Reddit reviews Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design
We found 29 Reddit comments about Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Rockport Publishers
OK I found what this website is probably referencing. It's on page 38 of this book.
I have copied and pasted the text from that page below. The design book cites this 2007 paper by Joan Meyers Levy and Rui Zhu, titled "The Influence of Ceiling Height: The Effect of Priming on the Type of Processing That People Use." The Journal of Consumer Research is peer-reviewed.
Anyway, I'm not sure if it's legit because as you say there's a dearth of sources. But the author of the linked page isn't really talking out of their ass, either.
>Cathedral Effect: A relationship between the perceived height of a ceiling and cognition. High ceilings promote abstract thinking and creativity. Low ceilings promote concrete and detail-oriented thinking.
>It is widely accepted that people prefer high ceilings to low ceilings. Lesser known, however, is that ceiling height can influence how people approach problem solving. Depending on the nature of the problem, ceiling height can either undermine or enhance problem-solving performance.
>Conspicuous ceiling height — that is, noticeably low or noticeably high ceilings — promotes different types of cognition, with high ceilings promoting abstract thinking and creativity and low ceilings promoting concrete and detail-oriented thinking. No effect is observed if the ceiling height goes unnoticed. In self-report measures, people predictably rated their general affect as “freer” in high-ceilinged rooms versus “confined” in low-ceilinged rooms. In word tasks, subjects were able to solve anagram problems more efficiently when the anagram aligned with ceiling height. For example, subjects in a high-ceilinged room could solve freedom-related anagrams (e.g., “liberation”) faster than those in a low-ceilinged room, but were slower to solve confinement-related anagrams (e.g., “restrained”) than those in the low-ceilinged room. A more practical example is an experiment in which two groups were asked to conduct product evaluations, one group in a high-ceilinged room and one in a low-ceilinged room. The group in the highceilinged room tended to focus on general product characteristics, whereas the group in the low-ceilinged room tended to focus on specific features. One hypothesis is that this effect is due to priming — the stimulation of certain concepts in memory to promote and enhance cognition regarding related concepts.
>With the cathedral effect, high ceilings prime “freedom” and related concepts and low ceilings prime “confinement” and related concepts. Consider the cathedral effect in the design of work and retail environments. For tasks that require creativity and out-of-the-box thinking (e.g., research and development) favor large rooms with high ceilings. For tasks that require detail-oriented work (e.g., surgical operating room) favor smaller rooms with lower ceilings. In retail environments, favor spaces with high ceilings when consumer choice requires imagination (e.g., home remodeling store) and spaces with lower ceilings for more task-oriented shopping (e.g., convenience store). Favor high ceilings to extend the time in which visitors remain on site (e.g., casino) and low ceilings to minimize loitering (e.g., fast food restaurant). See also Defensible Space, Exposure Effect, Priming, and Prospect-Refuge.
Do you have an understanding of what Game Design actually is?
Edit: So, about the things in promissed in the responsed below.
Design
Design Thinking
Universal Principles of Design book
"Design" comprehend a set of methodologies and "ways of thinking" specifically designed (lol) to identify opportunities and approach the creation of solutions in an objective manner. Being objective means that the process of design, its tools and concepts, allow for the effectiveness of the design to be measured and iterated upon. Every design is created to be enjoyed by people in a functional manner in their lives. Meaning that people will interact with said design, instead of just appreciated from a distance.
Every discipline of design (graphic design, industrial design, software design, game design and so on…) will share the same fundamentals that will guide the mindset of designing. Then obviously every discipline will have it’s own specific characteristics and differences that have been discovered and studied over the years, but the fundamentals are the same.
Once you internalize these design process, making a game on your own or inside a big company becomes the same thing, because it will follow the same procedures. The "fun" will be on the process, and not on the result.
Practical Creativity by Ralph Koster it's an example of using this mindset to game design. His website has a good amount of essays on the subject. Jesper Juul is another great reference on the field.
Hey there, I'm a game designer working in AAA and I agree with /u/SuaveZombie that you'll probably be better off with a degree in CS. BUT... don't give up on wanting to be a designer!
 
You should realize that it's not giving up on your dream at all, in fact, it's great advice for how to reach that dream. A designer with an engineering background is going to have a lot more tools at their disposal than one who doesn't.
