[This is part 3 of a 3-part series]
This was originally a video (included below), and these words suplement and distill what I say in the video.
This series was originally inspired by a video, which you can see here:
Web Design for Print Designers — Videos.
.
Design Process
There’s a common web design process whereby a designer goes into her or his private place, works in Photoshop, and comes up with a series of comps. Then, s(he) gives these over to a developer or someone, who codes them into CSS/HTML/WordPress, etc.
This process probably parallels a designer producing work to give to a printer. But it leaves out a lot of magic that is possible in the web, or turns it into an afterthought.
My experience tells me that unless the web designer can integrate these things into her process, this will continue. By the time she’s turned her work over to be “coded,” it’s too late, unless we think of things differently.
The truth is, there are probably ways in which Photoshop is still a good design tool just because it doesn’t limit you to what’s “easy” on a web page; but then, it’s very limiting, because it puts off the specification of dynamic elements for way too long.
Furthermore, specifying type in Photoshop makes no sense at all—you need to do this using CSS and real browsers.
Also, in my experience, things like fine rules (see www.good.is again), are a bitch to render in Photoshop, and even in other tools, they’re not really going to look the same as they do in a web page. Note the use here of dotted rules (a CSS option), for example. Why take forever in Photoshop (or Illustrator) trying to make it look like it’s going to look in the browser?
The alternative—I think—is going to have to be a process where you do part of your work in a tool like Photoshop, and part of your work in HTML and CSS. (If you don’t know how to use these tools, maybe you should learn, or work with someone who does.)
Furthermore, web designers—who are generally very visual—should generally work with someone else, playing the information architect role, whose job it is to think about the arrangement of the verbal information, and the navigation. (In conjunction with the designer, of course.)
Furthermore—this is something outside the scope of this article, but I have to say it—because many clients come straight to a designer as the point person to produce their website, and many designers don’t really know about marketing, the designer should really work in conjunction with a marketing person,always. (Unless, perhaps the client really and truly does not desire to get traffic from the site, or already has a marketing department and plan—in which case the designer should be working with that department.)
What do you think?
What is your experience as a designer? As a developer? What do you think? Tell me below:
Chris, I came from a print background. My programmer and web development partner back in the ’90s used to gripe at me for being so anal about font sizes and color and pixel placement perfection because it was such a chore to change it all in PERL. That didn’t stop me though. I took it upon myself to learn PERL so I could get the perfection I was after myself. I even started a club called A.N.A.L which stands for Asinine Nitpickers About Little. Anyone in the print design world know what I’m talking about. And so will backend web developers who struggle with all the design details and designers.
My ANAL attitude disintegrated way back in 1996, I think it was, when I saw a “beautiful” site I had created in HTML tables explode like a broken puzzle in the then new AOL browser which didn’t support tables. It was then that I learned that form follows function and not the reverse, and that getting it to work in the browser was more important than visual perfection.
I also learned another lesson in another site when we trashed a beautiful, artistic and very creative home page with a knockoff of the then new Amazon bookstore home page. Sales tripled in a day.
Consumer behaviors are very different on the web and what works in print just doesn’t online. Web designers need to learn what those differences are. And above all, they need to let go of their perfectionism. It’s just not that important. You can create a site that is attractive, professional, easy to use, and converts visitors into customers without it. Consumers just aren’t that picky.
Nowadays, especially since I do all CMS sites like WordPress that require a template, I pick a ready-made template first, then design for and customize that. (I can hear the designers cringe.) As a developer, it’s much easier that way, it saves the client money in design and development time, and still accomplishes the job. And if all the other pieces are right, pieces I’ll argue are more important like marketing, SEO and usability, the client’s phones will be ringing off the hook – even though their website may not be the prettiest or most perfect in town.
Thanks, Kathy. You know, I think you’re right–when I work with designers, they spend a lot of time, and make beautiful things, but I am not sure that those things are always in the best service of the client. They obsess about pixels and the perception of the site as an object of beauty / communication — and that’s cool, but not understanding even a concept of what conversion is, or a plan to generate traffic, it’s so weird. The web design world is just about … surreal.
It’s almost an Emperor Has No Clothes type of deal. But still, people put up with it! How odd!