Identity is important for human individuality. All things design define who we are, and how we wish to express ourselves. Everyone has a predetermined 'image' of oneself and how they want to be portrayed to the world. The use of the internet can be a way of linking the cultural identity from one side of the world to the opposite. Identity is rooted from where you come from, no matter if you have moved to a complete new country. With the advancements in communication technology, it is easier for someone to stay in contact with their original home country, and in turn hold on to that identity more easily. My major here at Ohio State University is Communication Technology, so I can greatly appreciate this part of the reading. I think that the internet plays a HUGE part in personal identity, especially with the recent boom in social networking. Just about every website nowadays has a link to their Facebook or Twitter page. Businesses can easily define their company's identity by analyzing the company's internet popularity. Even with the advancements in communication, the many different cultures around the world make it difficult to design in a general way. Each culture does need its own design and identity because too easily one idea can clash with another. In the corporate world, a change in identity can make or brake you. This result is based on how well the diversity of cultures respond to the identity change (just like the internet analysis).
Moving away from identity and towards systems, systems often are structured ways to keep a general design functioning in the general public's day to day life. This can be from travel structure to communication systems. I like to focus more on the communicating aspects. The book gives the example of informational system communication as street signs. Street signs have to be able to be easily understandable to give clear instruction in the means of travel. The way communication is presented systematically is important to a wide spread understanding. Another reference the book makes is the rapid growth of giving everything an icon on the computer. This can be a negative thing if the design of the icon is too vague or even too specific. When dealing with design and communication you have to take into consideration all options. I find it frustrating when I come across a webpage with an icon link and when I roll over it with the mouse, without clicking, there is no explanation as to where this icon will be taking me. It is important to give a structure of rules and common sense boundaries when dealing with a communication system. If information cannot be obtained easily, it is poor in design.
I know there was more in each of these chapters, but I felt it important to focus on the aspects the pertained to why I am in this class and major, communication.
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