Inbetween: Visual Selection in Parametric Design

Abstract: The act of selection plays a leading role in the design process and in the definition of personal style. This work introduces visual selection catalogs into parametric design environments. A two-fold contribution is presented: (i) guidelines for construction of a minimal-bias visual selection catalog from a parametric space, and (ii) Inbetween, a catalog for a parametric typeface that adheres to the guidelines, allows for font selection from a continuous design space, and enables the investigation of personal style. A user study conducted among graphic designers, revealed self-coherent characteristics in selection patterns, and a high correlation in selection patterns within tasks. These findings suggest that such patterns reflect personal user styles, formalizing the style selection process as traversals of decision trees. Together, our guidelines and catalog aid in making visual selection a key building block in the digital creation process and validate selection processes as a measure of personal style.