April 26, 2004 | View Comments (25) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: Why no one should think that they can't bring anything new to the table.
Justin Goodlett wrote an entry that echoes what many of my design friends have told me. They believe that they have nothing to add to the blogosophere. It seems that everyone already talks about everything and those people talk about it so much better so what's the point of writing?
Easy. Everyone brings a unique perspective to the table that lots of people would enjoy to hear about. Justin has a list of people that he feels does things better than he could: Dan Cederholm, Didier Hilhorst, Shaun Inman, Dave Shea, and Jeffrey Zeldman I can see this is one of those entries that I like to put into the "making friends" categories.
The blogosphere has a funny habit of elevating people to certain statuses based on some basic assumptions. All the people in the list (for kicks I will call them the "Fab 5") above are well respected and rightfully so because they have done something to earn it. However, to think you cannot offer something new and possibly better than those guys is an unreasonable thing for anyone to think. Look at me for example.
99% of the people who visit here probably wonder how in the hell someone like me even gets more than 10 people to visit this site outside of his immediate family. The Fab 5 offer better eye candy than I do. The Fab 5 have real-life sites that you can see to view how they really work. I offer you the 9rules Network. The Fab 5 get their names put next to other big time designers in our field such as Bowman, Rubin, and Hicks. I get my name mentioned when I piss someone off :-)
A new user going to any of their sites immediately can see the quality of designer they are. First impressions do play a large role in keeping readers. I probably have to have this site seen 5 times before a reader becomes a regular. So like Justin I should have given up before I even started. However, when I started this site I thought I could offer something that no one else did.
People like to hear what makes a designer tick. Rarely are we given an inside glimpse into why a designer does what he does or how he works. I try to offer perspective into how I think and talk about the different issues that I have to go through.
There are only so many entries written by others that standout for me. The one that consistently comes to mind is Bowman's A Design Process Revealed. Young designers (actually all designers) read others praise these individuals and links to their sites can be found all over the place so it is only natural to start to develop a complex thinking that they are supermen. I read the entry from Bowman and got to see how he went about a design and was happy to discover that he did a lot of things that I did.
People like to hear what you think. People like opinions. People like to learn. The only type of design resources out there seem to be design portals (ala the CSS Vault) where people are forced to study and mimic designs. I try to create a different type of design resource where I am able to impart the small amount of knowledge I have while gaining so much more through comments.
The Fab 5 and everyone else are great designers. Better designers than I will ever be. However, people learn through their own experiences and reading the experiences of others. Also, it is not always fair to equate traffic with the level of your content. Matthew Oliphant offers great insight on his site, but not everyone is talking about his site (well maybe they will now). His content caters to an audience, and if you are a reader of his, you are so because you understand what he brings to the table.
In any case, Justin and many others, do not think that you can't bring anything new to the table. <joking>I mean Cederholm just talks about his house. Didier has switched to becoming a car magazine. Inman is screwed once his IFR technique loses its 15 minutes of fame. Shea will talk about CSS things that no one can understand. And Zeldman is just gonna start talking about the mini-Zeldman that is coming. You can't offer anything better than that?</joking>.
Write with passion and everything else will fall into place.
Trackback URL: http://9rules.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/218
Ah, I have no worries if people consider me a nobody or not. I just don't like to see others think that they have nothing to offer to the community. Justin in particular claims that he does not have the same experience as the Fab 5 so why would his words matter?
Well he has a nice design and I would like to know how he came about it. What was his inspiration? How does he work? Stuff like that.
I am "popular" because I show everyone that you don't need design skills to succeed in the blogosphere :-P I do think I have some skills.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
Kurt Cobain once said that everything which can be said has already been said. Of course, he was talking about music, but it's easy to get the same impression about, say, design and the design field.
[Of course, any professor in linguistics will tell you that it's just not true, but you get the point I'm sure.]
Fortunately, technology takes that fear away. How can everything have possibly been said about CSS? Every month or so, we learn a new technique someone has discovered and it begins to be widespread. There's more, there always is.
And, if you're so inclined, you can always write about politics. :P
Chris Vincent (http://dris.dyndns.org:8080/)
I'm just about to start my own blog so your words are welcome. I was questioning whether I have the ability to gain popularity but realise that quality of writing and regular updating are crticial to the success.
Darren White (http://www.dlw.me.uk)
We're in complete agreement here Paul--even that bit about me being screwed once the whole IFR thing blows over! ;D
One more thing to note is that we all have different audiences. Sure, there's some overlap but if you believe in a message that Dave or Zeldman have already covered speak about it anyway. Even if you share the same exact views your readers may not have been exposed to the original discourse.