 
Design is way more than just coming up with a bunch of cool, big ideas. You need to be able to figure out all the details, communicate them clearly to your teammates, and evaluate how well they're working so you can figure out how to make something people will enjoy. In fact, working on a big game often feels like working on a bunch of small games that all connect.
Take your big game idea and start breaking it down into all the pieces that it will need to be complete. For example, GTA has systems for driving and shooting (among many other things). Look at each of those things as its own, smaller game. Even these "small" parts of GTA are actually pretty huge, so try to come up with something as small as possible. Like, super small. Smaller than you think it needs to be. Seriously! You'll eventually be able to make big stuff, but it's not the place to start. Oh, and don't worry if your first game(s) suck. They probably will, and that's fine! The good stuff you make later will be built on the corpses of the small, crappy games you made while you were learning.
 
If you're truly interested in design, you can learn a lot about usability, player psychology, and communication methods without having to shell out $17k for a degree. Same goes for coding (there are tons of free online resources), though a degree will help you get in the door at companies you might be interested in and help provide the structure to keep you going.
 
Here's some books I recommend. Some are specific to games and some aren't, but are relevant for anything where you're designing for someone besides yourself.
 
• Universal Principles of Design
• The Design of Everyday Things
• Rules of Play
• The Art of Game Design This and the one below are great books to start with.
• A Theory of Fun This is a great one to start with.
• Game Feel
• Depending on the type of game you're making, some info on level design would be useful too, but I don't have a specific book to recommend (I've found pieces of many books and articles to be useful). Go play through the developer commentary on Half-Life 2 or Portal for a fun way to get started.
 
Sounds like you're having a tough time, so do your best to keep a positive attitude and keep pushing yourself toward your goals. There's nothing to stop you from learning to make games and starting to make them on your own if that's what you really want to do.
Good luck, work hard!
Here's a little list of best-sellers on Amazon and a few from this thread:
Junior UX person here. Not much of a programmer myself, but it's sufficient for my needs, as I am only doing front-end design when I dabble with code. There is a multitude of ways to learn how to code, but generally speaking, I find that practicing in small repetition helps the best to retain and absorb information. When you are doing a small code example, try to rewrite differently and see how it works in each of those ways. I also recommend coming up with a small project that you can work on (design and putting a personal site live, for example), as opposed just doing the practices, that way you are presented with a real world environment that contains restrictions and possibilities.
Do you draw? It might help to learn how to draw well, which will help you illustrate designs and potentially become a fun hobby.
Some beginner level books I recommend:
Also, you might want to sign up for this course track offered by Stanford.
Lastly, learn how to meditate (or just ways to maintain inner peace in general). It will help once you enter the industry.
It's not a replacement for the other recommendations in the thread, but get yourself a copy of Universal Principles of Design. It's a good introduction to the language & vocabulary of design.
If anything, I think it'll help you to identify & express what you like (or don't like) about designs you see in the wild. Critique, both of yourself and others, is important.
Whatever kind of design you're looking at doing, get this book:
Universal Principles of Design - Lidwell.
It covers the core elements of design outside of trends.
Learn the content of this book well, and you'll be set up for the rest of your career.
Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592535879/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rEsQCbG1JF27R
Not UI specific, but very insightful
What you need to understand is the underlying principles. Try starting here:
Design Basics will teach you about things like composition, color theory, motion, reptition, balance, etc :
http://www.amazon.com/Design-Basics-David-A-Lauer/dp/0155083775
Universal Principles of Design is not specific to web design. Some here have said, "Design is design" ... this is 100% true. Yes, there is nuance to every medium, but color theory is color theory, plain and simple. Get a little zen about design:
http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343223951&sr=1-1&keywords=universal+principles+of+design
As a developer, you probably suck at typography. No offense. The typography workbook can help with that. The thing to realize about typography is that there are two parts to it. The first part is the aesthetic. The second part is that type is a mechanical component of your design. It performs a job. This book will teach you how to construct good typographical systems. Every web geek should have this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Typography-Workbook-Real-World-Graphic-Design/dp/1592533019/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343224016&sr=1-1&keywords=typography+workbook
It is listed in one of the posts already, but I have this book and can honestly say it IS the book you are looking for. Its design, but not limited to one field of study.
Universal Principles of Design
Stellar book. Breaks down tons of design principles, which could aid graphic designers, product designers, architects, computer programers, etc. I would definitely call this a Design Encyclopedia. Great book. Worth every penny.
