Week 11 Reflection – Video

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Finally getting off the train after a big day. Sigh.

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How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I used my iPhone 8 rear camera to film this video. For this video however I decided to try the Instagram “boomerang” option, having never used this before I realised I had to install a separate app to allow me to capture the video and then upload it to Instagram. I’ve recently this is the same with doing a collage through Instagram, as it forces you to download a separate app to then upload to Instagram. I found this interesting because it kind’ve goes away from keeping everything on the one Instagram app like is done with the editing functions. Anyway, once downloaded I found the boomerang easy enough to film and then upload to Instagram. Getting the timing of the actual boomerang was a little tricky because the length of the video is shorter than I thought it would be, and as I wanted to film me opening the door to get off the train I didn’t have any practice shots. I was reasonably happy with how it turned out though. I had enough lighting and thus didn’t need the flash on, and after taking the video I decided editing wasn’t necessary and uploaded it as it was.

2. How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I practiced a couple of boomerangs with myself on random things when sitting on the train to get an idea of how long the boomerang would be and to have an idea of timing, but I had no practice runs with actually capturing the door. At first I wished I got more of the door opening wider but now I’m happy with the look of my finger appearing and pressing the button. After uploading I added a caption; rather than just saying something random in the caption I thought I should probably provide a little context and say what I was doing. I added hashtags in the comment section, like I did with the photo this week. I wanted the video to play automatically because, like a gif, I find a boomerang only interesting because of the movement – so I thought it would be more effective if it started playing as soon as it was scrolled upon. I didn’t add a location to this image because I didn’t really think it was necessary, however on reflection maybe it would have been a good way to try and generate some more traffic.

3. How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?

I distributed this video on Instagram and onto Tumblr and Twitter through Instagram. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, sharing something from Instagram onto another app is not necessarily the most effective way to produce content. I feel like every platform has it’s own aesthetic and optimal method of use, and even if you wanted to publish the same video/photo on different mediums you would use different techniques for each one. Like I talked about in the photo reflection for this week, you could not do what I’ve done hear and comment hashtags if you wanted them to work on other platforms, because the comments do not translate to Tumblr and Twitter. Tumblr is also much more full of gifs than boomerangs, which are very much an ‘Instagram thing’ at the moment are a part of the Instagram aesthetic. I find this especially to be the case in Instagram stories (a boomerangs favourite and most natural habitat). I’ve also decided that I don’t love videos for the look of the overall grid, and if videos are to be effective they must have a cover photo that matches the rest of the accounts grid aesthetic. If I were to keep this exercise going, I would start to look for more square double doors like the ones in this weeks reflection (here) and last weeks (here). I feel like if I followed this kind of formula I could develop a nice aesthetic. As such if I were to do boomerangs, I would look for square sliding doors and do them opening and closing rather than a closeup of my hand pressing the door button like I did this week.
As far as publishing through Instagram on Twitter goes, it serves essentially as a teaser for your Instagram account rather than a direct sharing of the publication, and as such I don’t rate it that highly. I was recently introduced to an app called Buffer which allows you to link all your social media accounts and post the same thing to them simultaneously, or to post similar things but edited according to the apps without jumping between them all. I rate this highly as a better, more effective way of cross platform sharing rather than doing so through Instagram. I also find it interesting that if you share your Instagram’s like I have been doing through the app, the goal is still to bring the viewer to the Instagram app. You’re directly linked to the Instagram account on Tumblr and on Twitter you can’t even see the image/video without going into Instagram.

 

Week 11 Reflection – Photo

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The Cellar d00r

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How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?

