Remember those word problems in math class that went something like, “Johnny picked 35 apples today. Tomorrow Sally is coming over to bake apple pies with him. Sally lives 15 miles North of Johnny and there is a 90% chance it will rain at 2:30pm, so what temperature will they need to set the oven at?” Those were not my thing. Despite all of those headaches though, I did learn a thing or two about myself: a) I might never outsmart my dad, and b) that I’m a visual learner. I think I’m actually a very visually stimulated person in general.
I find a lot of joy in little things that I see throughout the day, sometimes it’s as simple as a clever advertisement. Other times, it’s quite the opposite. The other day I spotted a hawk flying in front of me on the bike path and I thought “oh, cool!” until I realized the hawk was ripping a crow to shreds and leaving a trail of feathers behind. Not so much joy from that one, but you get the point. If you open your eyes and look around, your day is guaranteed to be a lot more memorable.
That being said, understanding how and why the brain processes visual information is like gaining access to a gold mine of invaluable knowledge. 70% of our brain’s sensory cells are used for visual perception, leaving only 30% to the other four senses. With a statistic like that, it’s hard to ignore the obvious biological importance of our visual brain. Not to mention the benefits we could reap from understanding why our minds work this way!
The aim of this blog is to provide an information base for those of you who want to learn more, tools that can be used to visually enrich your life and/or design skills, and an online community where you can engage with others who share the same curiosity and value for the visual brain.
As Aldoux Huxley once said, “The more you know, the more you see.” I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I’m confident enough to dedicate a whole blog that proves it 😉
Design Log 