Course Reflection and Takeaways
This month’s coursework revolved around the production of a thesis presentation in the form of a website. The purpose of this presentation was to present an argument for mastery over Full Sail University’s MFA Media Design Degree Learning Outcomes. There were numerous concepts and takeaways from this month, the most prevalent being the elements that contribute to successful page layouts, creation of visual hierarchy, and the CAST system as described in Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations.
Page Layouts
To ensure clear and concise communication of the mastery obtained regarding each degree learning outcome, it was necessary to understand the principles of successful page layouts and explore numerous possible solutions through a digital sketching process. Using a grid for alignment is one of the easiest ways to create balance within a page and create a sense of overall connectivity between the content, which creates a sense of ease within the viewer (Hampton-Smith, 2020). There are seemingly endless possibilities regarding layouts, but for the purposes of this month’s coursework, 3-column, 2-column, zig-zag, and rule of thirds were explored as potential solutions. For information-rich projects, a 2-column approach is useful since it offers a high degree of readability and allows for a coherent running narrative (Tondreau, 2019).
Ultimately, the goal of successful a page layout is to communicate the intended message or information to an audience while simultaneously being aesthetically pleasing. Applying the concepts learned regarding page layout informed the structure of this month’s thesis presentation and will be invaluable in the future to ensure that designs communicate effectively first before attention is placed on the aesthetics.
Direction 4 
Direction 3 
Direction 2 
Direction 1
Visual Hierarchy
The thesis presentation also required familiarization with the concept of visual hierarchy and how it can be created. Visual hierarchy alludes to the order in which you intend for users to view the design elements on a page (Kingston, 2020). There are a number of different ways to influence visual hierarchy and the best approach may change depending on the nature of the project. However, principles such as contrast, scale, balance, texture, alignment, and proximity can all be altered in ways to influence a presentations visual hierarchy. The process of establishing visual hierarchy should begin with clearly defining which single element of the design in most important. This will help avoid the trap of trying to place focus on too many things, which makes for a distracting and messy design (Kingston, 2020).
The principles of visual hierarchy were applied during the development of the thesis presentation website. Variations in type size, the use of color, and principles of proximity were used to help clearly demonstrate to readers which elements should be read in what order.
CAST System
The steps to creating a visual story makeup a process called the CAST system which consist of content, audience, story, and tell components (Sykes et al., 2012). Clearly defining and understanding each of these categories will help outline the most important elements to be considered throughout the process of visual storytelling.
Content should be limited to only the most necessary information and “must lead the audience to understand why you want them to act, and what they must do” (Sykes et al., 2012). As with all design project, the audience must be defined in a way that helps understand how they should be communicated with. Framing your communication in the format of a story as opposed to simply presenting information will help your audience understand your goals, agree with your suggestions, and agree with your ideas (Sykes et al., 2012). The tell step in the process refers to the ways in which one generates the overall mental image that is conveyed to the audience in hopes of gaining influence over them.
References
Hampton-Smith, S. (2020, September 14). How to create balanced page layouts. Creative Bloq. Retrieved September 5, 2021, from https://www.creativebloq.com/netmag/create-balanced-page-layouts-7-pro-tips-121310009
Kingston, C. (2020). Key principles of visual hierarchy in UX design. Adobe. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/process/information-architecture/visual-hierarchy-principles-examples/
Sykes, M., Malik, N., & West, M. (2012). Stories that move mountains: Storytelling and visual design for persuasive presentations. Wiley. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/stories-that-move/9781118423998/
Tondreau, B. (2019). Layout Essentials. Rockport. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/layout-essentials-revised/9781631596308/xhtml/ch02.xhtml#ch02lev57