Been busy!
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Been busy!
]]>Here’s one technique that I’ve found very useful:
I typically start a page in my sketchbook with some found element, whether that’s a sticker, a magazine clipping, or a photograph. It acts as an anchor, a seed that sprouts the rest of the page. When I'm finished with that page, that element has become a part of my creation, my page as a whole. On a digital canvas, that anchor point may be an asset, such as an illustration you plan to integrate or possibly even a client’s logo.
Small techniques like this allow for very large breakthroughs. I’ve learned that it’s always easier to revise that to create. Getting hung up on a place to start should be the least of your worries, so hopefully I’ve given you a possible solution to get past it.
How do you conquer the tyranny of a blank page?
]]>As I write this from the plane (probably over West Virginia right now), I can’t wait to be in Texas. Here are some reasons why:
Hope to see you in Austin!
]]>You trust your barber to give you the look that you want. You may have an initial discussion with him to communicate what you’re after. You may even give him examples of similarities: “Make me look like Sinatra” or “I’d love that Richard Simmons look.” And then you let him go for it.
There might be times where you can’t see what he’s doing. He may occasionally ask you to look up at the mirror to check on his progress, as most good barbers will do. He may need your input to see if a section is too short or too long. You don’t tell him when to use the clippers, or add water, or switch to scissors. You trust him and his skills, so you just sit back and enjoy the conversation.
At the end of the day, you’re left with a look that you’re proud to sport. It might take you a few days to warm up to it, or you may instantly fall in love. Either way, you know he did exactly what you called on him to do, and he did it well.
You may decide to grow your hair out, and not need a trim for years, but the next time you need a haircut, you know where to go.
]]>Ready? Okay!
For me, this is the most important part of the process. I firmly believe that the more informed you can become, the better equipped you are to make productive decisions. Use this time to learn about competitors, site goals (more traffic, more sales), brand characteristics, and tone.
Depending on the nature of the project, this phase may be more of a learning exercise or more deliverable-based. If you’re working for a client, you may take this time to share your findings with them and confirm that your goals and their goals are the same.
You’ve established how to get your message across in the first phase; now focus on what to say.
I rarely see companies or individuals employ this phase. This is just as important as the first phase. If this phase isn’t done carefully, it will quickly bleed through to the rest of the project and be extremely difficult to retroactively correct. Doing this early on can help you to avoid a cookie-cutter, template-looking site that just feels off.
This may be the trickiest part of the process. Clients mostly think they’re paying big bucks for great design work or great coding work, but this is the real service offering. If you’re wondering how you can really be of value and stand out over your competitors as a service provider, practice your content development skills. There are millions of great looking sites, but the ones with strong messaging always prevail. Take The Onion, for instance. It stands on its own because of its confident and unique tone.
How do you develop content? Content comes in many forms, from imagery to colors to typeface choice, but the quickest way and a great place to start is simply to write copy. Say you’re creating a site for a new soft drink. A suitable headline for a manly, watching-the-game-every-night soda could be “Bite back.” However, an environmentally-friendly beverage might be softer and comforting, like “The simple way to refresh your mind.”
Now you have everything you want to say. When and where do you say it?
This is where the information architecture, or IA, phase comes in. Admittedly, I’m not an information architect, but, to me, IA is the process of organizing information so that it’s easy to understand. It’s also all about context. As the creator of a site, what do you feel is important to present to the user? And in what order?
Maybe your site would benefit from a linear progression, like a shopping cart. Maybe it’s largely informational, so you present passive options like “About the Company” and “Products.” Or maybe you’re aggressively seeking participation, so you proactively engage the user with choices like “Live”, “Act”, or “Join.”
There are an innumerable amount of ways to organize your information. It’s important that you use the knowledge you’ve gained about the project in the last two phases to inform your choices.
For most clients, this is where you start to get down to work. It’s ok to let them keep thinking that. You know the truth; all the hard work has been done, so it’s time to have some fun. Using the collective information you’ve gained thus far, it’s now time to put a face to the personality you’ve created.
When I start designing a site, I prefer to think of it as finding a look for the site as opposed to creating one. As a designer, I’m a sponge to the things around me. I allow myself to take in the world as an observer. When I finally site down to design, whether on sketching on paper or pushing pixels in Photoshop, the things I’ve absorbed resurface to shape something unique to me. Experience molds my design work. By drawing on past inspiration, I find the design as an amalgam of my interactions, not an original creation.
I’ve quickly realized that striving to create something uniqe for the sake of it is overrated. I’d much rather be appropriate.
Originality is spectacle; relevance is artful.
I talk about this a lot, so I won’t say much about it now. Medium comes into key. Maintainability, immersion, audience, and a myriad of other factors determine whether you’ll be building a Flash site, an XHTML/CSS, some sort of hybrid, a web app, or something completely different. Like in design, choose an appropriate vehicle for your content.
I consciously left out some steps that a lot of notable agencies and designers use. One such item is testing. For me, testing should be happening along a process. Whether it’s user testing or browser debugging, I’ve always felt that a testing "phase" is like a bandage when done poorly and waste of time when overdone. As you’re working, test. Can’t decide between two colors? Do two versions (one of each), and test it with your friends. Font sizing screwed up in IE? Don’t wait until you’re done coding to fix it. Always be accountable for your work at all times.
Now it’s your turn. How different is all of this from your process? How similar?
