July 22nd, 2008 / No Comments » / by heather
I haven’t been around for a while - real life work and family issues have kept me away from the computer. But both have been resolved in positive ways. So I’ll be commencing some redesign work on this and other sites and sharing the process with you. I assure you, my design process is messy, contradictory, and full of slip-ups and back tracks. Nothing as slick and wonderful as the following sites:
Posted in: Check This Out
Tags: Web Design
July 10th, 2008 / 2 Comments » / by heather
Granted, the title of the blog should give you a hint on where I think I stand, but why did I start this in the first place? I’m no trend setter, no standards evangelist, no innovator, no web development insider, I’m just trying my best to keep up with all the advancements of 2004, let alone 2008.
When it comes to writing code, I can learn anything, given enough time and resources, but with web design, the “knack” isn’t there. Unless I’m totally inspired, I’ve got nothing. I’m more mimic than originator. I’ve got the software skills to recreate anything, but the original idea? Well, that takes real vision.
I’m not “design-deaf”. I can recognize the good and bad, I’ve got a “good eye”, as it were. But starting from nothing and coming up with something totally original and new? Well, that’s special.
But then I started looking around, checking out galleries and other designers, looking at the artwork on stock image sites and reading articles about design and you know what I learned?
There’s about forty to fifty completely original designers in the world. They are the trend setters, the mac.com designers, the first to use chunky, pastel text all over their site, the first to put a shiny badge in their header and scream “Web 2.0″ , the first with that scrolling status bar text (you remember them) and the creator of the very first animated “under construction” sign. They were the innovators, the rest of us are all mimics.
But let’s not lose hope! Let’s come together in our noninnovativeness-ness and mimic the hell out of really GOOD design, and leave the bad design to Staples-software buyers.
Confession: The first web site I ever built had a pastel paisly background, used Brush Script font, had animated gifs (books turning pages) as the menu, which was located in a bottom frame, that scrolled. That was 1996.
At least I’ve given up Brush Script.
What The Hell Am I Turning This Site Into?
I really want to thank everyone that’s commented so far. I’ve included your links not as a way to fill this blog, but because I’ve found them all to be valuable resources or interesting articles. But I’m going overboard on the linking and not spending enough time on the writing.
What could I write about? I’m a full-time web developer, but most of the work I do is seat-of-the-pants type stuff. I can’t talk to you about processes or schematics or development time - those things only exist for me in a fantasy world. My typical web contract contains verbiage that’s six years out of date, deadlines that conflict with other deadlines, a client that’s been promised too much by salespeople that don’t understand what they’re selling and an open-ended agreement on “web updates.” I normally have one or two sales people in between me and the client - and only when I get direct contact with the client do I have a semi-clear direction on where we’re going with the site.
Did I mention that somehow our clients take direction on design? That’s always fun.
But working with my clients is really the best part of the job, I like trying to interpret what they’re thinking and showing them examples of sites I’ve done. I love saying “yep, we can do that for you” and even saying “that’s actually not going to be worthwhile for your vision”. With clients, being able to say no correctly is key. Saying yes is easy. If I can be part of the process “pre-contract” perhaps I can help guide the client along to a site that’s functional, visually appealing, easy to update, and a dream to work on. And make the client believe it was all his idea from the start.
So, there’s one thing - I can write about client-developer relationships. I have quite a few, all at different stages. The clients that have a good experience their first go-round, usually give me much more breathing room the second-go-round (most of my clients are people dealing with annual events) and a better site evolves.
Also, I’ve decided to chronicle my progress as I design or redesign various personal projects. I may refer to professional projects, but only in a vague and optimistic way. The first project I’ll be working on is my personal blog, but we’ll get to that later. And while I love this and all of the themes over at BlogOh!Blog, at somepoint, you’ll get to read about my struggles as I give this place an original once-over.
That should be fun.
And I can keep handing out links to places that I think are really special and worth your time. While I don’t like link sites standing in the way of content, I do like making sure I peruse what’s out there every day. And, hopefully, at the end of every month, I’ll be placing all my daily inspirations into my permanent Bookmarks page. The daily posts will still be available, but they’ll have left the front page yonks ago.
Well, there’s my road, paved with good intentions. Here’s hoping we don’t descend into Hell.
Posted in: General, Opinion
Tags: design, random, Web Design
July 10th, 2008 / 4 Comments » / by heather
These are my links for July 10th. Early post today as I’m hoping to get back on the writing train later:
Posted in: Check This Out
Tags: Web Design
July 9th, 2008 / 3 Comments » / by heather
I try very hard to link to the original site/article when I post these links. Too often when I happen across an interesting story, I have to click through two or three link sites just to get to the “meat.” I hate things between me and my meat. Get away from my meat.
Also, extra links since yesterday I decided to start playing Twilight Princess again and didn’t get a chance to post. My apologies, it will not happen again. Post first, Wii second. Enjoy:
Posted in: Check This Out
Tags: Web Design
July 7th, 2008 / 1 Comment » / by heather
These are my links for July 7th:
Posted in: Check This Out
Tags: Web Design
July 6th, 2008 / 3 Comments » / by heather
I took the day off yesterday, not feeling well. But I’m better now so, these are my links for July 6th:
Posted in: Check This Out
Tags: Web Design
July 3rd, 2008 / 2 Comments » / by heather
These are my links for July 3rd:
Sorry this is late, but I’ve been working on a new project and didn’t get my links in on time. Enjoy.
