I found this piece online in the current issue of "Print Magazine" as the visual for an article called, "Seeing Other People" relating to social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. I thought this article was quite appropriate since it relates to our recent class discussions and activities. The article discusses the evolution of social networks, from the dinosaur days of networking with AOL to the current battle of user population between groups like Facebook, Ning, and Flickr. The article also discusses the user struggle and frustration to express individual content and layout. Major social networks are hosted and designed by a certain team that controls the site's layout and style and users often fight to take control.
This piece is related to the content of the article because it attempts to portray users efforts to re-do or "makeover" the networking sites. Initially, I was attracted to this because it screams of a basic mainstream subject with its big bold "MYSPACE" and "FACEBOOK" letters. Also, it seemed somewhat comical yet a bit difficult to understand, so it invited me to study it more in depth. Alone, the piece doesn't do much, but with the article, it serves as a strong and interesting visual.
As for design principles, the designer used a grayscale color range that creates unity within the piece and also relates to the minimal control that the users have. The proportion of the people figures to the big giant billboards and signs creates a visually interesting hierarchy and also relates to the big name networking groups vs. the tiny voiced users. The type relates to the image because each word is designed to mock each group's logo.
