Illusions in Design
When one thinks of optical illusions, I’m willing to bet that crazy moving circles and walls that appear curved come to mind. I studied illusions in undergrad and had a great time researching how the mind can play tricks on the eye. But I quickly learned that regardless of how many garish, in-your-face examples of illusions are out there, there are much more elegant and real-world-applicable examples in one’s own work.
Graphic design is all about perception. If your design for a beverage campaign doesn’t make people thirsty for the product, you haven’t succeeded in achieving your goal, regardless of how good your intentions were. Or, if your poster design does not make your audience want to continue examining the information presented, your design is not effective. Distilling this down to the most basic concept: regardless of your intention, audience perception of your work is paramount.
Applied in the most basic way, visually: if your intention is to make a straight line, if it is not seen as straight by your audience then your goal was not achieved. In the image above, the lefthand example is of a truly straight line cutting a vertical bar. The righthand example is of a ‘visually correct’ straight line cutting the same bar. The intention did not stand up to the perception in this case, and so visual corrections had to be made. This manifests in all sorts of design work and conscientious designers are always aware that they will have to make allowances for their audiences.
One of the clearest real-life examples I can think of is in identity design. At a large scale, an identity may be complex, colorful, with light typefaces and subtle tonal changes. The same logo at a small scale will have to be adjusted: tonal changes are intensified, typefaces are bolder, and the designer may have to leave some of that beautiful complexity behind for the sake of easy viewing and safe reproduction.
It is said that “good design is invisible”– and in this case, it is very true. Allowing an audience to move through a visual design without being jarred by the realization that they are looking at something “designed” in the first place, is the ultimate goal. Addressing these visual fixes certainly isn’t the most exciting part of a designer’s job, but I believe it’s one of the most important parts of being a good maker.
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