Drawar

Since I don’t have a way to (as of yet) to get quality screenshots of beautiful websites I come across into Collections, I wanted to start writing about them. I’m calling them SSS for Super Sexy Site or Screenshot. Actually you can call them whatever you want as long as they have three S’s in there.

Yesterday was the launch of NeonMob and although it is mostly a splash page with a simple account screen after you signup, all the details have been looked at. Instead of glossy gradients and reflective surfaces, you get a nice mysterious noisy texture mixed with some flatness.

The signup form is easy to understand, although the concept of the site is totally lost on me. I know they explain it clearly and I’m probably over thinking it, but why would I want to buy, sell and trade digital collectibles? Only time will tell and I’m sure I’ll have a better understanding when the full site launches.

Besides having wonderful typography and beautifully designed collectibles, I’m really digging the footer bar. I’m curious as to why the social media aspect of the bar is bigger than the stuff that relates to the company (blog and jobs), but for the first time in a while, the social media stuff didn’t come across as slimy. Amazing what happens when you take just a little bit of time to design things out.

So check out NeonMob and sign up to see the insides. They are just as good as the outside layer.

After talking about design for over 10 years I still find it hard to nail exactly into words what it means for every person on this planet. I know what I have defined it as, but it is still hard to tell someone that design is both the look of something and how it works. It is the total package. There are ugly websites that do very, very well and people think that the visual appeal of them shouldn’t be improved. Do you think that that look of a site also plays a role in how it functions for a person? I do.

For businesses, making money is one of the most important goals of their existence. It shouldn’t be the only goal to achieve, but a business not making money isn’t really a business. The design of the product, service or store play a huge role in how the business makes money so why is it that the design will get overlooked? I’m sorry, the design never really gets overlooked because every aspect of the business is designed, but not all parts are designed equally. Some people place more emphasis on designing the name of the business than they do the actual business process. So to them design might be how it sounds. Design might be what type of doors they use for the entrance. Design might be how the food looks on a plate.

For the individual looking to purchase a product and having to go through a convoluted checkout process, design is how easy, or difficult, it is to buy. Once the package arrives then design is how much effort goes into opening the package. When you finally get the package open how easy is it to use the device? After two years of having the device do you find yourself still going back to it?

There are so many aspects of designing the complete user experience that it can melt your brain when you have to think about all of them.

The Details That Control Us

Des Traynor gave a great talk that went over the small details of a design, specifically the microcopy, and how it affects user behavior. How many websites provide a welcome email letter that makes us read it through entirely and then share it with friends? Companies spend so much time trying to design a way to get people to sign up, that they forget that the experience isn’t over yet.

When I wrote about cheap design labor, some people didn’t understand that as a design professional you can design a full service experience that one simply can not get from a template. If I buy a template from 99designs, then who is ensuring that my checkout process is as easy as it can get? Who is making sure that every piece of copy on my pages fit the experience that I am aiming for? What is the design of the confirmation email that a person gets when they buy something?

Currently I’m designing a piece of software that has been done a million times already in the world, but I’m seeing how the smaller bits and pieces can be designed better. How can the flow of the whole application work more smoothly. When you have to dive this deep into the details it is amazing to find how so many things go without getting the design attention that they deserve.

The Looks

I’m getting more and more concerned about the focus designers are placing on visuals. While the aesthetic aspect of design is as important as ever, I wonder if some designers are forgetting their role as problem solvers and focusing more on their role as an artist. Being a great designer is a challenge and when all of the training and learning is geared towards making something look good you begin to miss out on what design really is about.

Yes, design is how it works and how it works is a function of how it looks.

Every time someone attempts to redesign HackerNews, they focus on just making it look better. When they do this they usually increase the size of the font and drop in some gradients. While this makes things look better, to the HackerNews crowd it doesn’t make the site function any better. In fact, too many of them it makes it function even worse. They like the ability to read a ton of posts on their screen without having to scroll. They enjoy screen density. Maybe they wouldn’t know about it if the site was initially designed that way, but because it was that is something they have grown accustomed to and want to keep it.

So when approaching a redesign, you simply can not just make things prettier. You have to make things better. When 37signals was thinking about how to make Basecamp they went for a true redesign. They re-imagined how the whole system worked. If design is about form and function then shouldn’t a redesign be about those things as well?

Whatever you are designing today take a second to look over an element or a flow and ask yourself why it says what it does or does what you what you designed it to do. There is so much to design that we leave to our instincts or chance. As creatives we probably don’t like to leave design to science, but we understand how people work and therefore we should have a better understanding of how design works for us.

