I’ve always been a slow learner. I was put at the so-called “dumb table” in nursery school; I learned the multiplication tables well after other kids were working on fractions; I took a long time to learn how to make friends; and I was an absolute disaster in gym class. While my lack of gross motor skills is a nemesis that I’ve never defeated, I eventually worked my way up to AP Calculus and learned to make some friends along the way. In large part, my progress came about when I hunkered down with the fundamentals. I just did the work—math worksheet after worksheet until I caught up. I learned mathematical thinking in school and with my engineer father and through a textbook that I delightedly brought home from the Harvard Coop. I was not afraid to apply my nerdy approach to other situations. This story doesn’t make me look terribly cool, but I used to make long lists of how to behave in social situations (example: “Stop singing all the time!”) that helped me a find a direction that eventually led to a more natural, organic social style.

Now I’m learning graphic design—one of the hardest challenges I’ve ever encountered. I’ve been studying for a certificate at Massachusetts College of Art and Design for four years and along the way I’ve picked up a great many concepts and rules that help guide me in my crafting. It won’t surprise anyone who knows me that I’ve made some checklists that I use to make sure I’m thinking of all the possibilities and not falling into a rut. There are holes in my education, however. It’s not a negative comment on the MassART instructors, but more of a fact of life that no program can cover everything. Recently, I heard mention of the concept of the “rule of thirds,” which is the idea that the impact of an image is enhanced when the most important elements fall along imaginary lines dividing the image into thirds. The rule is probably most well-known to photographers and filmmakers, but it’s absolutely useful for any visual medium. Now that I’ve learned it, I’m grateful, but I wonder how much information I’m missing.

This blog is an attempt to help lower the number of foreign concepts for both me and my readers by studying the fundamental work, Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler, and relating the principles to my everyday work and the work of designers far more accomplished than me. The book organizes the works alphabetically, and I will follow that structure. In addition, the book cross references the subjects to the five fundamental questions:

• How Can I Increase the Appeal of a Design?
• How Can I Make Better Design Decisions?
• How Can I Help People Learn from a Design?
• How Can I Influence the Way a Design is Perceived?
• How Can I Enhance the Usability of a Design?

I will keep my entries to the same categories, shortening them to Appeal, Communication, Decision Making, Perception, and Usability.

I hope this blog will be helpful to all my fellow slow learners.