September 29, 2003 | View Comments (4) | Category: Design
Summary: To learn web design sometimes you have to look at other disciplines such as print design. Many practices used there can be used in web design. This my series to teach me and hopefully you how to design quality.
I remember creating my first website in 1998. I loved the idea of learning a simple language (HTML) and using that to create something that the whole world could see. I knew a couple of people who were making some pretty decent money from developing websites and after I saw how easy it was I thought I could do the same. I did not have enough respect for the profession that I now love.
I had met many artists before in my lifetime yet I had never met a graphic designer or a print designer. Zeldman was my first exposure to "real" web design and that was not until 2001. Now I respect my profession because I now see what discipline it takes to become great.
There are many people everyday who see web design as any easy way to make money because all they need is a WYSIWYG editor and some templates. There are technical people who love the idea of playing with stylesheets to create their own little site for them to sell their goods and services. It is great to have the will to create websites. However, to separate yourself from the other "frontpage" designers you must have an understanding of design.
When I started creating websites (I say create and not design for a reason here) I did not see how print design was related to web design. They were two different disciplines that used two different mediums. It did not even occur to me that while I was trying my best to learn quality web design, most of the time I was looking in the wrong places.
I never saw myself as a designer of anything before. I was always the geeky type who enjoyed playing with computers. Artistically I could not draw or paint well. I wanted instant perfection and satisfaction and that does not come easy in art. I love to look at beautiful websites because they are far and few between. I wanted to create websites that people used for inspiration. I still do.
In this series I am going to take you through my journey of studying the techniques of design from both the web designer's viewpoint and the print designer's viewpoint. It is not enough to learn how stylesheets work or what semantics mean. If you want to understand design and become a good designer you have to see "design" as both a discipline and a passion. Underneath the hood of websites we have semantics, web standards, and tableless design. However, if we can not get the surface part right then all of those things are for nothing. As web designers there are so many things we have to keep in mind while designing. In each chapter I am going to touch on one of these issues. Be it XHTML or typography. They are all things you need to know if you wish to become really good at what you do. I am not an authority on any of these subjects and there are plenty of others who can teach you better. However, if I can find a way to communicate my thoughts on each of these subjects that I touch on then I know I have learned them myself.
I redesigned the site (probably to the displeasure of many) because I wanted to start on a clean slate. I was not happy with the design. It is not easy writing for a site that you yourself do not want to look at. I was not satisfied with my work so I focused on what was important for this site. There are other aesthetics changes that may creep into the design, but only if they improve it. Before I thought there was no such thing as perfect design, but then I realized there is. Perfect design is when nothing needs to added and nothing needs to be taken away for the design to work. This design almosts does that for me. Maybe by the end of this series I have achieved that perfect design for this site. However, if I have not, I am sure there will be plenty of stuff learned by everyone.
So take this journey with me and let's recapture the web from the ones who are destroying it. Anyone can design a website. But only a few can create great ones. I strive to be a great designer as I am sure many of you do also. Why not try to get there together?
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This site is not plain. It's beautiful, humans have been in search of the "clean line" look since the beginning of time. There's nothing nice about clutter.
Great site!
CIAwallst
well, it's a bit plain, sure. It is called "whitespace" after all. I'm sure you'll decide on a little something to accent it one of these days, and it's easy on the eyes, as long as you write for the web as well as design for it. :-)
as for print vs web, there is much to be learned from print, but in many ways it's like trying to learn, say, italian by studying latin and ancient greek. The one rose from the others, and shares many characteristics, but many of the rules have changed...so you have to be careful not to get bogged down in the 400 ways to conjugate a given verb... or the 400 reasons jpg and gif are terrible formats and one should think only in terms of CMYK and PanTone, and design down to the tiniest unit of measurement.
One of the benefits touted with CSS was that it would allow us to design as print designers do, precisely and with no vagaries; but this ignored that one of the benefits of the medium is the flexibility that print lacks.
Just don't get more into the print design studies than you have to to benefit your web design. It's not a useful job skill... print designers don't make much money (I think the average on salary.com was under $30k) and there are a lot of them so it's hard to find work unless you're very, very good and very, very cheap.
re: the sites that pay the bills... are you still working on that architecture company site? You haven't had an update on it since you moved here....
JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)
CIAwallst: Thank you.
JC: I am not going to teach people how to become print designers because I certainly would not know how to do that myself :) I am just going to focus on different elements of print design that should apply to web design also like whitespace :), typography, and color. If you want to use a .jpg or .gif or need to know which word to use in a sentence that is your choice ;)
For the architecture site, Friday I will give you the update. I really finally found what I was looking for with that one. It's not easy when no one in the company wants to offer input.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
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#1
For those who will say that the site is now plain I have no argument for you. I needed to do a design that I could look so I could concentrate on my other designs that actually pay the bills :)
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)