I used to hate the idea of spec work. By saying this I’m not saying that I love the idea of it now, but I’ve come to accept that there will be companies that will do it and designers that love to participate. I’m in the minority though because designers near and far love to get in an uproar whenever they see a spec design contest happen.

The latest example is from 99designs. Now I’ve written about them before and my thoughts haven’t changed a bit. They are very successful because there is a market for a site that offers cheap design labor. You aren’t part of the cheap design labor crowd so spec work competitions don’t have anything to do with you.

You are a professional who does the research, usablity studies, understands color theory, and works with contracts. You also don’t do work for $99. Just because there are people out there that are willing to do design work for that price doesn’t mean the industry is falling apart.

There is an overabundance of designers out there. There is a lack of high-quality designers though. When someone is paying for a design on 99designs, they are paying for art. You are a designer and you produce designs. When the art fails the company you can come in and swoop up their business.

Pitchfork to 99designs

When I was reading the spec work 99designs was offering I was kind of annoyed. Then I started reading the comments and saw there were more than a couple of designers that were excited about the opportunity. Not every designer works at the same price scale as you. Does every developer around the world work on the same price scale? Not even close and we are all aware of it.

The design world is no different. Some people just need to get paid. Some like to do ‘design’ and get paid for it and $99 is a lot for them. $99 will feed their family and a lot of other stuff. You can’t compete on that level, but why would you want to?

Spec work sucks because you get to see a lot of designers compete for a chance not to earn a single dime. We feel these designers are being taken advantage of, but they understand the risks. I think we have protested against spec work enough that most large companies won’t even dare do it. Most people are well aware of the value of getting a designer to go through the design process to create a design for them.

Not every business needs design. Some just need art. I don’t begrudge them for that. I have better things to do. As more and more designers around the world join the party it isn’t going to get any better from your perspective. Maybe its time to focus on something else.

More Important Things

Be happy that the business world is starting to understand the importance of design. Because of this designers are more in demand than they ever have been. If you are a decent designer it is hard NOT to get a job. Every job board is filled with job opportunities for quality designers and for those looking to increase their skill level? They might try to get a couple of dollars doing some spec work. Every situation is different.

Many great designers are theme designers for WordPress, Tumblr or some other CMS. These aren’t much different than the 99designs model. A business sets up a WordPress site and then buys a $39 theme and thinks they are good to go. This scenario is more prolific than the spec work or design contests that go on every couple of months. To some people design is just the aesthetics. A nice looking theme means they can impress their friends and employees. Are you going to spend hours, days and weeks trying to convince them that they need to pay you a couple thousand to get the job done? Do you buy every top notch service in your life? Most of the time I’m sure you just buy what is needed to get the minimum done. As much as you hate to admit, some people approach design in the same way.

The design industry needs to see the shift that has happened. Aesthetics, or what people think is design, is a commodity. How many designs start to blend in together and look the same on dribbble? They all look good though and if a hundred designers can copy the same look and feel from each other quickly and easily then it is a commodity. Lowest price is going to win when all things are equal and for 90% of the businesses online, aesthetics is all that matters.

rdio came out with a new homepage this week and it is brilliant. I have no doubt that it took them a couple of months to come up with the concept and work it all out after some testing. How long would it take you to duplicate that design, tweak the color and content and sell it off to a client? A business might see the site, like how it looks and just assume it is easy to use. Another satisfied customer!

What can you do about it? Get better at your profession. Become an industry leader. Work your tail off.

One of the premier design agencies recently redesigned their site in a week and talked about it. They made it look easy, so why shouldn’t customers think that design is easy? HappyCog also sells Shopify themes because aesthetics is a commodity. Most design solutions aren’t complex and the price people are willing to pay reflects that. 99designs is offering $1000 to redesign their homepage and all they do is sell stuff. How many people would do a design like that for $200? How many companies would just go look for a theme for 1/10th of that?

A majority of designers on the web are just artists. They make a living from being that. If you want to be more that is your call, but understand the difference between you and them and also the type of customers you are going after.

Sidenote: I think I’m more surprised by the people judging the 99designs competition. No professional worth their salt should participate in these things. Especially for a company that makes millions of dollars.

I’ve been involved in the design world in some form or another for 10 years. That isn’t a lot of time to you veterans out there, but during this time it has helped me develop a sense of how I view the role of a designer and design itself. I always like to think that design is a way to make the world better for a least one person. Everything that we design can have a positive impact on someone if we take the time to do it right.

The Ransom

Not too long ago, Lins Redding, wrote a wonderful piece on the creative’s struggle. Almost every designer I know would rather lose sleep, time on this earth and a little bit of health to ensure that they don’t put out shoddy work. This is both a blessing and a curse because it is great to know that a design will function to the best of its ability, but that means a designer is giving up something else. This could be the aforementioned sleep, time, and or health. It could be something else.