I think that's beyond a list of common subjects clients ask for, and I'd recommend someone who is interested in "making it pop" to learn these:
Paul Rand: A Designer's Art https://www.amazon.com/dp/1616894865/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_neLpybYFN2K0B
"If Paul Rand was the most influential American graphic designer of the twentieth century, then Paul Rand: A Designer's Art is the most important on his work. A comprehensive collection of his most important and best-known designs, A Designer's Art gives unique insight into Rand's design process and theory. This new edition of Rand's classic monograph, long unavailable, meticulously re-creates the graphic quality of the original. It includes more than two hundred illustrations and twenty-seven essays, and a new afterword by Steven Heller. This book is required reading for anybody interested in modern design..."
Design, Form, and Chaos https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300055536/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2gLpybNH8PCSK
"In this book, Paul Rand m, said to be one of the world's leading graphic designers, speaks about the contemporary practice of graphic design, explaining the processes and passion that foster good design and indicting fadism and trendiness.
Illustrating his ideas with examples of his own graphic work as well as with the work of artists he admires, Rand discusses such topics as: the values on which aesthetic judgements are based; the part played by intuition in good design; the proper relationship between management and designers; the place of market research; how and when to use computers in the production of a design; choosing a typeface; principles of book design; and the thought processes that lead to a final design.
The centrepiece of the book consists of seven design portfolios - with working drawings and ultimate choices - that Rand used to present his logos to clients such as Next, The Limited and IBM."
Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592535879/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XiLpybS3YS160
""Universal Methods of Design is an immensely useful survey of research and design methods used by today's top practitioners, and will serve as a crucial reference for any designer grappling with really big problems. This book has a place on every designer's bookshelf, including yours!" —David Sherwin, Principal Designer at frog and author of Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills
"Universal Methods of Design is a landmark method book for the field of design. This tidy text compiles and summarizes 100 of the most widely applicable and effective methods of design—research, analysis, and ideation—the methods that every graduate of a design program should know, and every professional designer should employ.
Methods are concisely presented, accompanied by information about the origin of the technique, key research supporting the method, and visual examples. Want to know about Card Sorting, or the Elito Method? What about Think-Aloud Protocols? This book has them all and more in readily digestible form."
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1592535879/
When I was starting out, I got a lot of use out of Universal Principles of Design. It breaks down a lot of terminology and best practices with clear diagrams and examples.
As for learning UX design, my best learning experiences came from practice, practice, practice
Universal Principles of Design. Lots of concepts in design explained a topic per page.
One of the most useful textbooks I've retained from a class I took was also the cheapest. $150 book about Java programming? Never opened it again after the class was over(and barely opened it during the class). $20 book about general design principles? Much more mileage out that puppy.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592535879/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For general design
and for games
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1539103188/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
also to your question, advanced game design is knowing more than 1 discipline. This is very common with Level Deisgners because they need to be able to touch everything a little bit. Generally speaking, if you can open most programs and work around a little, you will make peoples lives easier when you get to your job (if you're a LD). Other jobs can be different, if you write code, chances are that's all you will be doing, but still - a coder who can also animate - well you got yourself a tech animator and you are now worth way more to the team.
hmm. Where to get started. Learn the gestalt principles of visual design. If you're designing interfaces - these little tips will help you associate, and differentiate well enough to be able to direct attention like a conductor.
Learn to do everything deliberately. If you don't have a reason for something, you're not designing, you're arting. Know the difference and when each is appropriate. For example - want a big splash screen with a fancy colorful image? Is it so you can attract the user to a particular part of the screen? Or is it because you have some extra space and feel like filling it with something. If it's the former, go for it. If it's the latter - you're just making an art project.
Learn about design methodologies, from a university if possible. Industrial design technique is very good for digital problem solving as well. Defining a problem, exploring solutions, and determining a valuable path are things that will help you in every project.
Understand why you are doing what you are doing. And who are you doing it for. Never go past page one without establishing those facts.
Stats will help you in that do everything intentionally part. If you can say 80 of people do this, 20 percent of people do that, you can from this say, that this gets center position, bright colors, dark shadow and lots of negative space. That thing that 20 percent of people do, gets bottom right, lowER contrast, and is there for people that expect it.
Good luck, conferences will help. Podcasts will help. Reading interviews from design teams at larger companies will help.