There's strength in numbers, both physically and intellectually. Your two cents, however similar to my own or someone else's adds momentum to the message.
Shaun Inman (http://www.shauninman.com/)
"Zeldman is just gonna start talking about the mini-Zeldman"
I'm not sure how much of a joke that is... just about every blogger I regularly read that has had a child has blogged a good bit about the upcoming version 2.0 for months beforehand, and almost completely stops once the baby is born.
but maybe I'm just a curse, and I almost never read Zeldman anyway, just when someone links to something that sounds interesting, so maybe he'll be safe without my corrupting influence? heh.
Good post, Scrivs, but I'm still not going to post in my blog any more regularly... I only put the damned thing up in the first place to see how they worked so I could install one for a friend. :-)
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
Another great post Paul. I visit Whitespace so much because you tend to bring a different perspective on design than others do. You think more of the end result than things like color contrast or the next CSS trick, and you do it in a straightforward manner which I've found kind of rare in the blogsphere. That said, I think every blogger has their own little niche, even in such a crowded topic as Web design. Write about what you like and what you're good at and you will get a following.
By the way, those jokes were great! You get the first laugh of the week :).
Vinnie Garcia (http://blog.vinniegarcia.com)
Scrivs,
Just so you know, I consider you a somebody. However I'll admit that it did take some time to get into the groove of things and understand the purpose of this site.
Coming from a print background, I figured this site had to do with using effective whitespace but you never know. There are sites out there named one thing and their content is quite a different beast. These days you can name your site anything you'd like and evidence of this exists in the numerous "obscure" domain names registered. I always refer to splorp to see what domain names have been registered recently (and not so recently). During and after the dot com boom everyone wanted a piece of the web and at the time it was registering names that meant something (shopping.com, toys.com).
That's my three cents and it might not make any sense, but what's important is that I count this site in the top 5 sites I visit and learn from.
By the way, in regards to the IFR replacement technique has anyone created an 'experiment' page yet? Aside from Shaun's site I'd like to see a page with headline tests, etc. Similiar to the experiments with the drop shadow technique from ALA.
kartooner (http://www.kartooner.com)
You're two kinds of a "somebody" to me... I read your site 'cause I get a kick out of how you blog like an outsider and then get trounced upon by A-listers, and also because I'm waiting for the real Scrivs to stand up :)
But there is a misconception in the web design blogosphere that everyone has to play nice-nice because we all kowtow to web standards, but that doesn't have to be the case. If so-and-so comes out with a new standards-compliant website that looks like crap, then why sugercoat it? That's where you come in :) Paul Scrivens — keepin' it real.
Mike (http://phark.typepad.com)
The timing of this article is uncanny for me.
Like Darren, I too am starting up a personal site (as a matter of fact, your site is listed as part of the inspiration for it!).
I've been pondering building my own personal site for months now--how to do it, how to design it, how to make it stand out, blah blah blah. Finally I settled on the same sentiment as Nike (and that you have shared here) Just Do It.
So, over the weekend I set up an MT log, with the standard template in place and just started writing. I've decided that I will continue to design the sites first look over the next month or so, while I continue to write about whatever it is I feel like discussing. Plus, I will document my design process in the log as the the site starts to take shape over the next month or two (sound familiar?).
Mostly I'm just looking to share my voice with the community. As a professional in this field for 4+ years, I do feel I have something to add to the discussion. Thank you for reinforcing that notion.
BTW - Not too long ago, I seem to remember you lamenting your writing skills. This entry really shows that you've grown your own, strong, writing style and I'm sure all your readers appreciate it.
Sean King (http://inspirednonsense.com)
Scrivs,
this post (and of course all the others) are the reason why I keep coming back to your site over and over again.
I recommended your site to several absolute beginners in webdesign and they disliked your site, your posts, even the design. They are still fighting the basics (well, and the advanced stuff), but once ppl want to know more, already know the fab 5 and (think they have an idea) what this xhtml+css thing (and the whole design community) is about, they start to appreciate your site.
Sure, you write about design etc. (or the commenters do), but if you write an article, it sounds alot like a good summary, a meta-blog of a kind. You sum up some thoughts and let the commenters discuss the issue, that's a lot more output than a visitor usually gets out of a single site (awesome comment quality, btw). Plus, you are the honest guy, no arrogancy, no superman-behaviour. People like that and that's why they read you.
No, you are not famous. Yet. But you sure are on the right path towards it.