The creative industry operates largely by holding ‘creative’ people ransom to their own self-image, precarious sense of self-worth, and fragile – if occasionally out of control ego. We tend to set ourselves impossibly high standards, and are invariably our own toughest critics. Satisfying our own lofty demands is usually a lot harder than appeasing any client, who in my experience tend to have disappointingly low expectations. Most artists and designers I know would rather work all night than turn in a sub-standard job. It is a universal truth that all artists think they a frauds and charlatans, and live in constant fear of being exposed. We believe by working harder than anyone else we can evaded detection. The bean-counters rumbled this centuries ago and have been profitably exploiting this weakness ever since. You don’t have to drive creative folk like most workers. They drive themselves. Just wind ‘em up and let ‘em go.

Is it all worth it? I guess it depends on how important it is to you on making an impact on someone. Not every project will have an impact on a massive amount of people, but in the creative’s mind does that make it any less important? What I’ve discovered about myself over the years is that I’m more invested in the projects that have nothing to do with money than I am with the ones that come with a nice stipend. It is as if my brain tries to logically break down how good a $10,000 design should be. However, when I’m doing something for free, I can spend 10x as long working on it just to get everything right. I no longer wonder if it is good enough for free, I wonder is it good enough to make an impact.

By no means am I suggesting that either line of thinking is correct and maybe I should view all projects with the same level of thought, but it doesn’t work out that way. Even after a large number of designs I look back and wonder what have I done to make a dent in this world? Money doesn’t dictate that feeling. Seeing the delight on someone’s face does however.

Of Lasting Importance

But what I didn’t do, with the benefit of perspective, is anything of any lasting importance. At least creatively speaking. Economically I probably helped shift some merchandise. Enhanced a few companies bottom lines. Helped make one or two wealthy men a bit wealthier than they already were.

Design is taking over the world. There are thousands of designers out there. Don’t believe me? Go check out dribbble or Behance to see just a small percentage of them. The majority of them are doing work for others. They are putting out great designs for people that are willing to pay. Usually these are businesses looking to utilize the designs to make money. The only impact these designs have is on the businesses. We have to make money though so this won’t ever stop. Sometimes it is even enjoyable to do.

It is tough looking back at life and wondering if you had created anything of lasting importance. The creative person’s ransom is that you usually have to sacrifice something to achieve that feeling. It is tough and not every design that we go through will even come close to being that one of lasting importance. However, I think it is vital that we continue to look for those opportunities no matter if there is a dollar sign attached to them or not. No matter if the people on the awards sites will notice. No matter if our peers praise us or not. All of those things are great, but that isn’t what you are searching for deep down. That isn’t what is going to make you smile 10 years down the road.

You will always do your best work because that is the type of person you are. Over time that work will continue to get better. It shouldn’t be held to any other standard but your own. You also won’t be completely satisfied till you start to design something everlasting. You have to remember the digital age is still very young. In 30 years, virtually none of the work we do today will be remembered by anybody no matter how popular it is right now. That is a sobering thought.

I can’t say there is a purpose to this post. Just some thoughts on some of the internal struggle that I go through as a creative. I know I’m not alone, but sometimes I worry that people who feel the same way aren’t consciously aware that they do. There are so many missed opportunities for designers to make a true impact on someone’s life and I would hate for any of us to look back and reflect on them. Embrace as they come across because at the end of the day these are the things that will make you happy.

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

While working on a software project I hit a snag. Every comp that I showed the big man he rejected. Too hard, not enough features. How do you make something simple while adding more to it? It isn’t an easy task, but at the end I was able to pull it off mainly because he kept on encouraging me. He helped me to understand that failure just means we know which route not to take. This got us closer to the final goal. Fitzgerald was right, as creatives we can give up too easily, but the quest for greatness should never come easy and everyone doesn’t deserve it.

Keep your head up and continue to push through and eventually you reach the solution you’ve been looking for.

Almost everything we buy today is mass-produced. Correction, almost everything I buy today is mass-produced. You might be a person who scours Etsy for all your needs. When I come across something handmade I have a greater appreciation for it. Designers that make physical goods have a better viewpoint of what it means to craft something by hand because the person that buys their goods get to hold it in their hands. Web designers can spend the same amount of time crafting a website and putting just as much care into it, but there is a lack of touch that they miss out on.

If I were to create a chair I would be able to smell it, see it, hear the sounds it makes when I drop it, taste it if I were crazy, and of course touch it. When I create a website I usually only get to see it, sometimes I get to hear it. I never thought about web design in these terms before and it might explain some of the reason why some people look down upon web designers as opposed to other design fields. Doing something on the computer is perceived to be easier than going out into the woods, chopping down a tree and then shaping it into a chair. While I have respect for all designers, no matter the industry, I definitely have more envy towards the ones that get to craft something with their hands. It must be awesome to feel your product take shape.

