January 01, 2004 | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: If I could start learning web page design again this is how I would have done it.
If I could start to learn web design all over again I would do things differently than I did before. When I first learned to design webpages (or not design them) I dove head first into HTML. This allowed me to put pages up quickly, but of course those pages were never to my liking. I then learned CSS and was able to build websites quicker than before and my designs were slowly getting better, but I couldn't help but think that I was really missing something. Now I know I was lacking in knowledge of the principles of design.
If I was going to start all over I would learn about the basics of design. I would learn about grid systems, whitespace, colors and typography. I would still learn HTML and CSS, but I would put more focus on the design aspect. Once I know a layout that I want, it is not that hard to achieve it in CSS. However, just because you know CSS doesn't mean you can make a quality layout.
This year I began to focus more on design books and magazines. Websites I frequent on a daily basis and my own development took care of the technology aspect, but I needed to learn how to design better. For the first time I became a student of design first and a student of technology second.
I think many new designers fall into the same trap that I fell into. Many see the ease that comes with building websites without have a solid understanding of the principles of design. They grow frustrated because their colors do not project the feel they want or their layout just seems unbalanced. The role of web designer today is a broad one, because not only must we be aware of how to design, but we must also know how to use the technology that displays our designs. This takes time. I just wish I had done it differently before. Things would have been easier.
For a good list of design books checkout this entry over at elementary.
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If I was to start over, there are things I think I would approach differently, too. For starters, I wouldn't lean on WYSIWYG editors for so long. After several years of building personal websites, I've just started to do all of my site work without an editor, and I've impressed myself with just how much more control I've had over how my site looks.
I've only recently begun to look at different aspects of design, and I think that's another thing that I could've started to look at earlier. Even with the limited knowledge I have, I'm beginning to see how much of a difference layout, color and other things have. If I had only known earlier!
I have the opportunity to start teaching these things (as much as I know) to a group of middle school students with their web club (I'm the big bad webmaster for the high school page, and I get to work with them once a week), but the aspect of making them useful and teaching them the aspects of Frontpage makes getting them into anything else difficult.
First comment here, by the way. I think your blog's awesome; I check daily for a new article, and I'm always impressed by the content.
Curt
[..] Once I know a layout that I want, it is not that hard to achieve it in CSS [..]
You tell me... I just designed the page for my new business. It took me over a day to rebuild the Photoshop template using web-standards.
Sometimes, it can be very frustrating, but we know it is all worth it, don't we??
Minz Meyer (http://www.minzweb.de)
yeah.. and you'd better start over with grammar again... I mean, god, you even spell out the word 'you,' Paul! And all that correct spelling... it's gotta go. It just doesn't do anything for me.
::eye roll::
Were I starting over, the only thing I'd do differently is start working with databases and php earlier instead of wasting all that time mucking about with perl stuff. So far as design goes, I'd waste a lot less time with all that 216 color web-safe crap and let the people on windows 95 netscape 3 at 256 color see things look a little off, but that's about it. My feelings on design haven't changed much since I started thinking of it as a profession instead of a little hobby.
JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)
Universal Principles of Design is a great book to help you with your design. I found the principles are extremely useful when apply toward the web.
donny (http://www.visualgui.com)
Here are my notes on Universal Principles of Design:
http://www.visualgui.com/index.php?p=292
donny (http://www.visualgui.com)
Yes, I was going to get that book, but then I went a couple days later to Borders and it was gone and I had forgotten what it was called. Thanks Donny!
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
It's funny Scrivs, because I learned the same way you did - HTML first and design second. I'm probably where you were a year ago; starting to dive into a slew of design books from architechture to fashion.
But I still wouldn't have changed the order. Why? Because there are tons of sites out there that put on a good song and dance but can't back it up with anything of substance. The worst (or best) of these are the really gorgeous but horribly unusable ones done completely in flash or diced image & code soup.
I see good web design as a careful marriage of tech and art. You can overdo or be too gauche witg the artistic side easily, but it's much rarer to find a site that works as well as it looks. I respect most those that can walk that fine line.
As usual, just my two pennies.
Will Pate (http://www.willpate.org)
Good point Will. I think it goes both ways in that if you start of as a designer, the usability/HTML/CSS become harder issues to grasp. If you start with the technology I the actualy design part takes some time.
A marriage of the two disciplines would probably be best. A couple hours of one with 1 or 2 hours of HTML a day or something trivial like that.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
There's a very important factor to keep in mind... $$$.
If you had to go back and choose between 'design' and 'coding,' it doesn't hurt to remember that graphic designers make about 10-20K less per year than web developers of an equivalent level of skill and seniority. I'd say you used your time effectively in learning the foundations of a good paying career, and the design stuff is just icing on it that will help you market yourself.
Of course on the flip side you can shop code out to excellent coders from russia or the phillipines for less than a fast food clerk is paid out here, if you have the right connections and can handle the language barrier.
If I didn't enjoy doing this stuff so much, I'd pay a couple of russians to do the coding and find an underpaid graphic designer here to work cheap and I'd just be the one who knit the stuff together. Of course, that assumes I'd have clients, which is doubtful since I have no marketing skills :-) So maybe sales is a better place to focus on than the deepest intricacies of design.
Or maybe not. It's 445 in the morning, I'm likely not quite thinking clearly and almost certainly off-topic. Ah well. :-)
JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)
I'm with JC, Scrivs. You need to work on grammar and punctuation. Your thoughts on Web Design and related subjects are always well structured and interesting, but the odd typo or grammatical mistake hurts the message.
A lot of internet users have English as our second language. Making proper use of the language goes a long way into establishing credibility.
I also started the same way you did. Actually, I mastered the ability of using n-th nested tables for achieving odd layouts before I even started taking a look at CSS. Now I've seen the light and am not going back. It's down to learning to design well now.
sergio (http://overcaffeinated.net)
I did the same! I learned HTML first, then design. It was a little different with me because I already liked print design and art, and HTML I could tell was just my thing. I thought I just had to learn to design with a new code, but through the process my design skills have improved a lot.
Alex (http://pixul.net/)
Sergio, I was actually mocking the poor grammar of the troll in the first comment.
Scrivs rarely makes any sort of mistakes in his posts, and fixes them when he finds them.
Of course, we are both from the US, so any Brit worth her salt will tell you we haven't made proper use of the language since the late 1700s. :-)
I like your website, by the way, Sergio. Very nice design. And the comic is funny, too.
JC (http://www.thelionsweb.com/weblog)
Hmmm, I could have sworn my grammar was at least somewhat decent. I guess that is the price I pay for rapid publishing. Once I type of a thought provoking piece my brain is fried so it only gets a once over type of edit for any mistakes. I will try to be more careful in the future, but I am only human and I hate being my own editor.
Scrivs (http://www.9rules.com/whitespace/)
Scrivs: It is. It's mostly typos but then I'm sort of anal about those things. Maybe a quick run through a spell checker? Also, I follow the RSS feeds for the site so I guess I get to see your posts before any corrections are made.
JC: Sorry, got that wrong somehow.
Anyway, keep up the great work. Loving it (in a very Non-McDonads-y fashion).
sergio (http://overcaffeinated.net)
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#1
yea i think it wuld do u some good tolearn design.
Bcause honestly, the two websites u hav now really don't do it for me.
hello