I took this photo using my new iPhone 8 using the rear camera. Despite it being dark outside I didn’t want to use the flash as I generally don’t like the way it can wash out or overexpose the subject, particularly because the see-through door gave enough light by itself. I found this subject suited the square dimension of Instagram better than my previous subjects. The door itself is square, and I quite liked the look of the timber walls as it kind of fit into that more simple, bare Instagram aesthetic talked about in last week’s reading (Manovich, 2016). After taking the shot I added the “Clarendon” filter, but reduced it to about “40” so that it wouldn’t have the over-edited look. While going through this process I was reminded about how quickly and easily you can go through the whole authoring process, while still producing a decent looking photo. I took the photo in the app, once I was happy with it clicked next and then added a filter, reduced it, added a caption, my location and published it to Twitter and Tumblr by just swiping right on both and it was ready to go – all in less than a minute. This is obviously done deliberately to keep you on the Instagram app rather than using other editing software apps like VSCO. While the other apps may help to create a better looking shot, the constraints are more prevalent as you have to first save the photo to your phone and then upload to Instagram, and it definitely makes the authoring process longer and a bit more complex (still easy, but not as easy as doing it all on Instagram).

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to
Instagram?

The publication process for this photo was straightforward. I didn’t take many photos because I knew what I was trying to capture. My one concern was whether to try and capture the whole front part of the store (including the sign on the wall) etc and to not cut off any of the objects in the photo. However that could have thrown off the dimensions of the shot so I decided I wanted a shot that focused on the door and the light inside, and the cut off objects on the sides wouldn’t really matter as they were secondary to the focus of the shot. My caption was stupid pun, to be honest when I walked past the bar I wasn’t thinking about the name of it but after I took the shot and added the location I knew I had to use it. I added the location as well because I think that is one other significant way of creating traffic on your profile alongside hashtags. Particularly popular restaurants and bars will have Instagram accounts and will like photos they’re tagged in, and while it did not happen on this occasion I like this strategy. This week (for both the video and the photo) as an experiment I didn’t add any hashtags to the actual caption, but after publishing I added a comment with as many hashtags as I could think of. I really liked this result because if the comment is long enough, all you can see when scrolling is “view 1 comment” and not the ugly messiness of heaps of hashtags that can make the post look a bit tacky in my opinion. Also, I am able to add heaps of hashtags and hopefully create more traffic rather than just three hashtags like I did last week.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to
other social media services?

I published this photo on both Tumblr and Twitter which was again made super easy after I linked the accounts in the first week. What made this week different was how I added a hashtag comment to my Instagram account so to not clutter the actual caption and to be able to hopefully generate more traffic on the publication. However for obvious reasons this does not translate well when publishing onto Twitter and Tumblr as you can’t edit twitter posts to add hashtags and because Tumblr is just sharing a picture of the Instagram post I can’t add hashtags to that either. So While this is easily my favourite hashtag strategy for Instagram it doesn’t translate well with the other apps. My strategy of using hashtags and generating traffic over different platforms would then be determined by the importance of each platform to me. For example if my main target audience was on Instagram I would stick with this strategy, however if my main audience was on all of the platforms I may go back to my strategy from last week.

 

Week 10 Reflection – Video

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Slowing down #doors #adoorable #revolvingdoors

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How did you author (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
My iPhone SE died last week (RIP) so I bought a new phone (iPhone 8) and these were my first Instagram uploads using it. While the phone screen is bigger I found the dimension constraints annoying to frame the video in particular. I couldn’t figure out a nice way to frame it, and uploaded the video as a reminder to myself of how not to frame videos like that on Instagram. I used the front camera without a flash, and I also decided to mute the video to remove unnecessary, distracting background noise.  After I was happy (enough) with the video I chose a filter “Inkwell”, which makes the photo black and white. Unlike last week when I reduced the filter, I just went with the preset Inkwell filter as it was because I wanted it to look black and white the way it was shown; I thought this could not only make the video a bit more interesting but it could also mix up the colours and aesthetic of my profile feed/grid.

How did you publish (the photo or video) you recorded for upload to Instagram?
It took a few goes to get a video I was happy with as I decided I wanted one without any people going in or coming out of the revolving doors. While the ability to record a video on Instagram with different parts (it allows you to press record then stop, then press record again so that you can keep the video going) I found this frustrating to re-shoot a video I wasn’t happy. It was only a couple of extra clicks to get out of the video I was filming but it felt fiddly and was a bit annoying to go through. If I were recording videos for my personal account I would still probably do this on the camera app rather than in Instagram unless I wanted to use that specific function. After getting what I wanted, I added a caption, a location and three hashtags like last week. I’m still deciding whether I like the look of this or whether it’s still too crowded.

