April 17th, 2008 by Pam Martin

Partners in Design – NewCity and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

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Filed under Experience Design, Travel & Destination, Development

 

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Studying design is a little like losing a few diopters of visual acuity. You no longer see the detail and minutia of things. You begin to see things elementally. Design, good or bad, is in every part of our lives. Good design smoothes the edges of our interactions, creates harmony and unity. Bad design is discordant, jarring.

No where is the essential geometry of design more present than in nature. We are often dazzled by the apparent randomness of natural things; they way they seem to resist the orderly organization we would impose on their layout. We are drawn to their "wildness", their fluidity and to the chaos that seems to exist there. But, if we look, not carefully, but hazily, at the big picture we see the fundamental order that exists. The grand plan of all things. We are not drawn to chaos; but to ratios, to sequences, to rules.

We were recently selected to redesign the web site for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The Garden, located in Richmond, Virginia, features more than 40 acres of spectacular gardens and the mid-Atlantic's only classically styled Conservatory open to the public. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's many gardens and buildings are each a triumph in the creation of both indoor and outdoor spaces that resonate viscerally with its visitors. It's no wonder that people from all over the world visit the gardens to experience their beauty or choose to have their weddings at this place that fills the senses and the soul.

We are honored to have been chosen to redesign the Garden's web site. We at NCM have long recognized that good design is vital in any user experience. Whether strolling through a rose garden or visiting a web site; intuitive, user-centric design makes every interaction more satisfying and draws us back again and again to its deceptive simplicity.

  • I was in a wedding there this past summer – beautiful place.  That’s great that you guys are going to redesign their site.

    Posted by Whitney on 04/18/08 at 3:45AM

  • “Good design smoothes the edges of our interactions, creates harmony and unity.  Bad design is discordant, jarring. ” 
    Harmony is exactly what describes what good design is.  It’s not just putting pretty pictures together with carefully crafted colors. It’s evaluating how those images, fonts, colors and textures exist within a space. Fonts are a good example of this.  A good font is not so much the crafting of the letters, but rather the thoughtfulness given to the space around and particularly between the letters.  They exist in a space together, rigid in place as though they belong there without excuse or explanation.
    Nature is a wonderful source of inspiration for how elements of beauty can coexist and play off each other.
    ——-

    Posted by Brian Maddox on 04/18/08 at 5:20AM

  • Hey great post, looking forward to the next one smile

    Posted by Nertes Liro on 03/09/10 at 1:56AM

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