Interface Design Concepts
Molbuild Molbuild is a secondary applet I created to test out different physical models of node connections and structure.  Click within the applet to create or select nodes.  Once a node is selected, clicks on other nodes will establish or strengthen connections between the two.  Using the w-a-s-d keys, the structure can be rotated in space.  Note that the structure remains in two dimensions until a point is placed outside the plane.  This allows the structure inside of Silk to be flattened and readjusted for display in a static 2D environment, such as a poster or printout.
	Physical Model   The physical system in Silk was set up in order toachieve certain ideals, without wasting unecessary processing power. elements could act either as nodes or leaves in the graphs leaves would distribute themselves evenly around nodes nodes would organize themselves in a structured and predictable manner physical and visual emphasis would be given to more dominant (heavier) nodes
	Visual Concerns  One of my main concerns in the visual design of the project was how the program interacted with the borders of the window. Rather, the program would have a freeform, uniform appearance. This led to certain requirements overall structure must be unified it must operate without pull-down menus onscreen interactions should not emphasize window boundaries  Other concerns focused on visual cues, such as the concerns of Tufte. physical and visual emphasis would be given to more dominant (heavier) nodes all elements of interest should remain visible at all times elements of less significance should be invisible, or visually muted