How did you distribute (the photo or video) you published on Instagram to other social media services?
Like last week I distributed this video on my Instagram and to the linked Tumblr and Twitter accounts. Toggling between the accounts is very easy as I just have to go to my profile screen and click on my name, and Instagram remembers the linked accounts so all I have to do is select “Tumblr” and “Twitter” and it was ready to go. I maintained the three hashtags for this video.

 

Manovich, L 2016, Instagram and the Contemporary Image, University of San Diego,  US, <http://manovich.net/index.php/projects/instagram-and-contemporary-image>

Online Videography – Rachel Ryle

This week we’ve taken a look at online videography, particularly in relation to Instagram. The subject I have chosen is Rachel Ryle. While she isn’t a traditional videographer in the sense that her videos are primarily animations and illustrations, it is an example of how artists and influencers are using the Instagram video function to gain audience leverage and sell their brand. Today she has 1.1 million Instagram followers, and while she uses other platforms Ryle says that Instagram is still her “main focus”.

The video I’m discussing is below.

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I love when I gain inspiration from talented people that I've met on @Instagram. Even better, I love when I find ways to collaborate with them & get the opportunity to point my spotlight their way! I've been a fan of @chrisburkard's account for years, and I created this piece out of my adoration & respect for his work. His adventurous spirit and ability to capture the places he goes is inspiring & captivating. Last year he released a stunning documentary about an Icelandic surf trip that recently got picked up by Netflix! The moment I watched it I was inspired to make this animation. Within this piece I did my best to retell his story through the world of my art. It took me nearly a month to conceptualize & complete, with a lot of attention to detail & tricky parts to figure out along the way. The whole time I thought about his dedication to his craft, and how it's always worth pushing yourself to new limits in the effort to make something new for others to enjoy. My hope with creating this piece is that it will encourage you to follow his awesome account and that you'll go watch his film, "Under An Arctic Sky" (available on Netflix & iTunes)! I promise you'll be inspired…& if you are, give it a good rating! A huge thank you to the team at @ChrisBurkardStudio for providing me with the footage & to @juliancisneros for the film's original music! Here's to supporting other creators & their creativity! #stopmotion #animation #illustration #art #instavideo #instavid #surfing #travel #iceland #UnderAnArcticSky #chrisburkard

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Who is the practitioner (what is their name and their Instagram handlebar?) and when were they practicing?
Rachel Ryle (@rachelryle) is an award-winning animator and illustrator. While she has illustrated for a long time, it was only in 2013 that she started animating. Her first attempt (which she posted to YouTube) that was made in 2013 is miles away from the quality she produces now.

With the photo you are examining when was it produced ?
The video was published in May of 2018, however she says the video took nearly a month to conceptualise and produce. She says that on average a 30 second clip will take 4 to 5 days of conceptualising, illustrating, filming and editing before completion.

How was the video authored and published?

While I’m not completely sure of the process or the camera she uses, Rachel illustrates and cuts all the objects in her videos and then animates them together in a sequence, kind of like stop-motion. I love the way she makes her videos a loop, so that the last frame of the video is the same as the starting frame, making it really aesthetically pleasing.

The video was published on her Instagram @rachelryle page.

How was the video distributed?
The video was distributed on both YouTube and Facebook, as well as the Instagram page. Interestingly, despite Ryle’s already large following, she still sees the need to add 11 hashtags to this particular video to create further circulation and wider distribution of the video.

Legacy Video – TV Garden by Nam June Paik

After looking at legacy video this week, I was inspired to look into one of Nam June Paiks signature art installations – TV Garden, which now lives in the Guggenheim Museum, New York.

On the link below there is a picture of the installation that Guggenheim have put up, however there are many more photos to be found on Google.

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?
Nam June Paik. He rose to prominence in the early 1960s, but remained so until the 90s as he produced a great number of works. He’s widely considered to be the father of TV art, or at the very least a highly influential pioneer of it.

With the photo or video you are examining when was it produced (date)?
It was originally produced in 1974, before being moved or recreated many times around the world.

