[Sigia-l] Google introduces animated icons on homepage

[Andrea Resmini]

Eric,

> Here in Scandinavia, we're particularly keen to produce "clean"
> design with lots of white space.

Well, that's what Scandinavian design is all about, isn't it? :)

> I don't pretend to fully understand this penchant for clutter, but
> there certainly seems to be a sociological factor playing out here.

I don't pretend that either, but it's something I've been sniffing from a
distance for some time now for some articles, after dealing with it in a
previous life as an architect, and it definitely conveys an idea that
proxemics is involved, and sociology.

Personal space tends to be pretty spacey in Scandinavia(*), as opposed to
Mediterranean and Asian cultures: this has been well documented by Hall
and others. It definitely could translate into these behaviors we are
documenting.
I read a number of books back then about these issues in architectonic
spaces, but right now me and my books are two separate entities and I
cannot check properly. Worth looking into, anyway: I'll report back if I
manage to track back some sources.

Just m2c, these things go down deep.

(*) the Swedish bubble, for example, is just about the size of your
garage. No need to be offended for Swedes, though, since I'm currently
developing (if that is the verb) my own. And I pretty like it. ;)

--

Andrea Resmini
Information architect
root at resmini.net