]]>What does that mean? It means that you have to be realistic about what you can and can’t do. There are some things that you are going to be better at, things that you’ll have a natural affinity towards. And that’s great. It is in this fruitful imbalance that your work can accentuate itself.
Don’t be afraid to use what you know. In fact, overuse what you know. Recycle solutions that have worked for you. Wheels come in many shapes, colors, and sizes, but all of them, at a fundamental level, are still wheels. There’s no need to reinv… well, you already know where I was going with that.
I’m not a terribly decorative designer. I profess (potentially falsely) to understand the value and appropriateness of contrast. I find designing with color extremely difficult, which is why I tend to gravitate towards black and white designs with one accent color, or monochromatic designs. By understanding all of these things about myself, I can start to develop an aesthetic that works as my own.
Every year, the New York chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, holds a holiday party. They commission a handful of talented individuals to create wrapping paper. For this year’s party, another outstanding set has been created, but one in particular caught my eye. Have a look at the one by Esther Mun.
Here’s a perfect example of design by comfort. From the looks of her site and her work, Esther is a very accomplished designer. However she doesn’t seem to have a proficiency in illustration.
Had I been commissioned to create wrapping paper, the thought of illustrating would have been my first instinct. Esther, however, takes a different approach. By combining a common task associated with gift-giving—addressing—she has created a beautiful piece of wrapping paper, as functional as it is beautiful.
The first of this year’s Layer Tennis holders another great example. This match pit Kevin Cornell against Shaun Inman, two of my good friends and great designers. Being an illustrator, Kevin started the match with a brilliant watercolor.
How did Shaun answer this strong serve? With his own strength.
Reading Shaun's subsequent write-up of the match, he says:
I am still primarily an interface designer. Rather than ignore that fact I embraced it with my return volley… [I] stuck to what I knew. Tabs. Rounded corners. Login forms. Oh my.
While it’s important to absorb and admire the work of others, don’t discount your own ability to be original. Challenge yourself to learn new things, but embrace what you already know.
The moral of the story? Play your strengths.
]]>While Fog Creek did the information architecture for the site, I was responsible for design as well as front-end coding. Their team uses jQuery, so it was a rewarding first experience to use a JavaScript library. I definitely had some frustrations with it, but I’d wager that had more to do with my inexperience with libraries and shoddy JavaScript skills than with the framework.
If you’re interested in some of the exposition for this project, Joel has a pretty extensive write-up on his own site.
]]>The motivation to start using it came from Rob. During a lunch conversation, I shared that I was in the market for a new set of computer speakers, and, in so many words, he suggested that I “twitter” it. I knew that Twitter’s hook was for users to say what they were currently doing, but what Rob suggested was a use for Twitter that I hadn’t considered (and coincidentally at the top of LifeHacker’s 5 ways to use Twitter for Good. It was enough to get me curious.
While I would use it for such a purpose, I find that reasoning to be a bit selfish. I would love to receive a hundred instant replies for speaker suggestions. But honestly, I don’t think I would answer if someone else asked the same question. Maybe I’m being overly altruistic, but I don’t feel worthy to be part of a community if I’m not willing to contribute anything myself.
To date, I’ve been using Twitter for about a week, and, like I said, I don’t find it terribly useful. That’s not to say that the application itself is not useful; I just don’t see how it fits with me. I’d like to keep using it; I really do (although I’m not sure why; maybe it’s the peer pressure).
Perhaps you can share as to how it has benefitted you?
]]>I’ve conferred with several colleagues, resulting in a number of various responses. I would share, but I’m eager to hear what you think.
So? Have at it!
]]>What do you think? Are any of those appealing? Is there anything different that you’d like to read about? Maybe it’s a general topic, like writing more about CSS. Or maybe there’s something specific you’d like to know about.
Regardless, blogs thrive on feedback, and I’d love to hear yours.
]]>The SXSW panel-picker is now live, so please cast your vote for us as soon as you can!
]]>option values are state abbreviations. I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t know all of my state abbreviations, so I’d rather have something that’s more easily interpreted.
So that you (and I) can grab it again anytime it’s needed, I’m posting it here:
And there you have it: an easy-to-use, XHTML-compliant dropdown of U.S. states. There’s no license on this. You don’t have to credit me or anyone for this. Just feel free to use it at your leisure.
Tell your friends.
]]>Granted, there is some personal content here. I’ve made posts where comments were not allowed for one reason or another, but, in general, I welcome opinions and thoughts and mostly write about public topics.
Then what about the content that isn’t intended for everyone? What about the things that I write for me and me alone? I’ve learned to rely on technology to help me with that.
There is a tremendous value in writing for yourself and to yourself. If you don’t already, I encourage you to try it. You’ll learn more about yourself than you can imagine.
I use Movable Type to power this site, and what you see is what I choose to publish. Yet, I have just as many entries that are not published that I don't intend to publish. From small things, like frustration over a stubbed toe, to large issues, like my opinions about abortion, I’ve found that it’s a pretty easy way to document thoughts throughout my life, and, in essence, document life itself.
Although I consider myself to be young, I feel I’ve had my fair share of accomplishments. There are things in my life that I feel good about looking back and remembering. I use iCal to record it. My first freelance job, renting my first apartment, my first raise, joining a band, getting engaged, among countless other things are events that have shaped who I am today. Especially if you’re just starting your professional life, regardless of what industry you’re a part of, don’t take these things for granted. Having goals is important, and accomplishing them is a challenge, so remember and cherish them.
What about you? How do your “work tools” sometimes become your “life tools”?
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