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 f all the figures mentioned in this article, the circle is the
most enigmatic, the most unusual, the most famous. It was, not
unreasonably, considered a perfect or even "sacred" form by the
ancients. Anyone who studied geometry knows that the circle
(in 2D) and sphere (in 3D) possess a set of unique features that
somehow set them apart from the rest of the abstract world.
However, I would not claim that circles are particularly favored
in any computer visual art, including web design. After all,
computers with their pixel-based screens aren't very well equipped
to display circles (much worse than rectangles). Circular designs
of, say, navigation bars are not rare, and some are nice, but I
haven't yet seen one that would definitely beat the plum of the web
layouts that do not use circles.
It is difficult to say why that is. Maybe the
viewer can't suppress the subconscious feeling of the circle being
too alien on the rectangle-dominated computer screen. Or perhaps we
just feel the inefficiency of the circle in terms of using screen
space. Indeed, the circle has the shortest perimeter among all figures
with constant area---while for layout purposes, on the contrary, it
is often desirable to minimize area and maximize perimeter. |
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On the other hand, it cannot be denied that circles have certain
charm. When used sparingly, circular forms can convey the feeling
of softness and perfection. You can cut circular fragments out of
your photos or inscribe circles in the corners of your rectangles. A
variation of the latter technique is the rectangles with rounded
corners that we've already seen
successfully used in page design. Another example is the home page
of Macromedia where nearly everything, starting from the company
logo, is rounded out with 90-degree arcs. |
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| | The Design Unit page demonstrates using
concentric circles of different colors, all clipped out by a common
rectangle, representing the site's sections (labelled above the
rectangle). This layout not only associates a certain color with
each of the sections, but also implies a sort of hierarchical
relationship among the sections, with "vision" being in the core and
"people" in the circumference. (Note also the thin dotted line leading to the awards
section). |
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For a final example visit the site of Liska and
Associates, Inc. where the geometric approach is taken to its
extreme: Every section of this site is symbolized by its own
geometric shape. It is interesting and, combined with the clean
austere design, produces a pleasant looking site. However the idea,
when implemented too literally, immediately reveals its artificial
nature: Why in the world "portfolio" must be a triangle and "what's
new", a trapezoid?! The geometric symbols pretend to imply something
about the essence of each section while in fact they've been chosen
in an almost random fashion.
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