I'm not sure she can design well at all. The tiny, light gray text on the white background is painful to read.
I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
11–20 of 29 posts
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#12I love that we're in an era where we expect sites and interfaces to be more than just desktop pixel grids. Designing in the browser feels like you're actually crafting something real, the same way a carpenter is refining the actual pieces of wood until it turns into furniture.
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#13I'm kind of allergic to doing things just because the sake of it, even with design. Start with what you have, which is pure text. Then you look at the text and you ask your self, how do I make this more readable? Design is about function and not about looks. If you begin the design process in photoshop your starting of in the wrong end, because then you start with looks before function. I can however understand why people tend to do this, because it's therapeutic and relaxing to just throw painting on a canvas, and you feel good about it, but will it lead to good design? Most often not.
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#14This post was written before the time of Sketch (Bohemian Coding). A few designers I respect swear by the tool, and as a developer I'm all for it since it respects the way web works. It is a vector-based application, and everything you do in it can be represented in CSS (they even have a 'Copy CSS' function), and if not, complex shapes are available as SVGs.
If you're a designer using Sketch, I would love to hear your experience with it, and also any thoughts you have on how it has influenced your workflow.
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#15I held up the belief that you should design right in the browser and skip the design phase. But I came to the same conclusion as the author: thinking in code is a completely different process than drawing things and trying out how your site might look like. My best advice is: draw on paper first, using just a pencil and an eraser. This forces you to focus on structure and relationship rather than pixel-perfection. Hence, by going analog, you focus on function rather than on design as the critics say.
What you do next is up to your preferences. I think it is worth it to transform your sketches to wireframes. In most of my cases that was still a more open process than fitting the sketches into CSS directly - especially if you have designers, business people and coders involved.
One possible solution for wireframing that was already available in 2012 is Illustrator or InDesign. Both have global colors, symbols for reusable content and are vector-based so you can scale it for your responsive designs.
There are less good ressources on wireframing with Illustrator, but I found these two most helpful:
- http://www.designsprint.net/ - http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/10-tips-for-building-wir...
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#16I understand that the typical Photoshop workflow became burdensome, but to fly wildly off the other end of the spectrum and design directly in the browser never made any sense to me.
A critical step in any design process is experimentation, which typically involves bouncing between sketches, high fidelity mockups, content strategy, structure and user flows, and evaluating technical opportunities/constraints.
That said, I think the underlying ideal is about embracing the web for the medium that it is — and not a digital incarnation of print/graphic design. Which is fair.
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#17This post was written before the time of Sketch (Bohemian Coding). A few designers I respect swear by the tool, and as a developer I'm all for it since it respects the way web works. It is a vector-based application, and everything you do in it can be represented in CSS (they even have a 'Copy CSS' function), and if not, complex shapes are available as SVGs. If you're a designer using Sketch, I would love to hear you…
Sketch is great!
I don’t use the CSS export however, and I still use Illustrator or Photoshop for SVGs due to superior export options.
I actually learned a few tricks from my colleague who has a great Photoshop workflow, and Photoshop really can be whipped into shape…
but Sketch is already so close to the mark straight out of the box… but without the bloat Photoshop has acquired over the years as the industry standard for everything.
Plus, it’s the simple things — the color picker, how it handles border radius, the fact you don’t need to worry about layer management, etc.
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#18I'm kind of allergic to doing things just because the sake of it, even with design. Start with what you have, which is pure text. Then you look at the text and you ask your self, how do I make this more readable? Design is about function and not about looks. If you begin the design process in photoshop your starting of in the wrong end, because then you start with looks before function. I can however understand why p…
I am trying to think which companies truly won because of Design. Genuinely curious.
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#19This post was written before the time of Sketch (Bohemian Coding). A few designers I respect swear by the tool, and as a developer I'm all for it since it respects the way web works. It is a vector-based application, and everything you do in it can be represented in CSS (they even have a 'Copy CSS' function), and if not, complex shapes are available as SVGs. If you're a designer using Sketch, I would love to hear you…
Sketch is great! I don’t use the CSS export however, and I still use Illustrator or Photoshop for SVGs due to superior export options. I actually learned a few tricks from my colleague who has a great Photoshop workflow, and Photoshop really can be whipped into shape… but Sketch is already so close to the mark straight out of the box… but without the bloat Photoshop has acquired over the years as the industry standar…
"I actually learned a few tricks from my colleague who has a great Photoshop workflow, and Photoshop really can be whipped into shape…"
I'd love to hear more about this. Do you have any links describing some of the tricks you and your colleague used to improve your Photoshop workflow?
Re: I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012)
#20I held up the belief that you should design right in the browser and skip the design phase. But I came to the same conclusion as the author: thinking in code is a completely different process than drawing things and trying out how your site might look like. My best advice is: draw on paper first, using just a pencil and an eraser. This forces you to focus on structure and relationship rather than pixel-perfection. He…
In my opinion pen and paper are fundamental. Not just in design, but also in programming. There's a lot to be gained by just thinking over and sketching ideas for something rather than just diving into action.