design+emotion · Design “Most practitioners of design remain unaware that what they are really...

design+emotion

Human emotion response to typographic design: initial findings Beth E. Koch, Assistant Professor University of Minnesota Duluth

While much effort has been aimed at

understanding language and

the psychological underpinnings

of written and verbal communication,

the mechanisms of visual literacy

have continued to elude researchers.

Design science

Designers do not want others to understand their methods of creativity.

Theoretical underpinning

Perception Theory of Visual Communication applies neurological research and accepted psychological principles to the study of visual communication — Barry, 2002

Perceptual Aesthetics

Theory

“Neurological research has shown that humans respond pre-consciously and consciously, logically and illogically, to visual imagery” — Barry, 2005

Design “Most practitioners of design remain unaware that what they are really selling to clients is indeed emotion” — Karjaluoto, 2004

Vision The process of attaching emotional responses to information happens primarily in the right–brain and occurs a full half-second before the information is processed and reaches consciousness — Gazzaniga, 1998

Vision Different cells in the retina become selectively tuned to detect surprisingly subtle features of the visual scene — Nelson, 2001

Neural Processing

of Visual Features

Motion

Spatial relationships

Color

Size

Direction

Edges

Form (shape)

Pattern

Research Questions

Do people sense emotion when viewing type designs?

Are certain emotions associated with the formative design features of typefaces—differences in classification (serif or sans serif), terminal construction (angular or rounded), character width (condensed or extended), and weight (light or bold)?

Stimuli Helvetica Light

Helvetica Bold

Helvetica Condensed Bold

Helvetica Bold Extended

Helvetica Rounded

Glypha Medium

Introduction to the Declaration of Independence — Poffenberger &Franken (1923)

“Now is the time for all good men… ” — Davis & Smith (1933)

Artificial languages “ere sasesuth wid oteren bo” — Weaver (1949)

Format to approximate English — Wendt (1968)

Alphabets (ABC… abc… ?+!@...) — Kastl &Child (1968), Tannenbaum et al. (1964), Benton (1979)

“Lorem ipsum” greek —Morrison (1986)

Typeface sampler — Koch (2011)

Data collection

Presentation format: Non-verbal reporting mechanism (Morrison, 1986)

Instrumentation

Participants

Analysis and

Findings

Paired t-Tests p=.05

People respond to type designs with emotion. Certain emotions are associated with the formative design features of typefaces.

Weight

Emotion responses indicate that the Light weight typeface Helvetica Light is

more desired more satisfying and more fascinating

than bold weight typeface Helvetica Bold

Desire paired t(df 41) = 3.3, p = 0.05 (95% confidence) Satisfaction paired t(df 41) = 2.6, p = 0.05 (95% confidence) Fascination paired t(df 41) = 4.0, p = 0.05 (95% confidence)

Desire Joy ShamePride Disgust SadnessSatisfaction Fascination FearHope Dissatisfaction Boredom

Helvetica Light

Helvetica Bold

0.0000

0.2000

0.4000

0.6000

0.8000

1.0000

1.2000

1.4000

1 0.0000

0.2000

0.4000

0.6000

0.8000

1.0000

1.2000

1 0.0000

0.2000

0.4000

0.6000

0.8000

1.0000

1.2000

1.4000

1

Desire Satisfaction Fascination

Classification Emotion responses indicate that the serif typeface Glypha Medium is

more satisfying than sans serif typeface Helvetica Bold

Satisfaction paired t(df 41) = 2.1, p = 0.05 (95% confidence)

Glypha Bold

Desire Joy ShamePride Disgust SadnessSatisfaction Fascination FearHope Dissatisfaction Boredom

Helvetica Bold

0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

0.9000

1.0000

1

Satisfaction

Terminals Emotion responses to the rounded terminals of the typeface Helvetica Rounded Bold are

Not significantly different than than emotion responses to the square terminals of the typeface Helvetica Bold.

Desire Joy ShamePride Disgust SadnessSatisfaction Fascination FearHope Dissatisfaction Boredom

Helvetica Bold

Helvetica Rounded

Character width Narrow character width of typeface

Helvetica Bold Condensed is more desired more satisfying more joyous and more fascinating

than wide character width of typeface Helvetica Extended Bold. Desire paired t(df 41) = 3.3, p = 0.05 (95% confidence) Satisfaction paired t(df 41) = 2.6, p = 0.05 (95% confidence) Joy paired t(df 41) = 2.8, p = 0.05 (95% confidence) Fascination paired t(df 41) = 4.0, p = 0.05 (95% confidence)

Desire Joy ShamePride Disgust SadnessSatisfaction Fascination FearHope Dissatisfaction Boredom

Helvetica Bold

Condensed

Helvetica Bold

Extended

0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

0.9000

1.0000

1 0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

0.9000

1.0000

1 0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

0.9000

1.0000

1 0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

0.9000

1

Desire Satisfaction Joy Fascination

Glypha Bold

Desire Joy ShamePride Disgust SadnessSatisfaction Fascination FearHope Dissatisfaction Boredom

Helvetica Light

Helvetica Bold

Helvetica Bold

Condensed

Helvetica Bold

Extended

Helvetica Rounded

Conclusions Since each pair of typestyles was selected to evaluate the design polarities of a single typographic feature, the results showed that design features can be linked to positive or negative emotions.

Researchers should continue to conduct design studies that apply knowledge across disciplines in order to promote and produce evidence that substantiates design’s unique knowledge domain, as this study significantly demonstrates.

Conclusions Because people reported the same emotion response to the same typographic design features, this study suggests that design’s underlying features represent a common visual language. 

“We must search for visual literacy in many places and many ways, in methods for training artists, in the technical training of craftsmen and artisans, in psychological theory, in nature, and in the physiological workings of the human organism itself” —Dondis, 1973

Thank You presented in franklin gothic book