The Art of Web Design

One of the earliest examples of art known to date, the Lascaux Cave Paintings, estimated date of creation orbiting around 15,000BCE, represents the most efficient method of writing information transference countless years before the establishment of the first written language. Archaeologists have determined that the location of which this series of paintings was discovered, was not a shelter for cavemen, rather it was a place meant to preserve the art. From this fact it may be deduced that this art's purpose was not limited to adornment - they served as the primary mode of written communication.

These paintings provide documentation of the lives and culture in the artists community. They depict significant occurrences or phenomena, such as stampedes, and the rituals and ceremonies performed within that society. These images seem to be a record of this community's history, and an illustration of the culture in which they lived in. Furthermore, this cave contains what appears to be a sophisticated star map, a way in which the artist may keep record of time and date changes.

The content of these works are not the only notable features of this art. Equally important is the mode of creation that allows for such art to be made. Written language has yet to be established during the Paleolithic age, therefore in order to truly convey a message, great focus must be made on the smallest of detail. For example, to represent a natural occurrence such as a stampede, the artist would superimpose images of various animals in motion; or give the illusion of three dimensions through color schemes and size perception. Because these paintings were not simply notes for the artists, and were in fact a way to transfer communication to his audience, the artist was responsible for creating the image in a way that speaks to everyone. The substance of this work would be lost without the artistic skills possessed by its painter.

The 19th century chartered a new mode of art, photography. Like all modes of art, photography is meant to communicate a message. In the late 1800s, New York City had reached its nadir in the welfare of its citizens. At this point in time, the division between upper and middle classes had reached an all time high with the lower class, a societal calamity only exacerbated by the bourgeoisie's contentment in ignorance. In order to galvanize the lethargic empathy of the wealthy, photojournalist Jacob Riis published his book How the Other Half Lives in 1890. In this book, Riis documented the slums of New York and captures the pain and misery of the neglected.

While Riis may not have been the first advocate of the misfortunate, his approach at supporting their cause may have been the most affective. Riis understood the rancid condition in which the star-crossed citizens were subject to might not be a direct crime of the affluent, however, their liability stems from their policy of looking the other way- remaining unaware of the living conditions in the slums. Riis set his goal to awaken the upper and middle classes, and to drive them away from negligence.

Riis' medium of choice, photography, seemed to be the perfect way to expose the truth of the city's ghetto. Through photographic images of the city's shambles, mostly candid portraits of the derelict, Riis evoked pity from the higher classes forcing them to acknowledge the consequences of their neglectful conduct. An example of his images, one entitled Children Sleeping in Mulberry Street, illustrates the tragic tone of his work. Every detail in this image adds to the meaning of the image as a whole. The lighting and exposure of the image, for example, envelops the picture with a somber and dreary tone. The positioning of the boys in this picture steals the attention of the onlooker. Then, the anguish covering the young children's faces demands pity. Furthermore, the content of this image shows the youth barefoot, and attempting to sleep outside like animals in what seems to be a gutter. By producing images such as this, with a mood that conjures desolation and leaves a painful imprint which cannot be ignored.

New technology has influenced the most efficient method of information transference throughout the centuries. In today's society, the Internet is the premier method of conveying a message to large groups of people. There is no denying the fact that the artists of the Lascaux Cave Paintings gave the paintings the power to capture their community's culture, or that Jacob Riis made the images in his book as compelling as they were. Likewise, for the Internet, a web designer is needed to properly display a message, and optimize the broadcast of said message.

The reputation carried by computers gives them the appearance of vast intelligence, however, computers are nothing more than mindless machines. Computers alone can not give its user information, therefore if the Internet is the chosen mode of information transference, to send a message from the user of a site, an artist of websites is needed. A User Interface (UI) designer is a computer technician who is specially trained to simplify the interaction between a user and the computer, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of a website to convey its message. The UI designer is responsible for creating a site which is both aesthetically pleasing, as well as operational, allowing the user to easily navigate through the page.

The UI web designer may easily be taken as a new-age artist. His websites must be created to contain all of the information his client provides, and structured as to allow the user to receive all of the information. Like any work of art, a piece that is aesthetically pleasing is eye-catching, and if a website is to reach its potential in distance traveled, it must have a unique and striking outward appearance. Even the smallest of details is necessary for a fully functional website, and the UI web designer is hired to apply each of these details to the website.

user interface design