Posts Tagged ‘design’

Designer/Developer, what am I? Kinda both really.

// February 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // rambling, web development

For those that are in the industry, know that Adobe had their Refresh 2010 last week. Well, from what I can see the industry, thanks to a number of companies including Adobe and Microsoft, has moved into skill segmentation—Designers and Developers—and you have every right to expect these guys to understand each other because they will be working in a collaborative environment. A Developer needs to understand what the Designer does, and his or her unique language, and vice versa. Post Secondary education, on the other hand, produces either one or the other because… that is what we do. They “train up” specialists that are either really great designers or amazing coders. The students spend a few years learning their craft in a rather cloistered environment and are rarely exposed to the skills of the other person in the equation. Which begs the question: Do design schools need to expose their students to code in a digital universe, and do code-centric schools need to introduce a design element into their way of doing things?

This isn’t a frivolous question. Adobe and Microsoft are developing some amazing tools that are slowly but surely moving what we do from the browser to the desktop. They are leading the charge into a web universe that is “rich” in every sense of the word and, as devices take hold, you can bet that your clients are going to start asking why you are charging them twice to develop a web application and another version for a mobile phone. We are living in an industry where “Standards”, “Ajax”, “Flex”, and “Spry” are neither adjectives nor cleaning products. While all of this is going on in your day-to-day business, educators are having real issues keeping up with you, let alone addressing the “Designer/Developer” question.

How they resolve it, though, has the potential of becoming a huge issue because students coming out of the universities have a skill set that sometimes doesn’t meet your current needs, and most likely won’t be able to meet your future needs either. I can see that there is a growing disconnect between the skills being taught in the classroom and the skills you need to possess in the “real world”. Don’t get me wrong, I am pointing out our experience not to rub it in your faces, but to get you thinking. What do you guys think should universities do for an industry that is also figuring out how this collaborative/multidisciplinary approach to Designer/Developer workflow fits into their business models?

Web vs Print Design

// September 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // web development

As a web designer/developer, you usually get taught that web design is not the same as print design issue. If a client thinks the website will be exactly as the printouts, then that is your failing as a designer by not conducting the presentation correctly. This is often the result of misunderstanding, not the result of paper. I find presenting on paper, especially early on in the process, as a very conducive method for client engagement. They can engage with paper, scribble all over or tear up and throw in the bin. You cannot do that with a screen. Paper is more immediate and less precious.

So, I guess there are a couple of things which are happening within graphic design. Web design has been for a long time now separating itself from its print based brother. Now I know there are fundamental differences in the medium of delivery and, in many cases, the nature of the design. However, I believe this is a bad thing. If you have a background in print design, don’t forget it, it helps in a lot of ways you may not realise. Sure, the web is not print, but there are hundreds of years of design experience crammed into the minds of designers lucky enough to have a print background, and we’d be totally foolish not to make use of it. There are many differences between the mediums, but there are many similarities, too. There is a lot that can be learned from print designed and applied on the web. The only difference I see is that print media is read, web media is interacted with. So, interaction or experience design is more the key here for a well rounded web designer. You could totally disagree of course, or you may be bored to tears with the whole thing, what do you guys think?

What makes a good business card?

// September 2nd, 2009 // No Comments » // design, strategy

I’ve just been asked this question by many a client and I’m not so sure my answer was right.

I said, ‘A good business card identifies a person with a product, brand (and/or) company and gives the contact details for that person.’ I didn’t mention creativity or design. Should I have done?

I know it completely depends on the person and the context of the job, however, I started thinking about business cards and where they fit in the scheme of Corporate Identity design and they are difficult things to design if you want to challenge the conventions. But, should you challenge the conventions?

I am also redesigning my business card, so I best practise what I preach, yeah? I dunno, what do you guys think makes a good business card?