When we went over button design and the introductory options of what you can do with dynamic user input this week, that brought me to my most recent discovery: material design. Now, although this is a mostly experimental concept, I am already in love and can only expect a full implementation with all browsers/platforms by the end of next year.
Material design is not a new concept, but rather the latest take on everything good about web design. Google has taken a look at successful parts of web design, and combined then with where the web is going to be in the future, both feature and platform wise, and this is what they've come up with: Material Design by Google.
For me, this is the sort of look I've always liked. Less is always more in my book. Too many sites have too many mediocre features, when they lack the well-developed ones that most users rely on. Smart transitions and well thought out structure can go a long way in place of just packing as many cool features as possible into one page.
I'm currently working on a small app for a psychology class as a demo of an idea. Although it's still in the development stages, it really shows the idea of what I mean: Textion App (Needs Chrome 38+ to view on desktop or mobile).
It is simple, yet well-placed responsive touch points give user input some good feedback. Simple yet clean transitions give a nice feel on both desktop and mobile. Although this is only available in chrome since it's experimental, I feel like this can really be developed into the next big thing. This is practical, clean web app technology, which doesn't need any user downloads to run, and responds without any glitchiness on supports platforms.
We may not be out of the days of old css hover buttons, but I think we're definitely on the brink of some big changes with how desktop and mobile platforms are run.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
A Splash of Color
I believe that color in web design is very hingent on layout. In my experience, if I try to pick a color scheme before I have a solid layout, the color never really fits in the end product.
Color is like frosting on a cake. If you pick the frosting before you decide what flavor the layers are going to have, your cake could turn out very wrong: No one likes a carrot cake with strawberry frosting.
If your site is for an already established brand, you're most likely going to have your palette already picked for you. However, if this is a establishing brand/concept, your color choice is going to be very important for the future and growth of the business/idea. Just like typography, color can make or break the recognition and credibility of whatever you're designing for. Coca-Cola probably wouldn't be as recognized as it is today had the logo been, say, brown and green. In my opinion, colors should always reflect your emotion for whatever you're designing for. Almost like some people look better in a pinstripe vs. solid suit, some logos/layouts/designs look better in certain colors.
No matter what color is picked, you have to be happy with it. I've noticed if I'm being swayed to choose a set of colors that I don't like for a project, it usually doesn't come out looking good. However, when I have a set of colors in mind, I often end up with a genuinely solid end product that everyone's happy with. What some people forget is that although they might like a certain color, it may not fit what the designer is laying out. Most often, as I'm finishing a layout, I can start to envision what I want for colors. If I put someone else's color choices in, they generally don't work very well, since the layout complements the colors that it's been designed with in thought.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't consider advice and constructive criticism on color choice and all other aspects. It just mean's that although changes can be made, its probably not wise to throw a completely different color scheme into a project at the last minute; You're most likely going to lose more than you gain.
Color is like frosting on a cake. If you pick the frosting before you decide what flavor the layers are going to have, your cake could turn out very wrong: No one likes a carrot cake with strawberry frosting.
If your site is for an already established brand, you're most likely going to have your palette already picked for you. However, if this is a establishing brand/concept, your color choice is going to be very important for the future and growth of the business/idea. Just like typography, color can make or break the recognition and credibility of whatever you're designing for. Coca-Cola probably wouldn't be as recognized as it is today had the logo been, say, brown and green. In my opinion, colors should always reflect your emotion for whatever you're designing for. Almost like some people look better in a pinstripe vs. solid suit, some logos/layouts/designs look better in certain colors.
No matter what color is picked, you have to be happy with it. I've noticed if I'm being swayed to choose a set of colors that I don't like for a project, it usually doesn't come out looking good. However, when I have a set of colors in mind, I often end up with a genuinely solid end product that everyone's happy with. What some people forget is that although they might like a certain color, it may not fit what the designer is laying out. Most often, as I'm finishing a layout, I can start to envision what I want for colors. If I put someone else's color choices in, they generally don't work very well, since the layout complements the colors that it's been designed with in thought.
This doesn't mean that you shouldn't consider advice and constructive criticism on color choice and all other aspects. It just mean's that although changes can be made, its probably not wise to throw a completely different color scheme into a project at the last minute; You're most likely going to lose more than you gain.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Typography and SMB
One of the things that I really think makes a website is typography. For me, it really defines the site as being average, or setting the bar for its kind. Although there are many fonts that you can download and embed from your hosted server, I am really liking the newer trends in typography.
Google fonts, I've found, are some of the most reliable options to use. Especially when you're working on UI applications, where visibility and coherence is priority above style, web specific fonts are the best choice. Google has a fantastic realm of hosted fonts to include, and contain most web versions of basic faces that you need in the web world (both serif and sans-serif): http://www.awwwards.com/20-best-web-fonts-from-google-web-fonts-and-font-face.html
I always like to say I will leave my font choices until last...usually by that point, I've laid everything else on the site out and know what look I'm going for. If my project needs that last little touch, a few wise font choices will put the icing on the cake.