How was the photo or video authored and published?
TV Garden is an arrangement of live plants with video monitors of all different sizes scattered throughout. Every TV is playing Paik’s Global Groove (1973) on repeat. Global Groove features montages of performers dancing to musically funky and visually eye-catching mix. The installation allows viewers to immerse themselves in the piece by walking around and alongside the plants and TV screens. The original was featured at Documenta 6, an art exhibition in Kassel, Germany.

How was the photo or video distributed?
While the instalment was originally published to the public at an art exhibition in Germany, it has been shown and recreated at many different museums and galleries around the world since. Each of these times Paik’s estate would have received royalties from those showcasing the piece and would have required in the past either himself (he is now deceased so he is no longer able to) or a representative to ensure the recreation was in line with his original vision. For example, Tate Modern Museum in London is already advertising their exhibition in October 2019 that will feature TV Garden (see here). Interestingly, the photo shown on the advertising page is of TV garden when it was featured in a museum in Dusseldorf, Germany in 2002. TV Garden sure has bounced around.

I like the installation because of its ambiguity, and whether it’s commenting on how nature and technology are now forming some sort of symbiosis, or whether technology is as chaotic and structureless as ‘the jungle’ or nature can be.

See you next week!

Legacy Photography – Starving Child and Vulture by Kevin Carter

 

The image being referred to can be found on this link:
http://100photos.time.com/photos/kevin-carter-starving-child-vulture

 

Kevin Carter took “Starving Child and Vulture” in 1993 when he was in famine-ravaged Sudan. He started working as a photographer in 1983 and worked until he took his life in 1994.

While I’m not sure what camera was used to produce the photo other than that it would have been an analog camera, it was published less than a month later by The New York Times. It’s unclear whether he had the photos developed before sending them to the US or whether he just sent film rolls. Regardless, the fact that it was published so quickly by the New York Times after being taken in remote Sudan shows how keen the Times were to get it out. In terms of framing Carter apparently took a few photos of the child and the vulture, this one ended up framing both subjects in a way that tells a haunting narrative of the vulture waiting for the child to die.

Being the New York Times in 1993 meant that the picture was published in print. One main difference between such a photo being published in 1993 compared to modern times is that there was relatively low information surrounding the photo when it was published, as the photographer had sold it to a publication in another country. Furthermore the fact that Carter could not explain or defend the action of taking the photos and not directly helping the child meant that he received severe public backlash after the photo was taken. After the event Carter did explain that he chased the bird away and waited for sometime hoping that the child would make it to the food centre, and that he was instructed not to touch any of the children because he could contract infectious diseases. Nowadays, people can publish photos anywhere and on their own terms, explaining and justifying the reasons and background behind them when publishing, rather than having to explain after the event.

The fact that the New York Times, one of, if not the world’s biggest print news publications published the photo means that it gained worldwide notoriety, much more so than if it was published by a newspaper in his native South Africa per say. While Carter did receive plenty of backlash, he also received significant support – particularly in the form of winning a Pulitzer Prize for the picture.

The Times is an extremely highly regarded news source that markets itself on reliability and demonstrating journalistic pride and integrity. As such Carters’ photo fits the Times’ general style and was taken by its readers very seriously. However it could be worth noting that Carter, who was from South Africa, may have had more knowledge about the political and social context in Sudan as he was geographically closer to the country than The New York Times’ main audience in the US. They may have potentially had less knowledge about the condition of life in Sudan and the complexities of disease and famine, as well as the difficult circumstance Carter found himself in. This may help to explain some of the backlash he received from many New York Times readers. It’s an example of what Zylinska (2016) talks about how photography used to be: “photojournalists dispatched to the world’s remote corners that few of us could regularly access” and “advertisers trying to sell us chunks of that world”. How things have changed.

Week 4 Reflection – Social Media

This blog post will look at the following reading as well as the basic concept of ‘new media’, ‘social media’, and how they fit into Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.

Siapera, E. (2013). Understanding New Media. London: SAGE Publications, pp.1-16.

