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This is a web page

justinjackson.ca

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Re: This is a web page

#431

Post by iso8859-1 »

tehwalrus wrote: post #183
rkuykendall-com wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was trying to be, and failing. I am currently serving up a ( antialiasing fixed ) png, and @2x png for hdpi displays. Do you think a canvas logo would provide any additional benefit above these two?

If there was an error in the original anti aliasing that's now fixed, that should be fine - I was speculating how to get a vector version up and running (I am sure there are vector image formats, but all the web-friendly ones I've found turn out to be bitmap underneath.) (just checked, after refreshing my cache a few times, and it looks much better now, nice one.)

What do you mean by "bitmap unterneath"?

Re: This is a web page

#432

Post by iso8859-1 »

rkuykendall-com wrote: post #102
chas wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The antialiasing on the logo was awful, and I've uploaded a new version. I think a vector version would be great. I am already serving up an @2x version which looks great.

I vectorized it for you: http://pastehtml.com/view/d6liy8ipy.html

All browsers have SVG support now, webpages need only consist of text, vector graphics and photographs.

Re: This is a web page

#433

Post by iso8859-1 »

tehwalrus wrote: post #81
chas wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

it looks as if the colour is just a background-color attribute in CSS, which changes on mouseover. If so, it should be white->transparent anti-aliased in the RK image, which is looks like it's trying to be. Vector, e.g. drawn with Canvas, would be better (e.g. with a fallback to a single colour png.)

Why would you draw the vector manually with canvas when the browser can do it (SVG)?

Re: This is a web page

#434

Post by sageikosa »

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #415
sageikosa wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a "design" to this page. It just doesn't include pictures, videos, hover bars, animated banners, nor advertisements for weird tricks to lose weight. This site is about the flow of textual information. I like a usable application interface as much as the next guy, and am quite happy to see native interfaces (even if they aren't my beloved WPF ;-) rise back into prominence so that the hyper-text transfer proto…

The people who built HN did the web design you speak of; Web design is not what users posting comments are doing.

Yes (except I am not speaking, I'm whispering).

I never implied that posters and commentators were doing web design while using this site; I started with a comment on the dissonance of reading a statement refuting the web as a textual medium on a site that is effectively only a textual medium.

Re: This is a web page

#436

Post by helicoidal »

lelandbatey wrote: post #162
pnathan wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a good citation for the primacy of linguistic communication? I have become profoundly convinced over the last 15 years that words (& to an extent, text ), is the generally best mode of communication of meaning, beating out things such as video, images, smells, etc. But I've been generally unable to articulate that idea cleanly and persuasively.

I feel that words are the best way to communicate because words are born purely out of us; they are literally our thoughts in physical form. Videos, music, pictures, are all representations of physical things in the world around us; words are representations of the worlds inside us.

> Videos, music, pictures, are all representations of physical things in the world around us; words are representations of the worlds inside us.

What about music, sounds?

Re: This is a web page

#437

Post by Mithaldu »

rkuykendall-com wrote: post #408
Mithaldu wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly you chose a font that only works when it's gauss-blurred. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190786/bad_font.png

I chose Source Sans Pro, probably the most fully developed, supported and profesional open typeface available. What OS/Browser are you using that destroys type like that?

The OS/Browser don't matter. I disabled font smoothing and anyone who has that on on any software/hardware combination will be subjected to output like in my screenshot.

To explain this a tiny bit further: Fully developed and professional fonts will have had attention put into them to ensure that they will look perfect in pixel-exact representation at any font size. The font you chose had that kind of work only put in for up to font size 8 or thereabouts and thus looks terrible.

Re: This is a web page

#438

Post by janekk »

ignostic wrote: post #37

Sure, simple text is fine for a blog. But if I'm selling something like a piece of art it's all about the images: large, high-quality images from multiple angles. Pinterest wouldn't be called minimalist, but it does a damn fine job of accomplishing its goals. Design should help accomplish business (or personal) goals. We run into trouble when we adopt some sort of "minimalism, always, ever, for everything" dogma.

Exactly.

Relying on words conflicts with the popular concept "show, don't tell". So I think the author's point only applies to a subset of web pages. From my perspective, I want to see screenshots of your app (or preferably try it with a non-signup demo) - I don't want to read a bleeding heart story about your motivation for it. Give me a tagline at best for that.

App web pages need to be designed like HyperCards or PowerPoint presentations - where you aim to lower the number of points on the screen to retain attention.

Re: This is a web page

#439

Post by tep »

null_ptr wrote: post #48

There's something magical about personal websites. Something that a Facebook profile page or a Twitter stream or a Tumblr will never reach. I really wish more people would go back to the earlier roots of the internet, and share what's on their mind in a more personal and genuine way.

Exactly!

"Art of Travel"[1] is one of those websites. When I read that website I was impressed how lovingly it was put together. The overall experience was so good that I didn't even think about evaluating its design.

[1]http://artoftravel.com/

Re: This is a web page

#440

Post by tehwalrus »

iso8859-1 wrote: post #431
tehwalrus wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there was an error in the original anti aliasing that's now fixed, that should be fine - I was speculating how to get a vector version up and running (I am sure there are vector image formats, but all the web-friendly ones I've found turn out to be bitmap underneath.) (just checked, after refreshing my cache a few times, and it looks much better now, nice one.)

What do you mean by "bitmap unterneath"?

uhh, I have been wrong about many things when it comes to web images - this is going back a long way. First, I always used JPG. Then, I discovered PNG, which I thought was vector (because I created Bezier curves in my editor, and when I exported them the quality was retained exactly). I can't remember what other formats I've tried in between (EPS and PS were involved somewhere, but they're not web friendly). I've never succeeded in creating a vector image that I can use on the web with a normal editor - although I have heard of SVG before. Maybe I'll look up how to export to it next time I need to solve this problem.
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