Since this is also supposed to be a blog about what I have learned in the past week, I also think it's pertinent to share this...even though its not directly from this class: When connecting to a Windows server from a mac, use SMB1. The 10.9 Mavericks upgrade includes the new SMB2 protocol, which completely shut down my Mac this past week...once smb drops the connection, it shuts down not only the program you happen to be using (in my case Photoshop), but also Finder, and all other core functions (you must use the units power button to force restart).
Although this is a bit of mixed information this week, I still hope it's useful....in a few different ways.
Google fonts, I've found, are some of the most reliable options to use. Especially when you're working on UI applications, where visibility and coherence is priority above style, web specific fonts are the best choice. Google has a fantastic realm of hosted fonts to include, and contain most web versions of basic faces that you need in the web world (both serif and sans-serif): http://www.awwwards.com/20-best-web-fonts-from-google-web-fonts-and-font-face.html
I always like to say I will leave my font choices until last...usually by that point, I've laid everything else on the site out and know what look I'm going for. If my project needs that last little touch, a few wise font choices will put the icing on the cake.
Since this is also supposed to be a blog about what I have learned in the past week, I also think it's pertinent to share this...even though its not directly from this class: When connecting to a Windows server from a mac, use SMB1. The 10.9 Mavericks upgrade includes the new SMB2 protocol, which completely shut down my Mac this past week...once smb drops the connection, it shuts down not only the program you happen to be using (in my case Photoshop), but also Finder, and all other core functions (you must use the units power button to force restart).
Although this is a bit of mixed information this week, I still hope it's useful....in a few different ways.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Hard Decisions
This past week has been quite interesting with trying to complete our first project. It has been a bit of a struggle to find time to work on the site and get it to where I envisioned it originally. However, whats been most difficult to work through has been the challenge of working through the tough problems that come up in website development.
In this case, it was an issue of choosing between design and function. I had a vision of how I wanted the site to look, and spent a bit of time putting my thoughts together into a plan. Yet, even with planning, things do not go as you want them to. As I neared the end of the development project as I put everything together into the page, I discovered that there was an extremely small issue with the design that, even with being minuscule, was not going to fly for the final revision.
This led me to a hard choice. I could either change the design of the part that had the issue, or I could spend an indeterminate amount of time researching ways to fix the problem. I spent a bit coming up with design alternatives, but I'm the kind of person that sets their mind on something; Anything besides the original idea will just never look the same. So I decided to dedicate my time to trying to find a way to fix the issue, instead of opting for the less-attractive-but-simpler-to-implement design option.
In the end, and with lots of trial and error, I found a way to make it work. I was happy I spent the time that I did in order to get the site to be where I want to be. However, my mentality of striving to achieve perfection has led me to learn a few lessons: In this case, everything turned out ok since I had the time to spend on the issue. However, there will be situations where, when building a website, you simply don't have the time or resources to dedicate to working out all the issues you may run into with your build. Its at that moment where, as a designer, you must make a very hard decision; You either sacrifice your ideal design for something that has a little less wow-factor, or you end up with something that has a few loose ends. In my case, I always think of it this way: The website can look absolutely stunning...but if the user can't use it or a part of it, you might as well submit it to an art gallery, since that's about as much use that it will be.
In this case, it was an issue of choosing between design and function. I had a vision of how I wanted the site to look, and spent a bit of time putting my thoughts together into a plan. Yet, even with planning, things do not go as you want them to. As I neared the end of the development project as I put everything together into the page, I discovered that there was an extremely small issue with the design that, even with being minuscule, was not going to fly for the final revision.
This led me to a hard choice. I could either change the design of the part that had the issue, or I could spend an indeterminate amount of time researching ways to fix the problem. I spent a bit coming up with design alternatives, but I'm the kind of person that sets their mind on something; Anything besides the original idea will just never look the same. So I decided to dedicate my time to trying to find a way to fix the issue, instead of opting for the less-attractive-but-simpler-to-implement design option.
In the end, and with lots of trial and error, I found a way to make it work. I was happy I spent the time that I did in order to get the site to be where I want to be. However, my mentality of striving to achieve perfection has led me to learn a few lessons: In this case, everything turned out ok since I had the time to spend on the issue. However, there will be situations where, when building a website, you simply don't have the time or resources to dedicate to working out all the issues you may run into with your build. Its at that moment where, as a designer, you must make a very hard decision; You either sacrifice your ideal design for something that has a little less wow-factor, or you end up with something that has a few loose ends. In my case, I always think of it this way: The website can look absolutely stunning...but if the user can't use it or a part of it, you might as well submit it to an art gallery, since that's about as much use that it will be.
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