isuckatdesign.com

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.