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When designers localize an image's denotative elements according to the users' cultural preferences, research shows that it improves user experience and cross-cultural usability. However, this paper reports that, even when localized denotatively, culturally-based disparities-dissonance between how the designer communicates and how the user interprets from a cultural perspective-can still impede or entirely obstruct the image's connotative performance. Localization needs to facilitate adaptation of the image on a connotative level particularly when the goal is to bring about behavioral change hyper-locally, on a transnational and transcultural scale, with a community of users. This paper presents findings from a case study of a campaign for HIV prevention in Kumasi, Ghana that advocates for condom use. I conducted fieldwork over a period of two years during which I interviewed lay people in Kumasi about the denotative and connotative performance of an HIV prevention image called the Red Card. My data confirms the existence of cultural dissonance between my Westernized esthetic sensibilities and Ghanaian interpretive capacities. My data also corroborates that the use of connotative localization through an interactive communication design process (CLIC) can reveal semiotic noise hindering the image's connotative performance prior to its final production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using typography as its exemplar with its lack of clear performance criteria, this article questions what is good design and how to measure a designer's accountability. Evaluation criteria are teased out from various perspectives: credibility, ease of use, stakeholder inclusion in the design process, respect for cultural dimensions and whether it adds to humanity and/or the environment. The article concludes with steps to social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, I reflect on a teaching experience that made me ask "what are the standards for good design in a socially conscious age?" My reflection describes an experience I had teaching engineering majors about what constitutes good design. I then compare that experience with another experience teaching graphic arts majors the practical aspects of graphic design. Through these experiences, I had an epiphany that good design establishes credibility, stimulates use and facilitates ease of use in a public context, includes the user, resonates with the culture of users, and sustains humanity or the environment. My reflection concludes with an explanation of each criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a virtual conference, Glide'08 (Global Interaction in Design Education), that brought international design scholars together online, this special issue expands on the topics of cross-cultural communication and design and the technological affordances that support such interaction. The author discusses the need for global interaction in design and its impact on design education and research. Authors in this issue are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical step toward becoming a fluent reader is learning to recognize, name and distinguish the letters of the alphabet. This difficult task is often a point of failure. The task, however, can be made easier and less prone to failure. This article, based on research by cognitive scientists, provides guides for how to design a font that will help children to learn to read. The article also summaries the latest research that indicates that slowness in learning the initial steps toward fluent reading, for example, the ability to distinguish letters, has profound, lasting effects on the organization of the brain. Developers of fonts, therefore, can make a significant contribution to the intellectual development of our children by using their skills to design a lettering system, along the lines suggested here, that will be easier to learn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the geographic distribution of Rena dissecta (New Mexico threadsnake) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, which represents the first record for Santa Cruz County.

Background: Prior research demonstrates Crohn's disease patients often do well in pregnancy; however, less is known about the risk of flare in the postpartum period., Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at a tertiary care inflammatory bowel disease center. All pregnant women with Crohn's disease who were followed in the postpartum period, defined as 6 months after delivery, were included. Statistical analysis included χ 2 analysis, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and logistic regression analysis. The primary outcome of interest was rate of flare in the postpartum period., Results: There were 105 patients included in the study, with a majority (68%) on biologic medication during pregnancy. Thirty-one patients (30%) had a postpartum flare at a median of 9 weeks (range 2-24 weeks). Twenty-five patients (81%) had their postpartum flare managed in the outpatient setting with medications (only 4 of these patients required prednisone). 6 of 31 patients (19%) were hospitalized at a median of 4 weeks (range 2-26 weeks) after delivery, requiring intravenous corticosteroids or surgery. In multivariable regression, there was no significant increase in risk of postpartum flare with increasing maternal age, flare during pregnancy, or steroid or biologic use during pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy increased risk of postpartum flare (odds ratio, 16.2 [1.72-152.94], P < 0.05)., Conclusion: In a cohort of Crohn's disease patients, 30% experienced a postpartum flare despite being on medical therapy, but most were able to be managed in the outpatient setting., (© 2021 Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)