This week we’ve taken a look into how the World Wide Web is, like all “new media”, is evolving and becoming the Web 3.0. Looking at this through the lense of Norman (1988), the new web is all about the ‘constraints’ of controlling the user, the ‘affordances’ of user freedom, and the ‘mapping’ of the illusion of user control.

Current social media networks (like Instagram) that work are the ones that feel that they are both easy to use and are personalised to the user. For example, when you search for certain users or pages on Instagram, this will inform the algorithm for suggested pages to follow or photos that pop up on your ‘explore page’. The same applies for when a user searches for certain things (think fashion, cars, special interests etc.) on the network that may even be separate to Instagram. Instagram then collects the metadata and advertises or ‘sponsors’ posts for you to see based on your previous searches, hoping that this fits within your interests and then leads to you spending your money on these products/services advertised (see images below). This is how Instagram has created a direct way of monetising their product   through collaboration with business partners that want to advertise on their platform, and it is Web 3.0 exemplified. 

Instagram knows that in the last few weeks I have: searched international flights, watched movie trailers and booked an Oktoberfest ticket. It then advertises accordingly – leaving me a prisoner of my own searches.

As long as this creates user satisfaction and convenience, it is an example of getting the mapping right. But every so often these suggestions seem too keen, and sometimes after just one search of a certain thing that user is now held captive by it; surrounded by suggested pages or products that the algorithm believes they will be interested in. This is where the constraints in this particular example lay. If the user no longer feels that what is being suggested for them is actually personalised and instead just regular advertising – the purpose is defeated.

Going back to the prompt, ‘how do the affordances of Instagram impact the way affect the way photos and videos are being authored, produced and distributed in the network?’, I now see what McLuhan and Kittler are talking about (see reading) in relation to user behaviour being determined by technology, rather than the other way around. While I’m not sure if I agree that this is the case with all technology, it does seem to make sense in the case of Instagram – that our user habits are shaped more by the changes the creators make than

they are by natural user evolution. However there has to be some level of user influence on the direction of Instagram or any successful app so as to not put too many constraints in place, and I think that’s what Stiegler (1994) is trying to say in that in almost every case technology and humans are bound together.

Overall I’ve found the idea of Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 a really interesting topic and I’m looking forward to exploring this further in relation to both Instagram and in the other topics coming up in the next few weeks.

Week 3 Reflection – Network

This blog post will look at the following reading on network literacy.

Miles, Adrian. Soft Cinematic Hypertext (Other Literacies). RMIT University, 2012. (Network Literacy: The New Path to Knowledge 201-208).

Before this week I’d never considered the other aspects of being “print literat” (201) other than the simple aspects of being able to read and write, which is just simply being literat.  In this reading Miles points out the many different skills and the deeper level of understanding required of someone to be actually print literat, whether it being able to mark a page, finding the publisher of a book, using the table of contents or being able to look for books in a library. He then uses this concept to explore the idea of “network litaracy” (201) and the ways in which it greatly differs from print literacy, as well as its importance to everyone on the network.

Network literacy, at the most basic level requires the knowledge and understanding that content is “distributed across the network” (203) and is then readily available to everyone else on the network. Moreover, being network literat means that the user understands that they can consume other users content as much as it is the other way around. According to Miles, “…to be ‘good’ at network literacies is to contribute as much as it is to consume.” (204)

I now want to take a quick look, like I have in the past couple of weeks here and here, at how this reading relates back to the prompt ‘How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are being authored, produced and distributed in the network?’. As well as this, what network literacy skills are required to be able to use Instagram at the optimum level?

Well firstly, as mentioned earlier, Miles’ idea on a user being network literat requires them to understand that their content is shared with everyone on the network and visa versa (204). Instagram is a social network specifically designed for users to be able to share their own content and engage with the content of others – specifically in the photos and videos. Thus using instagram requires the knowledge that the app is not a photo storage device, or a memory bank or a private photo album like some may use on their phone or laptop, but instead is designed for content that is suitable or even enjoyable for others to consume. Therefore the majority of users like to keep their Instagram content light, funny, happy, cool, attractive or at the very least attention grabbing. Otherwise there seems to be no point in sharing the content in the first place, as it is meant to be for other users viewing pleasure. This means that someone who is network literat understands that very private material or explicit content that does not fit into the general framework and atmosphere of Instagram should not be posted for other viewers to see. While some may, they are outliers, and Instagram monitors and filters out these users and posts constantly. Therefore in relation to being network literat, users who are should understand what is suitable content for Instagram, and how the content that people share on Instagram and the general tone of the app and it’s users differs from other network apps or websites – where the content may be of a different nature.

