Sk-etchbook

I'm a little bit behind with this post but never mind. So then, Easter. Lots of work and very little relaxation for me this year. I had my photography elective the first week and spent the second and third weeks reading, writing essays, and training.

Here is an overview of what was covered;

AJAX - I watched the Sitepoint crash course in AJAX and was relieved to hear I don't have to cram more squiggle squiggle dot slash languages into my rapidly becoming overpopulated head. AJAX is just another acronym for asynchronous JavaScript + XML. Just Javascript I still need to learn which I can roughly grasp just from what AS & PHP I know so far as they are very similar.

Web Redesign by Kelly Goto
An interesting title aimed at demonstrating the best or tried and tested methods of client and project management. The title is very in depth and is more suited to larger agencies, working in teams on large scale web sites although it is still useful for any web design professional as the issues covered are still relevant. There are some nice resources included with the CD along with a selection of nice visual examples which I shall post later.

The Psychology of Perception



This is an eye opening book (no pun intended). We take the phenomenal power of our brains for granted and forget what a complex process it really is. Perception is learnt, it is unique to us and can vary greatly between individuals. Vernon writes in a well informed manner with a heavy bias towards evidence and observational studies of children.

Chapters
What do we perceive?
How the child learns to perceive the world around him
The perception of objects by adults
The perception of shape by adults
The perception of colour
The development of shape and colour perception in children
The perception of special types of material
The perception of space
The perception of movement
Attention and perception
The relation to perception of motivation and emotion
Perceptual 'types' and their relation to personality
Conclusion

The Science of Illusion - Jacques Ninio

An entertaining selection of illusions and studies relating to how these arise. The selection of examples shown also lend a significant amount of insight to graphic design and layout design.

Chapters
A brief history of illusions
One illusion hides another
Classifications
Limits
Contrasts
Segregation, Fusions
Completions, creations
Adaptations
Constancies
Reference Points
Arbitrations
Illusion & culture
Illusionism
Artifice & convention
Illusions of the memory & the mind

Full Review