Asking reddit will help. What you should ask for is paid time off to study lol. Good luck.
edit:
Also get this book universal principles of design I think there's a pocket version. This teaches you what works and why and when to use it.
Get the design of every day things. This book teaches you what good design is. It asks the questions - what is design. When is design good. What is an affordance? How do we signal what things do what? How does all that work? Is a coffee cup good design? What about a scissors? How about google.com vs yahoo.com...
Check out don't make me think... or just think about the title for an hour and pretend you read the book.
a popular one now is hooked. Pavlov's dog experiments except with people, basically operant conditioning for designers.
And learn about grid systems and bootstrap for prototyping. Get a prototyping account. For something, proto.io, invision, framerjs.... Invest in omingraffle and sketch, get a creative cloud license if need be. You will need to show people things a lot. You will need to convince people of your ideas and your paths. You will need to constantly throw together quick and dirty visualizations of what you want to say. Invest in tools that make it simple.
Learn how to sell your ideas. You will be asked a ton of questions as people poke holes in your design. You need to figure out how to soothe their worries. They will your decisions, and you will have to show them that you have the answer. Learn how to present. Learn public speaking. Learn how to communicate with superiors. Learn how to talk with programmers. Learn how to give the programmers what they want from you. Learn how to negotiate, learn how to deliver on time. Learn how to handle stress.
Good luck.
I have a few recommendations, but it really depends on what kind of design you're interested in. UX is an umbrella. If you want visual design skills it'll take some practice and not just reading. There's a bunch of stuff out there on graphic design basics.
Here's a few book recommendations that can change how you think about design:
Design of everyday things.
Universal principles of design.
The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition
Design as Art
Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design
Meggs' History of Graphic Design 6th Edition
Visual Literacy: A Conceptual Approach to Graphic Problem Solving
Another awesome book
http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416173395&sr=8-1&keywords=Universal+principles+of+design
First, I would study some basic design principles. Look at a few books on typography, grid, etc. Learn about some of the major design movements.
Check out these book:
http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299115160&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Grid-Systems-Principles-Organizing-Design/dp/1568984650/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299115186&sr=1-7-spell
What tends to happen is most people dive into these tutorials knowing how to use the programs, but not knowing anything about design in general. Knowing how to use Photoshop doesn't necessarily mean you are a designer, like knowing how to play a few chords on a guitar doesn't necessarily make you a musician.
Web design is big now, but if you want to hop on the next gravy train, I'd suggest getting into Mobile / Tablet visual design. The demand is hot and theres not enough people who know how to do proper visual design for touch screen devices.
Oh yeah, and Lynda.com and tutsplus is good too. Learn the programs, but don't expend too much energy learning fancy lighting tricks until you've learnt the basics of design. It'll help build a foundation on which you can go from there.
Get him this book, it’ll teach him more about design in general than most courses:
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2CTGV687A3XUK&keywords=universal+principles+of+design&qid=1563873263&s=gateway&sprefix=Universal+pr%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-1
I'm not a professional designer - so take this with a grain of salt. However, I do work with a good number of designers in my profession and have learned a thing or two
Here's my suggestions:
Here's what I'd do:
See how that turns out.
Additionally, if design is your thing I'd check out Universal Principles of Design, Fantastic book.
For color palettes, I'd recommend Adobe Color CC/Adobe Kuler
Also, read anything by Dieter Rams.
sorry for late reply. try this book. I guess it kinda summarize the whole thing.
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Principles-Design-Revised-Updated/dp/1592535879
check it out first. maybe it might not suit you
Here's some links of books I put on my wish list. Its a lot of stuff about grids, which is something you should learn.
Grid Systems in Graphic Design
Universal Principles of Design
The Grid: A Modular System for the Design and Production of Newpapers, Magazines, and Books
The Elements of Typographic Style (A dry read, but very valuable knowledge)
Thinking with Type
I learned most of my composition skills from Drawing and Painting classes. I've heard photography is a great way to learn composition too.
Aside from that use Lynda.com and learn your color theory. You should also learn stuff like using CMYK vs RGB. Common sizes for print material in your country.
If you go Freelance, use this book: Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
If you haven't discovered this site and you're feeling frustrated, just remember it could be worse: Clients From Hell
And just for fun: How a Web Design Goes Straight To Hell, Why You Don't Like Changes to Your Design
Universal Principals of Design