Peyton Crump, ON THE TOPIC OF General and Tips and Tricks

A few of Andy Rutledge’s words from The Design View Show, Episode 2, although aimed at answering the question of formal vs. self-taught web design education, reminded me of an important topic web designers need to remember: that constraint – not creativity – should be the overriding drive behind our designs.

As Andy shares, when designers think creativity – not problem-solving – is the prime measure of success, they enter a competition of artistry and decoration. I would add that true originality is often a high expectation of the creative-crazed designer, too. If it’s creative, looks nice, and feels super unique, then it’s assumed to be a successful design.

Such an assumption lays a comfortable foundation for designers to “trust their intuition” (advice often given from one designer to another) and fall in love with something they created – even though it doesn’t work. Too often, we designers create a logo, marketing idea, tag line, web design, or UX technique that we believe is innovative, when, quite frankly, it’s just not.

I call it creative over-thinking; when our desire to be inventive usurps our rational instincts. The end product is forced, and we might even feel some catharsis because of it. Sharpening our internal radars to recognize when we’re headed down this frustrating path is among the best ways to balance the art with the design purposes.

Techniques to stay oriented

Instead of “trusting your intuition,” I say “trust the intuition of others.” Be proactive about seeking feedback from outside sources knowing they usually don’t get it (often for good reason) but they’ll be honest in their reactions.  The truth can hurt, yes, but most of the time we’re designing for them – not other web designers.

If you find yourself explaining your design decision in paragraphs rather than a simple sentence, then it’s time to re-evaluate. Portfolio pieces can look great but don’t communicate clearly or connect effectively. The more you explain concepts, the deeper you’ll dig. Effective design decisions will explain themselves.

Regularly along the way, re-orient yourself to the intended users and audience, and don’t waiver from this focus. Generally, “creative flare” isn’t at the top of their list of design needs. It doesn’t hurt, of course, but the best designs are credible, usable, easily digestable, correctly targeted, and clear.  Often, it’s the simplest designs that achieve all these characteristics fluidly.

Quick takes to prevent over-thinking

• Know your core: are you an artist or a designer? Identify your leanings.


• Know that naturally creative people aren’t necessarily naturally design-oriented people and vice versa.


• Remember that art and design often clash. Save examples of the two working well together.


• Balance your desire for creativity with a desire for constraint and simplicity.


• Stop forcing ideas. It’s a great waste of time and energy and results in frustration.


• Seek out and accept feedback frequently from non-designers.


• Make achieving the client’s goals a priority over achieving your own personal aesthetic.


• Remember your users and audience and prioritize your design to meet their needs.


• If you’re compromising originality at work, seek fulfillment with intensely unique and creative side projects.

Bigger picture

Yes, this post in some ways falls into the age-old categories of art vs. design, creativity vs. constraint, form vs. function, original vs. ordinary. However, I’m more and more convinced that the best designers are those that understand the balance of all of these things. Here are a few links if you’re interested in any further reading:

• The Design View Show


• Universal Principles of Design


• Be a Beautiful Designer


• Collecting for Design


• Form vs Function (all the way from 2001)

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M. Jackson Wilkinson, ON THE TOPIC OF Events and Opinions/Reviews

There’s a lot going on here at the four labs, and so the four of us attending Carsonified’s Future of Web Design conference this year had to make a long day trip up to New York. Fortunately, when it comes to Ryan Carson’s conferences, even the sub-par conferences are well worth every resultant hour of sleep deprivation.

I say sub-par mainly because this conference didn’t have the polish that we tend to take for granted when it comes to Carson conferences. The venue was large, echoey, and didn’t allow for much audience feedback—if a speaker told a decent joke, audience laughter was swallowed up by the space, and it sounded like awkward silence. The venue was also essentially a glass cube, and the sunlight coming through shone directly on the presentation screen, making speakers’ slides nearly impossible to see for much of the day. Ryan Carson did the right thing and is offering attendees video of the conference free of charge.

On the other hand, the content of the conference was definitely the high-quality fare you expect. It was action-packed, with no fewer than eighteen speaking spots in just over nine hours. While many of the speakers were familiar faces from the web design / web standards speaking circuit, there were a few who were new (to me, at least), and a couple who really stood out:

• Elliot Jay Stocks, Carsonified’s new Senior Designer, was given ten minutes to make his case for abandoning some of the trendy design motifs we’ve seen in the Web 2.0 space. He made the most of each of those minutes, and left the entire audience wishing he’d been given a full slot, with an engaging, witty, and eloquent monologue. I’m sure we’ll see more of him in the future.


• Jeffrey Kalmikoff, Chief Creative Officer at SkinnyCorp, did a really great job on his talk, answering questions submitted by users. It was a creative and engaging way for him to deliver a talk on community.

Of course, there were other speakers more familiar to us who made the conference worthwhile. Brian Fling delivered a reworked twist on his mobile talk that always gives a good primer on the basics of mobile development. Our friend Cindy Li gave a good (albeit brief) talk on how illustration can bring a two-way communication with your users to the web in a way few other media can. Jon Snook gave a good overview of some design considerations related to AJAX. And Matthew Patterson from Campaign Monitor talked about the challenges in HTML email, and why we should care—and we should care.

The highlight of my conference, as far as the presentations were concerned, was Keith Robinson and Ryan Sims presenting “Inside the Designers’ Studio: IMDb,” in which they reworked the popular movie site. The crux of the talk involved the process the two talented designers undertook in the redesign, and I always find it very interesting to see how people actually attack a project. Keith had some technical issues with the remote he was given to advance slides, but the presentation was solid and informative, and was a great anchor leg for the conference.

Afterward, Brian and I headed out to engage in the best part of any conference: socializing. We talked with a ton of people in the few hours before our 10pm train back to DC, including one of my long-lost friends from elementary school. These conversations are always great, but the MediaTemple closing party had other ideas for what to do at the end of the day: something involving deafeningly-loud music and crazy lights. I think the MT parties are best either quite late the night of a one-day conference or, better yet, on the last day as a larger conference.

We had a great time, met a lot of great folks, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone again at SXSW, if not before!

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Brian Wynne Williams, ON THE TOPIC OF Events

A group of us from Viget are jumping on an early train on Wednesday to hit the Future of Web Design conference in New York, which looks like it will be better than ever.  The speakers list is impressive and I’m sure the audience will be more than mingle-worthy.

I had a chance to spend some time with Ryan and Gill Carson this past week, who I’d invited to speak at the New New Internet conference here in DC.  They were both excited about FOWD (they mentioned that it will likely sell out) as well as the Media Temple after-party, which they strongly recommended.  We’ll be there.

If you’ll be in NYC, join us and say hello!

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