Keaton Reeder

10 New Year’s resolutions for designers

1. Choose better problems to solve

Mike is right, we do not need any more apps to rate sandwiches. With the shape that the globe is in today (grim economic climate, degradation of food, corporate greed, etc.) the last thing we need is to add to a chorus of pointless solutions to unimportant problems. There are many other problems worthy of answering, which is why we should think hard about the problems we choose to solve, and think about who to solve problems for. I’m experiencing and thinking a lot of these ideas in visual advocacy course as well; I’ve obtained tools to use for communicating and I’d like to put them to use in morally just areas (no Burger King advertising plz.)

2. Stop stealing crap

I agree that it could be useful to learn from the way others have solved a particular problem, and to attempt to build upon that knowledge. “Putting something new into the timeline” of graphic design history is a challenging task, but one worth striving for.

3. Stop trying to save bad work

Considering that I have the tendency to throw my work out the window without any fuss, I personally do not have much experience trying to hold onto broken designs. So I’m in accord with this resolution.

4. Stop being your own obstacle

I can see how going outside of what a client wants can be beneficial, and Mike makes a good point by stating “clients deserve your best work, not their best work.”

5. Blame yourself first

Roger that.

6. Stay curious

Since the design practice encompasses so many diverse subjects, it’s definitely important to challenge ourselves in exploring new territories and not sticking to one particular media or process of working. For instance, a lot of design students are frightened by the thought of learning code or programs like after effects, so they steer clear. We should face those fears and replace them with curiosity and willingness to suck, how else can we improve? One area that I’m curious in sucking at for a while is the thinking required for effective information architecture and user experience.

7. Learn to make mistakes faster

I’m guilty of making many different versions of a design within one file, constantly tweaking without saving the first, third, or tenth version; instead I’ve tended to not hit command+s until I’m done. This has hurt me. Although I have made progress in this area, it’s always valuable to make mistakes early on and work out many possible choices rather than thinking one or two are the only directions worthy.

8. Stop using your mom as an example of a stupid person

I don’t know… if saying “We need to make this so easy my mom could use it!” is sexist, isn’t his last quote “And send your mom flowers. She’ll know what to do with them.” sexist also? Maybe I’m not grasping the punchline. We all know parents aren’t stupid.

9. Learn too right

Kidding. Writing is so important to designers and artists, because it is pure communication. I’ve recently questioned whether or not to include a brief (or not so brief) description of each piece of work for my portfolio. Sometimes I think it’s okay to let the work stand alone because that’s typically how creating something goes; “once you put it out into the world, it’s not yours to defend anymore”. But I do see the benefit in explaining the direction and process that lead you to a particular solution. I have a tendency to add unnecessary fluff to my language both when speaking on the fly, writing, and visually I’m sure. Writing can allow space for contemplation and editing. We all need to work on writing, there is no limit to improvement.

10. Get comfortable arguing

I’m receptive when it comes to changing things about something I’ve created. There are often various ways and viewpoints in which to view something, and how can you encompass all of them? (modernism and the idea of a universal form failed at this.) So when a person suggests a way to reorganize or improve an idea i’m all ears, but I think Mike makes a good point (go figure) by saying we should stand our ground on our decisions. The problem for me will be in assessing which ground to hold and which to openly modify. I believe that at some point and in certain situations it will become more clear.

web design is 95% typography

22 years old may be considered young to some, but my generation has been around long enough to see the many versions of the internet mature. I can remember when all websites were html only, blue underlined links etc., before there was css to alter the styling and form. At this stage of “internet puberty” if you will, things were very awkward, voice cracks and all. But at the core then and still today, typography is the crucial element in web design and communicating information.

Emil ruder wasn’t the first to realize that the inundation of information in the globe needed to be scrutinized. Those who came before, one being Jan Tschichold for example, also had quarrels with the noisy overpopulation of the crappy messaging of his time. It’s not just a matter of aesthetics and typeface choices when talking about web typography, but also information organization. The article touches on this when mentioning macro(overall structure and organization) and micro-typography (kerning, leading, etc.) Succesfull online typographic structure exercises legibility, usability, and accessibility. (don’t hold me to the accessibility 100%, because this blog is a jumbled mess if you view it on a mobile phone right now.) At this stage in my design education I feel like I’ve been able to improve in micro-typography; what I need, and would like to work on, is gaining a critical mind for the macro aspect of typography and information architecture. It won’t be easy.

The downfalls of web typography like typeface choice and screen resolution are currently being updated every year or less with technologies like @fontface and typekit.com. These are all honorable attempts at giving us designers the same micro control of typography that we so adore in print. The screen is a separate medium though, which may call for its own unique typographic characteristics and formal needs in order to function in tandem; such as pixel-based bitmap fonts. But with the rate of change increasing exponentially, perhaps pixel-based type is in a way akin to outmoded moveable type; pixel-based type is a visual language that directly communicates its channel: the screen. If the screens are changing, so too should the visual form of the type. Many people find it difficult to adapt to reading type on a screen. It’s our job as designers to work with that obstacle and come up with an appropriate answer. Treating text as a user interface is a way of addressing issues of clutter and non-functionality that often times confuse web users.