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This is a web page

justinjackson.ca

71–80 of 445 posts

Re: This is a web page

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true. There's a bit of CSS. There's also a tracking script. I also needed a web server to host them, an FTP client to transfer them, plus the entire infrastructure of the web to make this work. ;) So beneath the simplicity of "just words" is some complexity. But all that stuff is invisible for most people visiting the page. The point is that simple words on a page can be powerful and effective.

How do I download your app so I can read the text better?

;) I'm working on it!

Re: This is a web page

#72
I wish there were a lot more client-side design tools. I liked the idea of building something that was like your own daily newspaper, but that's not practical when every article is trying to differentiate itself visually (frequently to obscure the fact that the textual content is largely churn).

Re: This is a web page

#73

"At it's heart, web design should be about words." No. The web is not just a place for text / words, that is not its heart and soul, and therefore neither is that the case for web design. It really never has been. I see no great argument in favor of words being the core over any other form of expression. Today's bandwidth more than allows for beautiful video, animation, high quality graphics and photos, etc. Or low k…

change "words" to "content".

Re: This is a web page

#75
post #66

This was a bit of an obsession of mine ever since I saw Coding Horror a few years ago. I had seen a lot of extremely minimalist designs, but they were all doing things to accomplish that minimalism. As a developer though, you have a nagging feeling in the back of your brain saying "that's a lie, it's not simple, it's very complicated, it just looks simple." Coding Horror is complex, but it was plain enough for me to…

Your site looks great. I especially like your logo.

The logo is nice, but the aliased angled lines really kill it for me. I think a vector (or better anti-aliased) logo would really make a positive difference in the feel of the site.

Re: This is a web page

#76

"At it's heart, web design should be about words." No. The web is not just a place for text / words, that is not its heart and soul, and therefore neither is that the case for web design. It really never has been. I see no great argument in favor of words being the core over any other form of expression. Today's bandwidth more than allows for beautiful video, animation, high quality graphics and photos, etc. Or low k…

change "words" to "content".

I don't think so. That isn't what the person said. Their entire post was built around stripping down web design to the words. In fact, the author was very precise in the usage of the term "words."

This for example: "But the most powerful tool on the web is still words."

That blatantly is not the case in my opinion. Photos are vastly more powerful than words on today's web. That's why 3/4 of all the posts on Reddit's home page are links to imgur. That's why a gazillion photos are uploaded to and shared on Facebook every day.

That's why you can read about protests in Brazil all day long, and until you see the photos, the sheer power of the protest will not ring anywhere near as loudly. This has been true so long as photography has existed. Whether we're talking about the Holocaust and WW2, an atomic bomb going off, or a photo of a kitten or puppy, you name it and photos win 9 times out of 10 over words.

What would walking on the moon be like without photos (and video) to go with it? Would reading the transcripts have amazed the world like the imagery did? I say not even remotely. Imagine reading about a man standing in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square, versus seeing it.

Another side note to all of this: there are almost a billion illiterate people still, sadly. And another billion that are only partially literate. Nearly every one of them can understand imagery. Imagery also crosses languages, you don't have to understand Mandarin to grasp the Tiananmen Square protest.

Re: This is a web page

#77
This article really embodies what I love about the net and why I became a web dev first then a software engineer.

A Webpage is designed to be reached by anyone, anywhere, and now...can be read (at least the words) in different languages. I love text just for the global demographic that it can reach thanks to online translators like Google and Bing!

Re: This is a web page

#78

"At it's heart, web design should be about words." No. The web is not just a place for text / words, that is not its heart and soul, and therefore neither is that the case for web design. It really never has been. I see no great argument in favor of words being the core over any other form of expression. Today's bandwidth more than allows for beautiful video, animation, high quality graphics and photos, etc. Or low k…

Agreed. The author is assuming our capacity for communication is/should be text based. We're visual beings as well, and aesthetics is a lubricant for effective communication.

Re: This is a web page

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it not self-obvious that if every page attempting to serve up content similar to that in the OP (pictureless editorial), the web would be bleak and characterless? Not debating the effectiveness of that kind of design, but rather pointing out the obviousness that this sort of anti-"always, ever" statement is easily validated.

Most of the web is awash in ugly junk. Whenever I go to a machine that doesn't have adblock, Ghostery etc., I am increasingly horrified. It's like a highway with so many billboards that you can't see the direction signs, never mind enjoy the view. That or some sort of infinite supermarket magazine rack. I HATE the way web design has evolved. I want to make the design choices at my end, not have them imposed on me or…

Having webpages that are not bleak and characterless is not a resignation to having webpages that are like highways with unending billboards.

Re: This is a web page

#80
I love it. Even seeing Times/Times New Roman in use brings back a tinge of nostalgia.

I like sites with some design pizazz, but a simple page like this with well-written content trumps most over-designed, over-widgetized crap sites any day.

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