Get a clue people
One of my new vices is watching the home improvement shows on HGTV. Heather and I are working out the home improvements/renovations we want to get done this year, and the shows we have been watching have been pretty helpful with that.
So lets break down the scenario. I am watching Color Splash this afternoon and decide that I really dig the technique of attaching translucent colored plastic to cabinetry. We want to do something to freshen up our kitchen and that would be a great, inexpensive way to do it.
What's the first thing I do? I go to the page for said show on HGTV to find out the name, and hopefully the website of the product they used. Seems simple, no? Thankfully for this show, yes it is simple. There are links to the websites for the products used in the show.
However while watching Divine Design, the worst named show ever, I saw something I would like to have in our house. So I jumped on the website, to get a listing of materials used. Nowhere on the blasted site is there a materials list, or links to the sites of the products used in the current episode.
Do we really need to still explain to people in corporate america what the web is actually useful for? Are they not teaching consistency to people anymore?
Bah.
March 8
Rough edges
Thanks to all the people who have emailed me outlining the rough edges left on the site. Most of the them I knew about, but a couple had escaped my notice.
Yes, yet another design
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, BAM! I hit you with a new design.
I really dug the previous design, but it never felt... refined. There was just something missing. So I started thinking about what designs of mine that I have liked the most over the years, and each one I came up with had a couple of things in common.
First of all, they were narrow widths. I am a big fan of using more screen real estate, but there is just something I dig about a narrow design. Maybe it is the ease with which you can read the posts. Who knows. I just love em.
Second, they all had at least the illusion of a single column. I think that the previous design suffered from "too much crap" syndrome. There was just so much going on, that it was hard to find exactly what I wanted you to read. With this new design, I am going back to my older mantra: Content is King.
Well that is it for now, i am tired and need to get some sleep. Things aren't 100% yet, so bear with me and the rough edges. Oh and do let me know what you think, hate or love.
Disegno come arte: Rhythm
So, after reflecting on my entry “Visual Harmony in Webdesign”, I got to thinking. It is all well and good to complain bitterly about the lack of artisitic principles that are found in some of todays design, but what does it really accomplish?
Nothing. So today I am starting a multi-part series covering some of the priciples found in the world of fine art, that can be applied to our web design. First up is Rhythm, or Art Rhythm.
Visual Harmony in Webdesign
One of the things that really struck me while at FOWD this week was the surprising lack of appreciation for white space, and visual harmony.
Where webdesign and art can overlap
There has been a lot of talk about how web design isn't art. While I agree that it isn't art at this moment, I don't agree that it should stay that way.
At the very least, webdesigners need to understand the rules of art, at least in part, to make useable, beautiful designs. It just seems to me that a number of designers today either do not understand these foundational ideas, or don't see any value in them.
Hey look, new Sillyness
That's right, the old place has a new coat of paint. Although I really liked the previous design, it just didn't give me enough flexibility.
I had planned on starting a new series about WordPress MU, but the site design as it was just didn't lend itself to that sort of thing. So I decided to back off the series until I had a design that fit more with what I wanted to accomplish with Sillyness. So out came some new colors, a revamped logo, and the most striking change, a grid.
Knock it off
With the images for text thing! Why in the world are designers I respect using images for text that should be inline & CSS styled!? It makes me ill.
Transcending CSS
Malarkey's new book looks interesting. I wonder if he will be approaching design as I have wanted to, through the techniques learned studying fine art. Go check out Transcending CSS.
