Orientation

=__**Definition**__= toc

//-"The Immediate frustration with an interactive product is that you cannot pick it up, thumb through it, and determine its usefulness. Whether users can get what they need (and often whether they invest the time to find out) depends on getting them orientated right from the start."// Laurel, Brenda. //Computers As Theatre.// New York, Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1991.

-In a broad sense, __orientation is the process of being arranged, positioned or aligned within the context spectrum of a certain subject.__

-When orientation occurs, one can tell the position of the subject relative to the reference frame or standard. For example, if one declares himself heterosexual as his sexual orientation, this can be used to assume basic characteristics about the person in regards to his sexuality.

=**__Orientation & Interactivity Design__**=

-In interactivity design, an information product seen on a computer screen needs to tell the viewer what their going to do, see, or experience. Without overwhelming the individual, __there needs to be a good balance of images and words that provide enough guidance to be useful.__

-Orientation is a guidance system that has become widely standardized and understood. In order to design a well-orientated web page for example, it should be __intuitive and easy to use__, even in the absence of well-known paradigms.

-There are various ways to approach the orientation of a design. For example, a company information website could use simple images and captions to introduce itself or it could be quite complex in nature with a more versatile orientation scheme. Complex orientations provide multiple levels of information so the user can view as much or as little content they wish.

__-The main point to understand about orientation is that users want to know exactly what they are looking at and where to find it.__

=__**Orientation & Design**__=

The term orientation is usually used in design when referring to which way the canvas, or paper is placed—either horizontally, that being landscape, or vertically, portrait. These terms are defined by the longer side as being the leading side.


 * -For example:** "Bob printed his title page on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper". The common rule in regards to measurements of paper is that the first number is the width, and the second number is the height. In this example, the width is 8.5 inches, and the height is 11 inches. This piece of paper is longer vertically than it is horizontally, and thus the orientation is defined as portrait. If Bob had printed his cover page on an 11 x 8.5 piece of paper, then his cover page would be defined as landscape, for the width is greater than the height.

__-Orientation can be used when defining the general position of photos, magazine spreads, or anything of the sort when referring to the object's width versus height ratio.__


 * -For example:** "Jon prefers to take his photos vertically or sideways. He thinks it makes him look skinnier". In this example, the terms landscape and portrait are not used as the terms vertical or horizontal are more literal and easier to understand in a non-printing setting. Since the default orientation of a camera is horizontal, or landscape, when Jon says that he prefers to take his photographs vertically or sideways, he means that the height would be longer than the width, making it portrait. "Sideways" is meant by the action taken to achieve a portrait orientation—by tilting the camera sideways.

=__Visual Examples__=

=__**Helpful Websites**__=

http://www.westwood-dynamics.com/all_about_orientation/best_practices_nine_design_principles.htm -This website is useful as it lists helpful orientation design principles which help to further understand the definition. -Some principles it speaks about are orientation is inclusive, memorable, fresh, timely, and is a process, not an event.

[|http://www.rit.edu/~rkelly/html/03_ped/ped_des2.html] -This article is very interesting as it talks about design history and orientation. It directly speaks about design students and their contributions to graphic design.

//-"Graphic design orientation should be viewed as an integral part of the studio program. Design History deals with evolution, context, influences, personages, etc. While Design Orientation includes some of the same information, it deals more specifically with critical analysis of design work".//

=__Sources__=

Laurel, Brenda. //Computers As Theatre.// New York, Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1991.

"Orientation." __Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary__. Merriam-Webster Inc. 22 Jan. 2008 <[|http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orientation>.]

"Specifiying Paper Orientation." __Microsoft Developer Network__. Microsoft Corporation. 22 Jan. 2008 <[|http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms802124.aspx>.]