Kevin Lynch : Imageability
April 5th, 2012 Comments Off
From: Spatial mapping and navigation: physical and online environments
by Rebecca Tegtmeyer
North Carolina State University, 2009
When asked to visualize a city versus a town, we are quickly able to imagine each. Imagining a “city”, we see skyscrapers, crowded streets, various noises and traffic. When thinking of a “town” we picture smaller scale buildings, houses, and parks. When asked to imagine New York City and Omaha, Nebraska, our perceptions shift, based on our past experiences and memories of other cities and towns. However, we would find our way through each city by drawing from these experiences and memories, calling upon the ‘imageable’ characteristics to navigate us. imageability is “that quality in a physical object which gives a high probability of evoking a strong image in any given observer” (lynch, 9).
All cities comprise a certain structure that maintains its imageable quality despite the particular features that construct the city’s overall identity. Lynch’s theory of city imageability is supported by the organizational elements of landmarks, districts, nodes, edges, and paths. These elements construct an underlying structure in any environment that is approached with little difficulty, forming an environment that is legible. A legible environment is one that is made up of parts that are easily recognizable, that has clarity, and can be organized into patterns. We are able to orient ourselves, recognize places of interest, and choose from a variety of paths connecting to locations and people. It involves the daily occurrence of getting from one place to another as we continually interact within our physical environment. This interaction can form either positive or negative ‘environmental’ images, all filled with meaning. Lynch describes an environmental image as the “result of a two-way process between the [audience] and its environment. The environment suggests distinctions and relations, and the [audience] selects, organizes, and endows with meaning what [they] see” (lynch, 6). Our collection of environmental images varies due to our individual cognitive differences and situated context.
elements of imageability
landmark: external to the user, cannot go into, prominence in location, use in orientation, may be isolated, not integrated.
district: can be linked together, observer can go inside of, identifiable from the inside but visible from the outside.
nodes: small points in the city, user can enter, can be several nodes, can carry a theme, focus of a district, can be dominant feature.
edges: boundaries between two kinds of areas or content, can have directional qualities.
paths: may not be identifiable or continuous, user moves along a path through his/her interaction within an environment.
Lynch, Kevin. The Image of The City. Cambridge: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1960.
Kevin Lynch, overview of “The City and Its Elements”, The City Reader: R LeGates & F Stout, 1996
CSS Overview: by Rachael Hodder Jan. 24 M
January 26th, 2012 Comments Off
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Links from the presentation:
http://www.csszengarden.com/
MSU Writing Center: http://writing.msu.edu
Interactive Web: Type on the web
January 21st, 2012 Comments Off
When visiting a site the font you see being used is on your computer, someone else on the same site, different computer, could see a different font based on what fonts they have on their computer. So, PCs and Macs will differ greatly. In CSS you “specify” what fonts you want to be displayed. You designate a list, the first font being the top preference, if the computer has that font activated it will be used, if not the second font will be selected and so forth.
The following links can give you more insight into working with fonts on the web and in CSS:
CSS Property Index
Code Style Font Survey
CSS Font Stack
Font Squirrel
Typekit
Emigre Web Fonts
Contrast Check for Type
Typetester
flipping typical
Sound Resources
September 10th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
FREE SOUNDS! FREE MUSIC! FREE FREE FREE
www.opsound.org
www.freesound.org
www.incompetech.com
www.opuzz.com
Audacity: a free-cross platform sound editor
You can use this program to record and edit sound.
