Whilst I was studying at university we had British graphic designer and typographer Jonathan Barnbrook come and give us a talk. The other day I found my notes for this, so I thought I’ll pop them down here for all to see.
I use a load of different resources for web design everyday. Here’s a list of some of the stuff I use. Some of the tools may not be strictly resources for web design, but most are. Have a look and you’ll see what I mean. I’ve also marked the very best with an asterisks.
Smashing magazine*
Think Vitamin
A List Apart
SitePoint
Boagworld*
BBC Radio 4 Friday Night Comedy
When we look back at the era of design that we are currently in, what will we be remembered for? Will it be for the colours we use. Our creative typography? Or will it be for our use of drop shadows and rounded corners?
Now I know that calling an article ‘Why I hate…’ may sound a little silly, but I do have a point here. Have you ever tried to cut a rounded corner out of paper. Its really hard. To get it smooth requires skill.
Creating a rounded corner on a computer is much easier. Normally there’s even a special rounded corner effect or tool. Or a drop shadow tool or effect. But as a result do we just use them to create a quick fix? Is it a way of making something look more ‘designed’ instantly?
We need to be careful in design that we don’t stop using skill. There’s a big difference between using a default and using a skill. One is certainly easier than the other, but one is also more obvious.
As a result I am attempting to ban myself from using both the drop shadow tool and the rounded corners tool. Who’s with me?
Here is a completely free wallpaper for all to use. Its a photo of mine which I’ve had as my background for ages. So I thought its about time I shared it. And here it is in a selection of sizes.
It was taken out of a bus window on my way back from London to Coventry.
Download it: 1920 x 1200, 1680 x 1050, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960.
With my hope to find the perfect text/html editor I’ve looked at a selection of programs. I’ll be reviewing these from the point of view of the web designer/developer. And I’ll only be reviewing Mac editors. Sorry about that Windows and Linux users.
There are a few things I’m looking for personally in a text editor. Snippets, option to have background colours to text, HTML tidy, auto complete, collapsible tags, on-the-fly validation, code hints, multi-file find and replace. And its got to look good too - nobody likes a messy program to work in.
I’ll be trying out each of the programs for at least a day. Using them to actually do my work. Its only after you’ve given a program a bit of time do you start to find out its annoying little problems. Read More
I received my Smashing Magazine prize for writing an article on Illustrator vs. Photoshop. I didn’t win the top prize but I did receive an excellent Belkin laptop bag which is being used on a daily basis.
Thanks Smashing Magazine.
