On Thursdays, we read reviews or news stories about art or design and study the language used to describe them. This week’s article is about the future of mobile web design, and it comes to us from Suzanne Scacca at Smashing Magazine.
Here is the introduction to her article, in italics.
As technologies change and design techniques evolve, it’s inevitable that we’d experience massive growth in terms of design quality. There are similar parallels we can see within video game design as well. For instance:
This was CERN, the very first website back in 1991. Just some basic HTML and ample white space:
This example from Smashing Magazine is how we design websites and share information online in 2018:
Now, if you look at the history of video game design, you’ll note a similar track; one in which early games like Pong were incredibly simplistic and devoid of any real story:
But now there are games like Grand Theft Auto that put players in the actual driver’s seat, allowing them to control the pace, direction, and outcomes of their experience:
As technologies improve and design techniques evolve, improvements in digital design are inevitable. What is truly impressive, however, is how we are now able to use design to tell a story. In other words, we no longer need to use long scrolls to set up plots or describe what a company does. This is especially great when designing for the mobile experience, which already sets pretty strict limits on how much we can “tell” versus “show.”
In this article, I want to look at three ways in which video game designers get the storytelling aspect of design right, and how web designers can use these techniques to provide users with an immersive experience and drive them more quickly and effectively to conversion.
My comments:
The article begins by talking about how technology and design have changed and improved over time. The writer uses the word inevitable, which means something that must happen or that you can’t avoid. She also describes a massive growth in design quality, which means a very large amount of growth. Then she mentions the parallels in video game design, which means it’s a similar situation. After that, she shows examples of how web design has evolved since it began in 1991.
Next, she does the same thing with video game design, comparing Pong and Grand Theft Auto. She uses the phrase a similar track, which means a similar path or history. She describes Pong as being incredibly simplistic and devoid of any real story. This means it was very easy to understand, even without storytelling. She compares this to Grand Theft Auto, where players get to choose what happens in the story of the game.
After that, she basically repeats the first sentence and then says that the most impressive thing (truly impressive) is how we can use design for storytelling. The phrase, in other words, means another way to say something. She says we no longer need to use long scrolls to set up plots or describe what a company does. This means we don’t need to use a long written text to explain things anymore. We can save time with good design. She says this is especially (even more) great when designing for the mobile experience, which already sets pretty strict limits on how much we can “tell” versus “show.” This means that mobile designers must limit how much text they use and try to show users what to do instead of telling them with words.
In the last paragraph of the intro, she says, I want to look at three ways in which video game designers get the storytelling aspect of design right. This means she wants to look at the three ways that video game designers use storytelling well. To “get something right” means to do it well. Finally, she talks about an immersive experience, which means the user is completely involved or interested in the site. She also mentions wanting to drive them more quickly and effectively to conversion, which means turning website visitors into customers – people that buy a product or service.
The rest of her article describes the three ways that web designers can learn storytelling techniques from video game design.
At Artglish, we help artists and designers to describe their work with the best vocabulary and language possible. Every Thursday we study reviews and articles to share useful words and phrases to help you in this quest. If you’d like to learn more about what we offer, click here to get exclusive content, or check out our Courses page.
I’ve chosen 5 words or phrases for you to focus on today. They are in bold. If you don’t know them, look up the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, and other forms of these words. You can find links to Merriam-Webster dictionary sites at the bottom of this page.
To read the original article, written by Suzanne Scacca on March 9, 2018, click the link below:
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/03/future-mobile-web-design-video-game-design-storytelling/#