How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education • Hacker News Board

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#31

Post by rapind » Sun, Sep 04, 2011, 6:52 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #12

revorad wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're clearly not greedy enough. Here's the UK link with my affiliate ID :-P : Papaerback - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Robin-Will... Kindle - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Non-Designers-Design-Book-3rd-ebook/...

+1 I do not fathom the people who have been downvoting my comment. By all means, if you find someone on this site who submits nothing but link spam, downvote and flag them. Otherwise, why get your knickers in a knot about me getting a pittance for recommending a book I happened to like?

The affiliate link affects the way some of us see the recommendation. In turn this reduces the contribution of you comment. It's kind of an internalized spam filter.

I would never downvote you for it, and I'm not saying you're wrong to put it in, I'm just trying to explain how some of us here will see it.

I'm more likely to check out the link if (a) you have nothing to gain and (b) I've seen great design work you've done. Without that I usually can't be bothered.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#32

Post by jcoder » Sun, Sep 04, 2011, 6:53 PM UTC

Fine article, but if the goal is legitimacy in the design community, make sure not to misuse terms. Kuler and colorlovers.com are great resources but they probably won't teach you anything about color theory. Also, white balance does not mean what the author thinks it means.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#33

Post by mannicken » Sun, Sep 04, 2011, 7:03 PM UTC

I think the fundamental problem is that designers use right brains to come up with solution: the brain that's involved in processing of emotions, shapes, "a-ha" moments, and seeing the whole picture.

Programming, on the other hand, seems to be a fairly analytical and logical activity that involves verbalizing logic in a programming language.

I suggest starting out with "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" because if you try to approach design as you would approach programming it will look like a stick figure.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#34

Post by floris » Sun, Sep 04, 2011, 9:25 PM UTC

The most important thing when learning design is to learn and use the right process. Except for the very abstract inspiration part, everything listed here would all fit in the last 50% of my process as an 'educated designer'. I believe there's much more low hanging fruit in the first 50%. It's hard to give concrete examples for this though because it's all very dependent on the kind of product you aim to design.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#35

Post by glimcat » Sun, Sep 04, 2011, 10:37 PM UTC

angusdavis wrote: post #7

That article misses the bulk of what good design is actually about. To quote Steve Jobs: "Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it's this veneer -- that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." If you want to learn about design, before read…

Don Norman's DOET should be required reading for anyone making a human-facing system.

It is not a complete education on the topic, but it's a huge step forwards.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#36

Post by zitterbewegung » Sun, Sep 04, 2011, 11:18 PM UTC

I have been working with a designer to design his website and based upon his feedback and my constant redesign I'm developing a design aesthetic which is very helpful. I suppose I am learning design by doing.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#37

Post by kavehgolabi » Mon, Sep 05, 2011, 12:06 AM UTC

As I have programmers and designers that work for me I see the programmers often butcher the work of designers when taking the mocksups to html/css. A simple rule seems to be that things should not stick out. There should be uniformity through out the site with fonts or spacing that are consistent. This isnt advice to make a great design but rather advice for how to improve a crappy one for the non designer. Another tip for those forced to design without the appropriate skillset is to search the web and find a professional site that has a good design and copy it. Yes I said copy it. Thats what we did with the original cramster.com (years ago) by getting inspiration for the page from amazon.com. You wont win any design awards but it will help you get something acceptable up while you look for professional help.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#38

Post by davty » Mon, Sep 05, 2011, 4:19 AM UTC

revorad wrote: post #14

DavidChouinard wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also add Don't Make Me Think (by Steve Krug) to that list.

I recently read that book and found bits of it useful, but overall quite overrated, considering it's recommended every time UI/UX is discussed. Does anyone else feel this way?

I agree completely. In general it has good value, but to me it's in no way near being a bible, which some people ascribe it to.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#39

Post by jamesbritt » Mon, Sep 05, 2011, 5:41 AM UTC

angusdavis wrote: post #7

That article misses the bulk of what good design is actually about. To quote Steve Jobs: "Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it's this veneer -- that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." If you want to learn about design, before read…

If you want to learn about design, before reading books about colors, fonts, grid layouts or how to make an inner glow in Photoshop, you should start by reading something like Don Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things" to gain an appreciation for how things work, and why. Then worry about making them look good.

This is a book that developers should read because it helps you think about thinking, and is applicable to APIs and other software internals.

Warning: If you read this book you may find yourself distractedly aware of the UI faux pas circus that surrounds us (e.g. doors that have handles that look pull-able, but can only be pushed).

If this book can get even one designer to resist the urge to make screen UIs that look like glass bubbles or brushed metal the world will be a better place.

Re: How to self-educate if you lack a formal design education

#40

Post by _lcl9 » Mon, Sep 05, 2011, 6:32 AM UTC

zitterbewegung wrote: post #36

I have been working with a designer to design his website and based upon his feedback and my constant redesign I'm developing a design aesthetic which is very helpful. I suppose I am learning design by doing.

This is the same way I started designing! My dad would have me design ads for his businesses growing up and I was horrible at first, but as I kept designing the skills started to come. Keep it up :)

Also, Check out Smashing Magazine, http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ it is a great resource for design! and if you get more into web app design 37 signals has an awesome blog called Signal vs Noise. Check it out!