I had the pleasure of speaking at The Art Institute last week. For the first time, I was forced to articulate my views on web design and what I think students need to learn. I went in under prepared, decided just to wing it. Now that I’ve had some time to think about what I said, I’ve decided to write it all down sans the rambling.
The two main topics were: the importance of personal projects and making meaningful design decisions.
Starting your own projects is one of the most important things you can do as a designer or developer. If there’s one thing my own projects have taught me, it’s that ideas will evolve and lead to more ideas. Waiting around for a big idea is pointless, it will never come without some sort of effort. Start with your simple ideas and implement on a smaller scale. Try building something that is useful for you and see where it goes. The experience and contribution to the community will pay dividends.
We mustn’t forget that people visit the sites we build for a reason. They come for the content or the service it provides. Our designs should compliment the content, not steal the show. If you’re unable to explain every part of your design then you’ve stopped adding value. Everything should have a purpose. Keep it focused and don’t worry about shoe-horning in all the latest design trends. Call it minimalism, call it a trend in itself, but I promise you nobody will complain about getting what they came for as efficiently and clearly as possible.
