Nettiquette

According to Virginia Shea there are 10 core rules of netiquette.
Rule 1 is “Remember the Human” which calls on internet users to treat others as we want to be treated. Rule 10 reminds us “be forgiving of the other people’s mistakes.”
Sound advice on how to act towards others on the internet.

However, as I read through her other rules, I was disheartened to read her opinion on spelling and punctuation of internet users. Let me explain.

The Inclusiveness of the Internet
Cyberspace is a great place. It is open to all types of people. It includes all types of people, genders, sexes and ages. You can dance in Second Life even if you are sitting in a wheelchair at home. You can speak without others commenting on the fact you may be mute or deaf.  The weight of wise words is accepted from the old and the young. Even the barrier between cultures fades as Google Translates allows us to read each other’s language.

The Internet is supposed to be the great leveler between all people right?

Actually, No.

The Internet Hates Bad Spellers and Bad Punctuators.

This is what Virginia Shea wrote as she explained how to make yourself look good on the internet.

“You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing. For most people who choose to communicate online, this is an advantage; if they didn’t enjoy using the written word, they wouldn’t be there.”

So much for the inclusiveness of the internet.  The National Institutes for Health in the United States estimates  approximately 15% of the population has some form of Dyslexia. Forms of dyslexia can range from severe illiteracy to milder forms where individuals can read and write but have problems with mixing the letters up in words. According to the Center for Dyslexia, differences in the brain of dyslexics makes recognizing words difficult. It is a disorder that isn’t curable. However, many people have learned to compensate for their dyslexia; many even go on to be CEO’s and university professors.

Dyslexia and Netiquette
Given the statistics on dyslexia, is correcting someone else’s spelling and grammar appropriate, even if done in a private email?  In my opinion no, its not.

Many dyslexics have written about their traumatic experiences of being screamed at for not being able to read or write properly. Alex Kocan recounts at Dyslexia-adult.com how he felt he was dumb, lazy, or stupid because he just couldn’t learn in school.  Sylvia Moody, a psychologist author of Dyslexia in the Workplace, documents many emotional aspects associated with dyslexia in adults. Embarrassment, guilt, shame, and low-self esteem are common emotional scars left by dyslexia. Why would we ever want to dredge up such horrible feelings in someone else?

In my opinion, pointing out someone else’s spelling and grammar mistakes violates netiquette rules 1 and 10. What is implied in rule number 5, judging someone based on how they write on the Internet, is worse.  It violates something bigger; it violates the inclusiveness and the spirit of the democratization of information, which is the heart of the Internet.

We need to remember the human on the other side of a post and forgive more freely the spelling mistakes of others. We have no way to know who the person is on the other side of the computer screen. He or she may be the most articulate intelligent person we would all seek to know outside of cyberspace. Don’t dismiss the value of someone just because they aren’t excellent spellers.

pop up madness

Pop up books are fascinating for children and adults. By incorporating interactivity onto a static print page, a whole new user experience is achieved.

Exploring Pop-ups

Over the last week I have been exploring the use of pop-ups for a CD project I am working on. It is much more difficult than I originally anticipated. We have all made a pop-up card or two while we were in elementary school. It was simple right?  Unfortunately, moving from creating a simple images that juts forward or a monster mouth that opens and closes to creating more sophisticated designs is a lot more complicated process.

Prototyping

There is only one way to design a pop-up: prototypes. The premier pop-up book designers can take 6 months to designing and testing their pages. Robert Saduda says his books can take over a year to complete.  When he designs his book he constructs prototypes with card stock, then traced each piece onto paper and scanned into it into illustrator for refinement. His card stock prototype has to be approved by a publisher, as size and printing of the components can become too expensive to produce on a large scale. All this happens even before a single illustration is added to the book.

Staying Flat, Standing Up.

I am currently in this hell of a prototyping phase. I have unique design requirements that are challenging my mind and my scissors. I want my project to sit flat on a table with the pop-up standing up straight. This means the simple use of pop-up methods of v-folds and parallel folds will not work. These elements require a 90 degree to 120 degree angle to the card stock to appear at their best in 3-D.

As Saduda and others have mentioned, its not getting the book to stand up that is the problem, its getting it to close. Too much paper architechture will cause the page to be too thick to close.

Worth It?

Is all this prototyping work for one simple CD project worth all this trouble? Oh, yes it is. Being able to revive part of our childhood through the excitement of a pop-up creation, creates a wow factor that just can’t be dismissed. The applications to packaging design alone, would be well worth the effort of learning the basics of pop-up.

Check out the possibilities.

Art dances

Line in Design
Last week I mentioned I love clean lines. Line creates movement, grouping and tension on a page. A blank page with nothing but a single brightly colored line can create more visual interest than a whole photograph. Photos cluttered with shapes and made up with thousands of colored pixels can’t compete with a simple razor sharp line.

All this talk of lines, got me curious about line in other art.

Line in Dance
Line is particularly important in dance. How the hands extend, how the back arches etc. The line of the human body is angular and straight, serpentine and curved. Coupled with movement, these lines combined to give us surprising visual reactions.

I remember going to a dance show in Ottawa in 2002 that featured contemporary dance mixed with Japanese traditional forms of dance. The choreographer contrasted the stillness of a single group movement with the soft S shaped movement from one dancer. The movement was so refreshing.

Let Dance Inspire your Design
In color and design class, we briefly touched on the concept of contrast. Nothing demonstrates the use of contrast of line like dance. Without the changes in line of the human body, dance would not exist. The little surprises from dance always inspire my design.

Go out and see a dance show, it might surprise you

Somethings to inspire you.