the green of the trees. By working in B&W first, we reach agreement on a layout of the design, and I can propose a number of color palettes. The palletes might lead to design tweaks, but not wholesale changes. Incremental progress is good.
- Color isn't content. I want to spend the overhead of early brainstorming cycles on content that supports the message, not shades of beige. That happens later in the process.
- A good B&W design allows a later revision of the CSS to do a quick color change, say for Halloween or Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
What colors? Obviously, if there is existing branding, we'll use that, but I have often had the privilege/challenge of starting with scratch. I'll ask clients to collect illustrations and advertisements they like, or I'll look for preferences in clothing, office decor, a set of toys on the desk. When I did VisualShare's site for my friend Trish, we paged through the nature photos of a calendar until we hit October. She loved the aqua blue of a glacial lake, blue sky close to the hue of their logo, the pop of some aspen trees. We are updating the site now as their business goals are changing, but we'll stay with a little golden yellow punctuating the blues. Until their venture capital funding comes in, and then it may be time for another redesign.
BTW, check out the VisualShare founders' blog. Trish and Chris are blogging about how they are building this company with no debt, leveraging off of household savings and (unbelievably) actual product sales. Not your typical software start-up, but Trish and Chris aren't Silicon Valley types. But I digress.
Using layer styles and layer comps in PS makes it a snap to organize a series of options. Then I make a list of the hexadecimal colors for the stylesheet, and make the css match the PS picture. Sounds simple, no? Ha!, but that's another digression.
The picture is a remix of Nevada Falls in Yosemite National Park, three visible-light images and one IR image. I've done a gradient mask to show a B&W version of one of the images I used in the remix. What I've learned from the remixes is that if the image doesn't work in B&W, no amount of colorizing will rescue it. All principles of good lighting apply not just once, but to each image component of the remix.
We'll see how much I'll get to direct the process of my new project. He and I will make it work, and I'm excited because if done right, we can leverage a bunch of ideas we've talked about for years at the dinner table to kick things up a notch for both of us. But he's writing a grant due at the end of the month. The kind of grant on which our household income depends. And the hungry mouths of his lab staff who depend upon him for their mortgage payments, utility bills and grocery runs. The chorus at our house is "After November 1." Everything but food, laundry and writing is on hold for 19 more days. Yes, I'm counting.
PS. That remix ROCKS at 12x18, and it could go way bigger.
Comments (1)
What a great remix.
You have a great way of adding visual value to an image or story.
I participate in a variety of adventure sports (MTB, kayaking, and so on). Whenever I see remixes like this I begin thinking, "That remix would look great with a kayaker coming off the falls". Of course, a kayaker would not go off these falls (not enough water), however, an artistic remix could really bring the action to life. The remix of the boy and train (http://www.anntorrence.com/archives/photos/2006/11/crossing_the_co.html) also remind me of how the remix can add to the story. BTW, I still want a print of this for my son! Or perhaps the car at the bonneville salt flats.
Posted by Chris Cochella | October 15, 2007 3:22 PM
Posted on October 15, 2007 15:22