How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks • Hacker News Board

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#21

Post by mathewsanders » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:05 PM UTC

shuaib wrote: post #13

Why did you decide to go with Photoshop, and not Illustrator? I am asking because I am in pretty much exactly the same situation, and getting ready to get dirty with design skills.

Personally i would suggest neither.

At it's heart, photoshop is a bitmap editor it's original purpose was for manipulating photos various tools have been added with new versions that make it more useful for web design.

Illustrator is a vector-based app for creating free-drawn illustrations. Again newer versions have added things like pixel snapping to make it okay for web design (but its better suited for logos, visualization etc).

My preference is Fireworks. It's got great exporting tools and I find it a lot faster than working in Photoshop (for web/mobile work).

Remember also that design involves a lot of iteration. If you're concerned with efficiency, please get comfortable expressing your ideas with pen and paper - it's the fastest option :)

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#22

Post by dalore » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:06 PM UTC

shuaib wrote: post #13

Why did you decide to go with Photoshop, and not Illustrator? I am asking because I am in pretty much exactly the same situation, and getting ready to get dirty with design skills.

If you're just starting off I would recommend Fireworks. It's the best of both worlds.

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#23

Post by patothon » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:08 PM UTC

udayaprakash19 wrote: post #7

patothon wrote: post #3

If you're a web/mobile developer, why not just learn design principles and directly code?

I am unable to understand your question, In the presentation I have just outlined how I learnt Photoshop to design elements in our mobile app.

I'm just saying that, if you're a developer, isn't it better to directly code and ship an "almost okay" app in 1/2 week, get feedback and iterate than learning photoshop, wireframe, design, code and ship in 7/8 weeks?

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#24

Post by endtwist » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

I hate to be the negative nancy here, but there is absolutely nothing in this slide deck about learning design. You learned how to use Photoshop and parrot other designs--and that's a fine start--but you absolutely did not learn any design fundamentals.

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#25

Post by mattberg » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:10 PM UTC

did anyone else think "Desgin" was a new framework for building mobile apps?

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#26

Post by shuaib » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:11 PM UTC

mathewsanders wrote: post #21

shuaib wrote: post #13

Why did you decide to go with Photoshop, and not Illustrator? I am asking because I am in pretty much exactly the same situation, and getting ready to get dirty with design skills.

Personally i would suggest neither. At it's heart, photoshop is a bitmap editor it's original purpose was for manipulating photos various tools have been added with new versions that make it more useful for web design. Illustrator is a vector-based app for creating free-drawn illustrations . Again newer versions have added things like pixel snapping to make it okay for web design (but its better suited for logos, vis…

Thanks for recommending Fireworks. Seems like the right way to go.

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#27

Post by thebiglebrewski » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:11 PM UTC

mattberg wrote: post #25

did anyone else think "Desgin" was a new framework for building mobile apps?

yeah

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#28

Post by shuaib » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:11 PM UTC

dalore wrote: post #22

shuaib wrote: post #13

Why did you decide to go with Photoshop, and not Illustrator? I am asking because I am in pretty much exactly the same situation, and getting ready to get dirty with design skills.

If you're just starting off I would recommend Fireworks. It's the best of both worlds.

Thanks. I hadn't looked much into Fireworks. But seems like you are right.

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#29

Post by udayaprakash19 » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:13 PM UTC

patothon wrote: post #23

udayaprakash19 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am unable to understand your question, In the presentation I have just outlined how I learnt Photoshop to design elements in our mobile app.

I'm just saying that, if you're a developer, isn't it better to directly code and ship an "almost okay" app in 1/2 week, get feedback and iterate than learning photoshop, wireframe, design, code and ship in 7/8 weeks?

In any case we had to get a design guy, even novice guys cost bomb, So I thought it was better spend a few weeks and learn.

Re: How I taught myself Design and shipped an app in 12 weeks

#30

Post by ColinWright » Mon, Jan 21, 2013, 3:14 PM UTC

udayaprakash19 wrote: post #15

philbarr wrote: post #12

Well done and looks good! One thing I would add - I noticed a few clumsy typos in the slides and in the title of this very post. Please do proof-read your copy before you publish for your app. It probably doesn't matter as much here, but I think you can ruin your carefully designed professional impression with just one or two misspelt words.

thank you! yea did realize it a little too late. But will be more careful next time.

You could actually edit the title of this submission to remove the typo.