• Archives of design research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.179-188
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• 2003

We can discover some facts that vernacular design products with a property of volunteer culture coexist with ready-made products as an useful objects in the post-industrial society. Currently, few attempts had been made at studies of the vernacular design objects with understanding cultural context in post-industrial society, it is necessary to illuminate the relationships between the user with a role of design producer and the product viewed in culturally. In chapter 2, by examining documentary, t have been understood the definition, apprehensions, attributes linking creative use's culture with vernacular design culture, and distinctions between vernacular design and main stream design system. In chapter 3, by verifying products of everyday street and construction site, have been investigated the public characters and the differences compared with the past. In chapter 4, as a subtle example, have been analyzed design feathers and cultural characters of the products which children and infants culture generates by reflecting the socio-economic backgrounds and the culture from 60c and 70c to now according to the phases of the times. In conclusion, first, it seems quite probably that all of artificial objects exist a state of ready-made but that is not appropriate to correspond with user's whole behaviors. supplementally, it causes the phenomenon of vernacular design products. Secondly, it is reasonable to suppose that such main-stream design system and vernacular design go forward continually and crossly with coexistent relationships as high culture and sub culture. Third, three concepts: long-life design, ecology design and recycling revealed in vernacular design are useful distinguishing marks for the future design directions, moreover instant-response, fast and flexible process, three distinctions have a possibility of alternative process which can overcome the control-based process such as the systematic approach and the planning MTG in present. Finally, in children and infants culture, vernacular design products have changed the pure style products in the past into the modified techno playing products in the present. These should De a substitute product that supplyes variousness to ready-made design system and a design culture that maintains continually as a independent culture.

• Archives of design research
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• v.19 no.4 s.66
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• pp.51-60
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• 2006

Nowadays, reading text from screens is prevailing in everyday life. The advent of mobile information devices such as a cellular phone, PDA, and e-book reader facilitates us to enjoy various text-based contents any time and anywhere. Most studies comparing screen and paper readability show that screens are less readable than paper. Furthermore, the decrease of line length and number of lines that can be displayed on the screen of mobile information devices deteriorate text readability. This study investigated parameters affecting text readability on small screens and designed a new text layout to improve readability. We suggested a diagonally splitted layout of rectangular column, which is supposed to facilitate eye movement to trace text flow with ease. The experiment comparing readability between a traditional rectangular column and a diagonally splitted column was conducted. The result of experiment revealed that there is no significant difference between the two text layouts in terms of subjective satisfaction of reading task and a level of comprehension. However, in the screen size of $4000mm^2\;and\;8000mm^2$, reading speed was increased 18.9% and 34.0% respectively from a traditional rectangular column to a diagonally splitted column. We conducted a consecutive experiment to scrutinize the cause that improved the performance in readability task remarkably. The readability of text in a traditional rectangular column was compared with a left triangular column and a right triangular column in the condition of $4000mm^2/3:1$ ratio screen. The performance measurements revealed that participants read 21.1% and 67.6% faster respectively with the left triangular column and right triangular column than with the rectangular column. In consequence, the improvement of readability in the diagonally splitted column was attributed mainly to the increase of reading speed in the right triangular column. This research verified that the diagonally splitted column improve text readability on a small screen and this result is expected to make a contribution to designing an efficient text layout for mobile information devices