The Williams Quiz

 

For ease of record keeping the quiz is now worth 5 points instead of 4; each question is worth 1 point. This means that the design make-over you’re working on will be worth 10 points.

 

 

General Comments 

Question 1    If you referred to “actions” such as repetition, sizing, contrast, or creation, I looked for an object to go with that action;  that is, I looked for the element that you were repeating, shrinking, contrasting, or creating.  Example:  contrast typefaces.  Contrast = action. Typeface = element.

You may have lost a bit of credit if you tended to leave out elements acted upon, but not much.  Still, you should distinguish between manipulation and the object manipulated.

 

Questions 2 – 4    In her introductions to and summaries of each design principle, Williams names purposes and effects of each. So you may want to reread these sections.  If you explained unification, visual appeal, cohesion, and organization in your own words or by way of your examples, I gave you full credit.  In fact, I liked many responses precisely because they explained these rather abstract concepts quite well. However, your explanations should not have relied too heavily on other sorts of generalizations (e.g., messy, unappealing, boring), that are not  specific to layout and design.  You lost credit if you were not able to connect your explanation with principles and elements that Williams discusses.

 

 

Answers

  1. Elements. Below I list some common acceptable responses.

 

    1. Borders
    2. Bullets
    3. Tables
    4. Spacing between lines
    5. Font size
    6. Font color
    7. Font style (italic, bold, roman)
    8. Typeface
    9. Lines and rules
    10. Vertical or horizontal alignment of text or other elements
    11. Visuals (graphics, icons, images, logos)
    12. White space
    13. Background color
    14. Justification (left, right, center)

 

 

 

  1. Proximity

How = group related items together

Why  = so that these elements are experienced as cohesive units, not unrelated bits

 

  1. Alignment

Purposes = to unify and organize a page, to guide the reader’s eye (a subset of unifying and organizing)

You needed one example here.

 

  1. Repetition

Effects = adds visual interest and unifies.

You needed two examples here.

 

5.  Most reasonable responses were acceptable. You all did a good job with this question.