THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DESIGN It’s More Than Cool Fonts and Pretty Colors

Quick Intro ■Designer, writer and content marketing professional ■Director of Communications for the Roanoke Regional Partnership ■Freelance writer and graphic designer, ■Contributor: Design Shack, The Next Web, Webdesigner Depot, Fast Company Design

Human psychology is how we ENAGE WITH OTHERS ■Empathy: The ability to understand the needs of others and help them act on it ■Self-awareness: The ability to understand the differences between awesome and terrible experiences (and learn from them).

Design Theory Color Typography Space Size Contrast Alignment Tone Balance Imagery

The Ugliest Color in the World

What Color is This?

Coca-Cola Red

What Color is This?

Facebook Blue

What Color is This?

McDonald’s Yellow

Jump Around

Create a “Visual System” Create visual groupings for like items (gestalt theory) Don’t let visual “dead weight” hog your design Videos tend to attract more attention than text or pictures Faces of women and babies attract attention

Trigger Emotion Trigger Ability Motivation

Trigger Emotion

Socialize People are social, make them feel like part of something Do them a favor for something in return Connect as a “real person” and provide social validation (ratings and reviews)

Make it Easy ■The design should not make the user work ■Understand visuals at a glance ■Read in a matter of seconds ■Prompt action

Cool Resources ■Webdesigner Depot ■Design Shack ■Smashing Magazine ■Stokpic ■Creative Market ■Your Imagination

Want to talk design? ■Carrie Cousins

THANK YOU!