Here’s a drawing I did from a photo of me as a toddler. I plan to trace it in Illustrator and colour it.
I like this one better than the previous two, but it doesn’t look like him. My first drawing is the least detailed, but ironically it’s the only one that resembles him.
This one doesn’t really look like him. His nose was hard to depict and I didn’t really want to draw his hands.
Here’s a drawing I’ve done of my cousin’s kid Thomas. I plan to do others over the next several days.
Usability Fail
This installment is brought to you by The Beatles Rock Band. Owing to its worldwide audience, the rock band’s Rock Band game is available in five languages. The different-language links are at the bottom of every page, however.
If you arrive at a site that’s written in a language you don’t understand, then your first goal will obviously be to change the language…and the first place you’ll look is at the top of the page because every language in the world (as far as I know) is read from top to bottom.
You can’t assume that the user will even know that other-language links exist. The exception might be at sites of organizations that have official or recognized languages (eg, Government of Canada, the UN). For all other sites, putting other-language links at the bottom is only useful if the user already knows that’s where these links exist. Even then, the placement isn’t user-friendly because s/he has to scroll to the bottom of the page before actually browsing the site.
This site’s main navigation and breadcrumb trail are also unconventionally placed; the former is above the banner and the latter is on the right side of the page container. These things lead me to believe that artistic direction has forced the language-selection links far, far away from the header to keep it free of non-graphic elements. The header does look nice, but language-selection links should always be in this area.
I’ve just noticed that Time.com has changed its homepage to a two-column layout. The main column, including the hero image, is now on the left side and two-thirds of the page width. Previously, the main column had been the middle-third of the page.
Now if only they’d improve the spacing, typography, and usability (ie, visual hierarchy) as well…
Usability Fail
The image above shows Sony’s download page for its Media Manager software. The page is poorly designed because the download link is an image that’s easy to overlook in its live context.
The image in question competes for attention with useless depictions of a hand holding a USB-connected PSP, a computer monitor, a keyboard, and two PSP models. The larger image is visually distinct (ie, separate) from the text, so it’s basically one those huge banners that we all ignore. The problem is that, at first glance, the download image looks like it’s part of this banner.
Besides being free of distractions, the download image could be better designed. Presently it’s too big, wordy, and flat-looking to be instantly recognized as a button-like link. The image link doesn’t have a user-reinforcing, hover-state and worst of all, the clickable area is limited to the “Download Now” text that’s embedded in the image. So, even if the user places his or mouse in the middle of the image, there won’t be any visual clues.
Let this page be a lesson: if you’re going to use an image as a download link, then don’t surround it with visual clutter; also, style the image so that it looks and acts like conventional button-like image links.
I think that I’m done with this drawing. I’m happy with the results, although I’ve recognized that shading is my weakness. My inspiration photo is the inner DVD cover for Mad Men Season Three. Here’s a version of said photo: http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/season3