Finally, being network literat on Instagram means users understand that the app is designed for users to share their own content. While it allows you to share other people’s content for your own followers to also see, it does it in a way that still credits the original user. While some users may use other apps or websites on the network to find photos to share on their instagram (see every ‘wanderlust’ photo of a random girl on a beach in fiji and you’ll know those kind of googled images), it is a far minority who do this. Instagram also have put in place measures to protect intellectual property, and reserve the right to remove users or content that they see to violate their rules. Therefore network literat users understand that at it’s core Instagram is designed for users to share their own personal stories and experiences to then engage with others’ content as well. While they may not always use the app in this way and may share content that is not original, the users still understand that this is the basic purpose of the Instagram network.

I’m looking forward to next week’s topic ‘social media’ and unpacking that in relation to our prompt once again.

Week 2 Reflection – Affordances

… “The term affordance refers to the perceived and actual properties of the thing, primarily those fundamental properties that determine how the thing could possibly be used” (Norman 1988, 9).

This week we’ve taken a look into what ‘affordances’ actually are in order to properly explore the prompt we were given last week: “How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are being authored, produced and distributed in the network”. To begin to really understand affordances, we looked at it through the lens of Donald Norman’s ‘The Psychology of Everyday Things’ (1988). 

 In relation to Instagram there are a few affordances and constraints that the app either has now or has had in the past that may that affect the way in which photos and videos are authored. For example, Instagram stories until recently only allowed the user to upload photos onto their stories that fit a certain size dimension, and if the photo did not fit the requirement the app would either automatically zoom or cut the photo to fit the required dimension. The below photos show how this works.


Because This may in turn affect the way in which we choose photos to upload onto Instagram, for example photos shot horizontally with people in them right to the sides may not be suitable to upload onto an ‘Insta Story’ unless the user is willing to make the whole photo smaller (see first photo).

I think Instagram is an interesting case study into an application/social network that has continued to update, upgrade and build in more affordances to appeal to as many users as possible. For example, the app used to be exclusively photos of a certain size dimension that other users could like or comment on, there was no messaging, no videos or stories or many of the other affordances that are now built into the Instagram system.

In terms of this week’s first reading, ‘The Psychology of Everyday Things’ by Donald Norman (1988), it’s a really interesting, thorough look into affordances and how they are so relevant to everything we use in our everyday lives. His suggestions about affordances and their relationship with ‘constraints’ and ‘mappings’ (1988, 12) is as relevant as ever. However his examples are a little outdated. Technology and what we now use in our everyday lives has advanced so much now that it would be interesting to hear his theories about affordances within modern technology like Instagram, and whether he would even consider them actual affordances or whether he would consider them ‘perceived affordances’ (Norman, 2004). The article he wrote in 2004 “Affordance, Convention and Design (Part 2) explores the difference between affordances and perceived affordances and helps to clear up some of the misinterpretations. However even since 2004 technology and the way in which we engage with it has advanced exponentially, and social media in particular is nothing like it was back in 2004. So while it serves as some sort of revised update, it still feels a little outdated.

I’m interested to discuss more in class about how the affordances of Instagram in particular, but also other social media platforms change the way in which we engage with them whether it be deliberate or not from the designers part. Then to see how these same affordances may even begin to create cultural norms and form “conventions” (Norman 1988, 55).

 

References:
– Norman, D. (1995). The Psychology of Everyday Things. 2nd ed. [London]: BasicBooks, p.55.
– Jnd.org. (2004). Don Norman’s jnd.org / Affordance, Conventions and Design (Part 2). [online] Available at: https://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordance_conv.html [Accessed 26 Jul. 2018].

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