Posted in: Check This Out
Tags: Web Design
July 2nd, 2008 / 2 Comments » / by heather
I have a personal blog as well and recently I was complaining about my Google Reader addiction. This evening, as I shuffled through my feeds, I noticed one more of those “XX things you should look at now” posts. Now, I’m new to the Web Design blog scene, but there’s such a huge amount of information out there, one would think that these kinds of posts would be useful — a culling of the overwhelming amount of inspiration and examples.
But are they really helpful?
I checked my “starred” items, articles I wanted to save, still have to read, want to refer to in a future post, and figured at least 15% of them had titles similar to this.
Granted, this may say more about my proclivity to save long lists to scan at my leisure, but I don’t think I’m the only one who feels the bombardment of “99 Feed Icons You Must Download Now” posts is overkill.
Let me explain:
1. Exactly How Fancy Should My Desktop Be?
Would you like to see my desktop? I haven’t posted a picture for many years, but here it is.
Pretty sparse, right? My 24″ iMac at work is similarly sparse. While I love the ingenuity, skillfullness and craftsmanship that go into creating desktop icons, do I need to see “100 Best Lists of 100 or more icons”?
2. Yeah, I’ve Done It, But I’m Better Now
I’m sure I’ve got a few list links here somewhere, and I’ve only just started. But can you fault a girl for trying to get out some links that she’s excited about, not realizing she may have to flip-flop later?
3. Doesn’t All That Hoarding Make You Feel Bloated?
I’m assuming here, but I would think that it takes a great deal of time to find “85 Robot Wallpapers for Flash Designers”. I mean, do you have a bookmark folder just for Robot Wallpapers? What number do you have to reach before the whole list comes bursting forth into the bloated blog post? Why are you searching for Robot Wallpaper anyway (aside from my previously stated fact that Robots make everything awesome)? Let it out as you find it. When I post the Daily Inspirations, they’re a combination of things I see that day, from my own browsing or from feeds, to older bookmarks that I still appreciate and want to share. Don’t keep your finds bottled up inside you! There’s enough Internet for all of us!
4. Why Must I Download These Right Now?
Really, where’s the urgency? Why the rush? You’ve spent a great deal of time and effort to compile the “38 Winking Smilies with a Smirk” list to keep them all in one place for me. I’ll download them at my leisure. I know where to go now.
5. Are You Counting All These Broken Links?
This may go back to the problem stated in number 3 - there have been a number of times when I’m checking out the “136 Best Grunge-Like Circle-Shaped Photoshop Brushes” and get to number 87 only to find out that, DAMN, that one grungy ovoid is no longer available. Perhaps sticking to smaller, more frequent lists will be a better option.
6. This Will Surely Keep Me Off The “30 Best New Design Blogs” List
That’s fine. My mom says I’m high up in her “20 Most Important People” list and I’m pretty sure that means Top 10. You don’t need more validation than that, my friend.
7. What About The Violet End Of The Spectrum
Instead of “36 Mouthwatering Web Sites That Make You Want To Never Design Again”, why not showcase the “36 Web Sites That Give You Hope” or the “27 Documents You Can Tell Were Done In Publisher” or my all-time favorite “113 Reason Graphic Software Shouldn’t Be Sold In Staples”. Let’s boost each other up with someone else’s failure. Let collectively laugh at the foibles of those less talented than we. Isn’t that what Internet communities are for?
8. I Forgot What Eight Was For
Yeah, you feel me.
9. I Just Don’t Have Time
While compiling the “88 Fun Things To Do With A Tilda” may seem like a time saver for your readers, it’s mostly just an overwhelming scroll of text, where truly visionary “tilda tricks” will get lost in the crowd. I have only a limited amount of time to dedicate to pursue the creative use of punctuation. Eighty-eight tilda tricks makes me just reach for the em dash instead.
10. Just Make A Damn Gallery Site Already
One of my favorite hang-outs on the web is Design Melt Down. Not only a gallery site, but a well thought out library of web design goodness. DMD’s got 80+ fabulous blue web sites, and it makes sense. Heck, just click on the little “Blue” link and say cyan-ora to your free time! But it’s a site that does overwhelmingly well in presenting a plethora of inspiration that’s easy to navigate and come back to again and again. If you find yourself constantly putting out posts of “96 Ways To Style Your Horizontal Rules” then perhaps a second blog may be in order.
I’m sure in this list of ten items I only expounded on four ideas. Hmmm, does that make my point or break it? Either way, the lists will keep on coming and I’ll keep on starring. Perhaps one day, when we all have each other’s links and lists of links, will we have formed the perfect sphere of web design bloggerdom. Then and only then can we safely know where all the Smileys are.
Posted in: General, Opinion
Tags: blogs, lists, random
July 2nd, 2008 / 1 Comment » / by heather
These are my links for July 2nd:
Posted in: Check This Out
Tags: Web Design
July 1st, 2008 / 1 Comment » / by heather
I’ve exported all my bookmarks from work and home and have been going through them to get the best here at isuckatdesign.com. And I’m not even close to being done. I have more for the “Patterns, Brushes and Icons, Oh My” category coming in the next few days, and probably even more for “Typography”. While a Google search will turn up any number of additional sites, these are the sites I go back to again and again.
I’ll be adding more of my favorite non-design sites as well. While I don’t want this site to turn into one more gallery site, there are some that have impressed me so much that I have to include them in a separate “Sites I Love” listing.
It doesn’t mean I love the other sites less. I have much love to go around. Thanks!
Posted in: General
Tags: bookmarks, update
