The Mario Blog

09.24.2009—5am    Post #741
Center of Visual Impact: where the eye goes first on page or screen

TAKEAWAY: If there is one element of page design that will probably never change is the concept of the Center of Visual Impact (CVI), that one spot on the page or screen where the eye lands first, before it begins its trajectory to the rest of the elements around it. Our Pure Design download #55 reminds all of us about the CVI’s tremendous importance. ALSO: Two great photo exhibits coming up this weekend in Chicago and Camaguey (Cuba).

TAKEAWAY: If there is one element of page design that will probably never change is the concept of the Center of Visual Impact (CVI), that one spot on the page or screen where the eye lands first, before it begins its trajectory to the rest of the elements around it. Our Pure Design download #55 reminds all of us about the CVI’s tremendous importance. ALSO: Two great photo exhibits coming up this weekend in Chicago and Camaguey (Cuba).

Start with an image that attracts the eye first

blog post image

blog post image
The CVI is that one element that is 3 to 5 times bigger than other visual elements on the page or screen, as on sketch left; never repeat the size of your CVI image, as one image cancels the other, as you see here (right).

If there is one foundation of everything I have ever written about page design, starting with my first book, Contemporary Newspaper Design (1978), it is the importance of the CVI.

Once we have the CVI on the page, or screen, then the rest comes easy. Depending on how many elements you have on the page, the CVI should be that one photo, illustration or type treament that is 3 to 5 times bigger in mass than anything else that appears on the page.

It is the one point where the eye lands to start its travel through the page or screen. It is a magnet. It creates the first contact between eye/image.

The CVI is so important that a lot rides on how we place it and where (higher on the page better than lower). Nobody should search for a CVI on a page. It should be the one door that the reader kicks open first, then enters.

Open publication – Free publishingMore visuals

TheMarioClassroom:watch the video where Mario explains the CVI:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1vrUXS_DDY

What others have to say about the Center of Visual Impact:

The CVI: Some call it visual voice
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=47&aid=40262

Supersize Your Graphics to create Center of Visual Impact
http://desktoppub.about.com/b/2006/10/30/super-size-your-graphics-to-create-visual-impact.htm

From Creative 360
http://creative360.blogspot.com/2006/11/center-of-visual-impact.html

Tale of two photo exhibits, in two cities, this weekend

blog post image

Chicago: Ron Reason’s captures his summer’s highlights

blog post image

blog post image

blog post image

Images from the Ron Reason exhibit: a tour of the Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial

Ron Reason spent much of the summer balancing newspaper design work (including collaborating with Garcia Media on the launch of the daily NEXT in Lagos, Nigeria) and personal pursuits, specifically, his growing interest in photography.

As some readers of this blog may know, last year Ron expanded his passions for the art world by running a part-time gallery out of his design studio in Chicago. Over the course of a year he hosted 10 exhibits, ranging from paintings to fiber arts to screen printing, as well as a bit of his own photography. Six of the exhibits were selected as highlights by the Galleries pages of the Chicago Reader. (An entertaining overview of some of the featured artists can be found here: http://www.artwithinreason.com/gallery/index.html )

This year Ron takes his interests to the next level: fewer exhibits, focusing more on his own work, and narrowing his subject matter. Exhibits will be less frequent (he says: “the day job beckons!”) and move out of the design studio and into other spaces around Chicago, in hopes of reaching more diverse audiences. The first effort is this weekend, opening Friday Sept. 25, 2009, when Ron co-hosts a group benefit show for the second year with Chicago’s innovative Firebelly Design firm. (Check out their innovative designs on their web site, starting at the “portfolio” link: http://firebellydesign.com/) Last year Ron and Firebelly raised $2,000 for arts programs in Chicago public schools.

“History’s Playground”: Ron’s lens focuses on Holocaust Memorial

The exhibit this year will be an anchor of the Pilsen East 39th Annual Artists Open House weekend. All proceeds from their show will benefit two charities dear to Ron and Firebelly: The Hope Library, which Ron helped start in the slums of Nairobi while working on the redesign of The Standard newspaper last year, and a foundation started by Firebelly to lend a helping hand in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood – coincidentally named “Reason to Give.” (web: http://reasontogive.org/) Just one of the many synergies between Ron and his friends at the socially-conscious Firebelly. “Their motto is actually ‘good design for good reason’ – at one point I realized I either had to sue these people or join forces,” laughs Ron. “Joining forces has been more fun.”

Ron’s photo work in this show is titled “History’s Playground” and focuses on a narrow slice of his observations from the summer.

“While touring Berlin, I visited the Holocaust memorial – actually titled Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The site itself is quite moving – solid stone structures that depending on the vantage point, from outside or within, can resemble a graveyard, canyons, a futuristic maze, or a cityscape.”

Ron adds that no specific meaning is implied, according to the site’s creators. More on the memorial site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europe)

“While making my rounds on the site, I noticed a group of school kids darting about – suddenly appearing here or there, playing hide and seek, not concerned at all, at least for a moment, with the solemnity of the place. I thought: that’s life, we honor what comes before us and simultaneously move forward. I just started shooting and had to be quicker than the kids. The finished images, about a dozen, for me recall the final lines of ‘Angels in America’ – the world only spins forward …”

Ron says “work from the Firebelly crew will appeal to type and design nerds of all kinds – they’ll show letterpress prints, type drawings, font design, collages, engraved wooden speech bubbles, 8-bit art, t-shirts, posters and more.” The exhibit is free and open to the public. For those in Chicago, see website below for more about the show, hours and directions: http://www.artwithinreason.com

In Camaguey, Cuba: At the Larios Gallery

blog post image
An image from the many that will appear in the Cannatello exhibit at Galería Taller Larios this weekend

The gallery of renowned Cuban environmental artist, Orestes Larios Zaak, is a busy place these days. This weekend, Larios opens a photo exhibit titled “Sardegna: Una Isla Por Descubrir” (Sardinia: An Island to be Discovered), with a collection of photos by Italian photographer Alfredo Cannatello. Curator for the exhibit is Lic. Pavel Barrios.

The exhibit opens September 26 at 8:30 pm at the Galería Taller Larios, in Camaguey, the eastern Cuban province. According to Larios:

This is a special collection, unique in its perspective about landscapes and interesting people of the island of Sardinia, a place where medieval traditions are kept very much alive. It is a place where one can still see a horse and carriage, slowly moving us from here to there, as if time had stood still, which, in some ways, it has here. This is Cannatello’s first Cuban exhibit and we are very proud that our Galería Taller Larios is the host for a very special event.

For photography lovers, two great occasions to celebrate.

blog post image

Who is Jacky?

Jacky belongs to Frank Deville. The Luxembourg-based pooch is an “avid reader” of the German newspaper, Bild Am Sonntag. Every Sunday Jacky picks stories and interesting graphics in Bild Am Sonntag , the German newspaper.

blog post image

Follow me at www.twitter.com/tweetsbydesign

Follow the Marios

blog post image
Two Marios. Two Views.
Follow Mario Jr. and his blog about media analysis, web design and assorted topics related to the current state of our industry.
http://garciainteractive.com/
Visit Mario Sr. daily here, or through TweetsByDesign (www.twitter.com/tweetsbydesign)

In Spanish daily: The Rodrigo Fino blog

:blog post image
To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
https://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/

TheMarioBlog post #376

The Mario Blog