This video on Sebastian Cox only furthers to increase my envy.

When you go to the movies do you pay attention to the opening titles? I don’t think I really do, but after watching this short series I’m definitely more interested in them. It is fascinating to see the thought that goes into these things. Se7en is probably one of the more cited examples of great title sequence design and it was great to hear the thoughts behind the people that created them.

It’s great to see how these designers are telling a smaller story within the larger story of the film. Nothing like having two minutes to encompass the whole feeling of a 120 minute film. Constraints truly bring out the greatness in some, while others melt away.

I never have any intention of creating a font. There are so many great fonts out there already and it seems like more and more are popping up every single day. After watching this series of videos I think my time will be better spent elsewhere while I let the real pros (and lovely amateurs) go to work crafting the fancy word. I can’t speak on the process of other designers when they create a font, but it seems pretty intense. No surprise there when you have to get every single character perfect.

The font being created is Fh_Hyperbole by Dan Meyer. I greatly appreciate him taking the time to record all of this. It must’ve been a massive effort.

Continue reading →

While everyone will spend today on Twitter talking about the new pricing model by Adobe, I wanted to focus more on their efforts with the web. First thing that struck me was how much I enjoyed the design. It was clean and allowed me to focus on the content. Of course I had to check whether it was responsive or not and it was unlike the other Adobe sites which wouldn’t surprise me if I checked and saw they were built with tables.

It is great to see Adobe pushing these type of typographic control into CSS because it is desperately needed. Look at all the amazing things we can do with mobile applications and yet we can’t even get CSS columns to look great across browsers without some craziness happening.

Dustin Curtis says it best though:

If you’re not a designer, it might be hard to see, but the importance of this work is impossible to understate. In 10 years, we’ll look back on today and think about how barbaric and stupid it was that we didn’t have re-flowable text in multi-box CSS layouts or absolute control of typefaces on the web.

I have come upon the edge of what CSS is capable of multiple times, especially when building http://dustincurtis.com, and what happened surprised me: after a while, I noticed that I had started to subconsciously alter my designs to fit within the limitations of the display technology. As I realized that the only sane way to build the layouts was to absolutely/manually position every paragraph, I slowly stopped writing and designing the articles. It was just too much work because the tools to do great custom layouts on the web just don’t exist.

Compared to what should be possible by now, CSS is pretty primitive. It’s a limiting factor in the digitization of traditional media, like magazines. What Adobe is doing here is awesome, and I commend them for pushing forward the status quo.

It isn’t surprising it has taken CSS so long to even get to this phase due to how the whole W3C committee works along with browser manufacturers going their own direction. What is surprising though is that Adobe might be leading the charge for the new web. I guess they finally understand their future. (Ironically this page has some crazy HTML output making the document over 3900 lines long.)

If design is about how it works then I find it inexcusable when a designer puts something up that isn’t very usable at all. Design is about empathy. Sometimes it is about story-telling. It is always about the person that has to use the design. I found what I believe to be a good article, The Experimentation Layer. At first I wasn’t going to even bother reading it, but because tools like Readability exist I can comfortably get the article in a format that doesn’t make me cross-eyed.

I think what really bothers me is that the article is by Bill Scott, Sr. Director of User Interface Engineering at PayPal. Ignoring all the wisecracks related to PayPal’s horrendous UI, how does a person with the label of “designer”, “user interface”, or “engineering” even consider leaving a site up like that? It is these kinds of things that makes others believe that design is just about looks and that anyone can be a designer. I have no doubt that Mr. Scott is more than qualified for all the positions that he has held, but, I mean, damn.

The title of his site? Looks Good Works Well. The site is neither.

I never expect designer’s homes online to be the most spectacular things on the planet. Many of the sites for the top design agencies in the world are extremely plain, but at least they are functional. Have some pride in your online space. There is no reason for a designer to have an ugly and non-functional site. If anything let function win out and put form on the timeline to come back to a year from now.

Because I don’t like to complain like this publicly without offering a solution I took a minute to write two lines of style that help to make the typography a bit more legible.


.entry-content {line-height: 1.5; max-width: 560px;}
.entry-content h2 {margin-top: 40px;}


And here is the result:

I will give Bill props for blogging for so long. It is always great when industry veterans take the time to write down their thoughts and we all should be appreciative. We just need to be able to read those thoughts in a nice format.

Sidenote: I understand this is a blogger theme made in 2004, but is that any excuse?