Jay (http://www.neversmile.com/)
Of course I should mention that is helps if you write quality stuff. Unfortunately, too many bloggers out there take the advice of "just write" and do just that. They write without thinking.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
I came across Whitespace via Project Gutenberg. They mentioned a version 2 competition in their newsletter. As I think PG is a wonderful thing, I had a bash at it. At the time I thought you were closely connected with PG and that it was their competition not yours. Then I discovered, uh oh, this might just be a competition judged by a few graphics designers. I generally have no respect for elite cliques, but as I started to read whitespace and find out what you were about, I discovered it was not a cliquey thing at all but a lot of open, honest and knowledgable input by all kinds of well-sussed people.
You have a clear and open style of writing, Scrivs, and are not afraid to bare your soul. I think this encourages others to do likewise. I can feel safe to voice my opinion even if I am a complete amateur wrt design. I've also learned a lot from contributors' websites, so it is a good starting point for inspiration.
Peter (http://www.mouldingname.info/home.html)
something that always stays in the back of my mind is that the truly great web designers are too busy actually doing great things to waste their time blogging.
Scrivs said, "All the people in the list above are well respected and rightfully so because they have done something to earn it." And to me, that sums up this entire thing. They are great designers first and bloggers second. They didnt blog to get noticed. They did great work to get noticed. And, they still push themselves to do better work. A popular design blog doesnt make someone a better designer. Just a more popular one.
.02
eris (http://www.erisfree.com)
The funny thing is, like you said eris, is that many of the great designers do not even blog that much or at all so why worry about not offering anything new. They rarely speak about designs themselves and if they do, those post are usually months apart.
It becomes a case of people not separating content from presentation.
If you design just for the popularity you will fade and die out quickly. If you have nothing you can write about with some passion then you might as well not write at all.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
"If you have nothing you can write about with some passion then you might as well not write at all."
thus neatly reversing your original point. :-)
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
I think it just adds emphasis to my original point by reinforcing it. To think you shouldn't write because there are more popular sites out there or people who have more experience is not a good reason not to write. If you can't write with interest than you shouldn't write. That to me is a much better reason.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
I think it is important to encourage well rounded dialogues about desgin or whaterver topic you are interested in. It seems to me that its more of a collaborative process by which we all help each other to learn. I know that sounds a little "earthy" but seriously. I have and continue to learn a great deal from reading various blogs. If nothing else they provide different perspectives on certain issues.
Keith (http://www.phatbuddha.com)
JC: I, for one would love to know how you got Google to approve the adSense thingies for your site. The bastards have shot me down twice already, on the grounds of my site being "too personal" (which it is).
Sergio (http://overcaffeinated.net)
Well although this is running completely off-topic I guess it benefits everyone. If you wish to run adsense on a site, apply with a site that is not personal such as a company site. Once you are accepted you can place the ads anywhere with no obligation of putting them on the site you applied with.
Now back to the discussion.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
Sergio -
Like Scrivs said. :-) Their stuff clearly states that you only need to apply for one site and then you can use them anywhere you want, and even have a different look-and-feel for each.
They also don't like subdirectories. You have to apply with the root level of a site.
I coulda sworn I'd replied to your post, either that one or an earlier one... I remember reading it, it was only teh second time I'd looked at your site, and was just prior to diving into your web comic, which is very good. :-)
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
The Fab 5's sites are eye candy, but, being a minimalist, your site is to me too.
In fact, I would have never found out about the Fab 5's sites - and many other equally lovely sites - if I hadn't first visited Whitespace. On my first visit to Whitespace, I enjoyed reading and absorbing the content so much that I wanted to finish reading all of it in that one day (unfortunately, I didn't, and the next time I got to read Whitespace was over two weeks later).
Thanks for getting me so interested in design and the like. I consider you deserving of respect; definitely not a "nobody".
tek (http://www.invertion.com/)
"The appearser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last - Churchill"
Is the situation similar here? Seems like one
Nainil Chheda (http://services.eliteral.com/search-engine-optimization-india/)
This site is eye candy if ever I've seen it. It's a refreshing pleasure for the eyes.
Regarding contribution, I think you're right that passion has a lot to do with it. Someone who's passionate will make people interested in a subject.
The vague ennui of "Sorry for not posting lately" and linking to the same news stories that everyone else is linking to doesn't make for a compelling website -- not for the reader, but also (and this is often forgotten) not for the author.
Don't try to write what other people are writing, just write what you want to write. If you enjoy it, people will become interested.
CSS Layouts (http://www.practicalcss.com)
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#1
I've listed you as an inspiration for my latest redesign in my colophon - I dont take you for some nobody wannabe.
I came across your site because you wrote a specific article that came up when I searched for something in google (cant recall what) and have been here ever since for your clear, concise words and your beautiful, clean layouts.
You don't need to be famous to be famous :)
pixelkitty (http://pixelkitty.net)