Entries by Category

Jens Meiert outlines web development practices from 1990 through 2009 and projects what the future may hold in 2019.

Read HTML, CSS, and Web Development Practices: Past, Present, and Future (via @smashingmag)

Mood boards are a great way to address visual direction (look and feel) at an early stage in the design process. View Mood Boards for Designers - a presentation by Amy Lamp from Inside Forty.

A comparison of the standard corporate org chart to the Disney org chart which was based on the creative process of turning an raw idea into a film.
View the Disney org chart.

The following is a behind the scenes look at my process including images for my sketchbook and mockup options that were not used. The final homepage concept was completely reworked (look & feel, functionality) near the end of the project and below I explain why and show the original concept.

Some interesting suggestions although the title (really rock...!) is hard to live up to. Most have been said before (drop your ego, prototype and test) but one caught my eye as something useful daily for a Web Designer - Focus on high fidelity, and making the abstract concrete (I can't find a source for "making the abstract concrete" although "high fidelity" is a term Edward Tufte has used in this context). I say this is useful because most Web Designers would benefit from showing more visuals (sketches, wireframes, etc.) to get ideas across rather than just speaking or emailing. Most people can't visualize what you are saying or writing. Our job is to help people see the abstract. (via InfoDesign)

Nick Finck's process (slides from the Puget Sound SIGCHI) for creating wireframes and related deliverables. I'm extremely grateful to be able to view all 94 slides.

A few of the many reasons that come to mind related to why I created this blog.

Value
I feel I have something to share an value to add that will benefit myself and others and there is still plenty of room for new ideas.

Community
Making my thoughts and findings available to the public is not much extra effort and is a better way to share information than by email which is somewhat of a dead end compared to a blog.

The following examples, which involve three different types of design, all allow for the process to deliver the solution in a variety of ways.

Felix Sockwell's NYT iPhone App Icons

Insight into how these icons evolved from rough ideas, through numerous iterations, to a final set. The end is result is a clean, clear and custom solution.

Pixar's Animated Film Process

A look at the framework around how an animated film is created from "creating the storyline" through "polishing" the finishing details. Pixar's process consistently produces successful results while allowing room for things to evolve and turn out better than expected. Also see Concept art and Story boards by selecting any "Feature Film," such as Cars, then "The Full Story" and then "Learn about the inspiration."

Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain's Kinoma Website Redesign

The thinking and reasoning behind the design decisions. An explanation of how the design progressed through multiple iterations and incremental improvements to the end result which is a very dynamic layout along with some beautiful Photoshop work.

An argument for the design process being as important, if nor more important, than the final design.

David Hill shares his observations of three oddly familiar groups of design inspiration.