Dickson Fong

The way I see it, the web can be split into the disciplines of design and development. Beautiful things happen when these two disciplines are tightly integrated, but I can’t help but feel that developers are moving forward while designers are standing still.

The power, flexibility, and extensibility of modern software and code is amazing in comparison to what was available just several years ago, but there’s still plenty of progress to be made. Developers are well aware of this, and they’re churning out work at a breakneck pace that other industries can only dream about. But are coding practices, back-end systems, and development techniques the only things we have to offer the next generation of computer users? Is progress on the web strictly limited to the low-level refinement of ones and zeros?

I certainly hope not. But, I can’t help but ignore that there’s more resources about development than there are about design. Googling “css3” returns a google of results, and I think it’s a fair indicator of the saturation and scope of people’s interest in the nooks and crannies of implementation and code. Meanwhile, finding good resources on graphic design for the web is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Am I just being picky with my information? Maybe. Is there a dearth of design discussion for the web? Absolutely.

Whine, rinse, repeat

The multitude of design galleries, critique forums, and design blogs is a start. Some discussions are enriching, while some aren’t so much discussions as they are “this site sucks” comments. And even then, the topics are usually about bending print design to the constraints of computer screens. Sure, CSS has its limits, and Flash isn’t without its niggles, but we’re at a point where designers can proudly translate their work to the web without compromising their vision. So why are designers still mired in the web’s troubled past? Perhaps it’s just a case of sour grapes mixed with the flaw of always wanting what we can’t have. Yeah, so print and motion designers have the tools and capabilities that web designers don’t have (yet). It’s unfortunate, but all we can do is hope for the best in the future. In the meantime, we need to accept the constraints of the web and work within them.

Nonetheless, despite the wealth of competent technologies that enable designers to make truly great web experiences, the industry isn’t flexing its design muscle as much as I would like it to. I assume it’s associated with the fact that design is a service industry, thus putting us in a position to reduce risk, maximize ROI, and deliver the “Wow!” for our clients, while occasionally (or frequently) compromising our own work in the process. But then again, if we’re compromising, perhaps we’re not really doing our job. True, some designers and clients are unreasonable with their expectations, but, in many cases, compromise is just the cheap way out of finding the real solution. Compromise holds back design, and, combined with people’s love affair with trendy techniques and styles, has turned the web into a landscape of rehashed ideas—many bad, some good, but few brilliant. To quote Armin Vit,

“” I could list projects in every category from logos, to annual reports, to magazine covers, to packaging, to typefaces, to opening titles that could be considered landmark projects… But when it comes to web sites, I can’t think of a single www that could be comparable—in gravitas, praise, or memorability. 

Reluctantly, I agree with him. Of course, only partially, because I think there’s some fantastic work on the web. However, his general assessment is spot-on. Design on the web is a war of Photoshop and Flash skills rather than a discussion about principles.

Designers need to step up

It’s fun to see principles and practices carried from the paper to digital medium, but I think the time has come for us to respect the computer screen for what it is. Instead of focusing on how the web breaks typography, let’s focus on the doors that it opens. Instead of focusing on the difficulty of producing pixel-perfect layouts, let’s focus on the flexibility that it bestows upon us. Simply put, let’s focus on working with our assets. As designers, we should trust the code junkies to work their magic and provide us with tomorrow’s exciting tools and platforms. Meanwhile, it’s our job to push design forward. If we want to take the web to the next level, we need to stop crying about the past and dream about the future. We can begin by embracing the constraints and affordances of the web while reducing our propensity for compromise. From there, we can focus on refining our craft on an intellectual level.

End

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