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Bootstrapping Design

bootstrappingdesign.com

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Re: Bootstrapping Design

#31

Post by studiofellow »

fistofjohnwayne wrote: post #27
tapp wrote: post #23

My experience is primarily back-end development, so I'm a complete UI design dummy. I have a stupid question that I always mean to look into "when I have time" - - given topic, perhaps someone on this thread can answer. Why does the font in the input box on the bootstrappingdesign lander look so screwy and hard to read, relative to the rest of the page? (I'm running Chrome on a vanilla Windows 7 box.) http://i.imgur.…

As mentioned it is a problem Windows has rendering fonts. More accurately, it is a problem all non-IE Windows browsers have rendering fonts. Open the site in IE9 and you'll be able to enjoy it as intended. I would also advise you not to fiddle with the ClearType tuner, in my experience it will not help you with this problem.

Thanks for helping. You obviously have more experience with this.

Re: Bootstrapping Design

#33

Post by ulisesroche »

Vindexus wrote: post #15
studiofellow wrote: post #2

Thanks for submitting this. I'm the author. I'm still in the process of writing and would love to make this a collaborative project. If you have topics or ideas you'd like to see covered, please leave a comment or shoot me an email. hello@BootstrappingDesign.com I'll also be sharing excerpts with the mailing list and on my blog.

As a developer I often struggle with the following things: Picking a color scheme. What colors work well together? Why do they work well together? How do I find good color schemes? Is there a formula or something? White space. How much should I have? I normally just operate in increments of 5px until I think something looks good. "Looks good" ends up being smaller than other sites when I actually compare though. Font…

You can use a color wheel to come up with color schemes, and I'd try using ems instead of pxs to handle whitespace. Whitespace is negative space, used for contrast to draw attention to positive space, which could be your copy, let's say. Use a grid to make sure you keep everything aligned and to help you figure out where to put stuff in.

I really like Futura or Baskerville for headers, and I think you should pick a bright, contrasting color against the body copy.

Gradients and Box shadows do look really cheesy with just CSS. The trick is that you should always add a little noise, somewhere between 1 or 2 percent, to your gradients or shadows so you can make them look more textured instead of just flat colors. There's a filter called "Film Grain" which I think is much better than "noise", but it's usually an external plugin. You're gonna have to hit photoshop for that, because I don't know if there is a noise/grain css effect.

Re: Bootstrapping Design

#34

Post by ulisesroche »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #22
studiofellow wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks so much for the list. I'll make sure it's covered.

Also: I am a colorblind engineer. How can I pick color schemes that don't make infants cry and write copy that isn't a legendary cure for insomnia?

For copy, I'm getting a lot out of "Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft"http://goo.gl/9eH5q, which breaks down the craft quite well.

Re: Bootstrapping Design

#35

Post by studiofellow »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #22
studiofellow wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks so much for the list. I'll make sure it's covered.

Also: I am a colorblind engineer. How can I pick color schemes that don't make infants cry and write copy that isn't a legendary cure for insomnia?

For choosing colors, I'd suggest starting with a palette from elsewhere. Just like Kuler as louhong mentioned. Starting with proven colors will be better than choosing from scratch. And that applies to everyone, not just you.

I think in your case, feedback and validation from peers will be essential. However you'll have a leg up on the rest of us. Designing for accessibility is a challenge you already understand better than I do.

As for writing copy, there are definitely people more qualified to advise you than me!

Re: Bootstrapping Design

#36

Post by mcteapot »

hopeless wrote: post #12

I'm really looking forward to this book. It seems like the perfect thing for a developer like me. Usually I just buy a template from ThemeForest and extensively modify it but I'd really like to start from a blank page one day.

Like programming good design takes practice. Just because you read a book is not going to make you a great designer. The question is are you willing to stop developing and put aside the time to design well or pay someone to do it for you.

Re: Bootstrapping Design

#37

Post by studiofellow »

mcteapot wrote: post #36
hopeless wrote: post #12

I'm really looking forward to this book. It seems like the perfect thing for a developer like me. Usually I just buy a template from ThemeForest and extensively modify it but I'd really like to start from a blank page one day.

Like programming good design takes practice. Just because you read a book is not going to make you a great designer. The question is are you willing to stop developing and put aside the time to design well or pay someone to do it for you.

False dichotomy. People are capable of doing more than one thing. I'm a designer who writes code. Developers can learn design basics, and doing so will serve them well!

You're right though about practice. That topic is on my outline.

Re: Bootstrapping Design

#39

Post by kreek »

I'm all for getting developers some design skills and I'm sure the book will help. That said mastering anything takes time. Could you give a designer a Rails for Dummies book and claim "Save thousands by not hiring a developer"?

Update:

I'm a full time developer now but I graduated with a design degree. It took me two years of full time development to become a competent developer. Mostly because when I started out I didn't know what I didn't know.

From time to time I pick up design gigs, but I'm a mediocre designer now, mainly because my skills have atrophied. I obviously have a leg up on my dev colleagues, but that's not saying much! However if I had a startup I would definitely hire a pro designer. They're not really that expensive, think of it this way; you're a developer your time is worth, what $100-150/hr? Spend your time developing and pay a designer $50/hr.

Re: Bootstrapping Design

#40

Post by mshron »

I love the idea, but I don't think the page does a good job of selling itself on design merits. Your eyes immediately go to the tertiary copy ("The new eBook for bootstrappers..." etc) because that's where the highest contrast is highest.

The ostensible header ("Become the designer...") is almost invisible (I didn't see it for the first 30 seconds). My eyes keep wanting to drift back down to where the contrast is higher.

So paint me as skeptical.

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