If you read my previous entry then you already know my opinion about the separation between graphic design and web design.
So it was a pleasant surprise when one of my regularly reading weblog (D. Keith Robinson’s weblog) wrote about that particular issue. Keith’s article “Learning Web Design” is all I want to say in the previous entry that I already mentioned. Read it… and get the enlightenment.
hayo, vi…gimana tuu
obviously fiji didn't quite read throughly my referred link to Keith's entry
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i see design as a simple thing, when you think of how others will see your creation that is the point when you start designing so if you didn't then you created art.. or trash (depend on how you see it).
if you read Keith's article you may already know that graphic design is just a part of web design and so-called weak foundation actually are the strength of it but not those flashy useless gimmick.
and don't just blame web design with the falldown of dot com. poor marketing strategy, lack of visionary, misunderstanding of human behaviour and lots of stuff that responsible for that falldown, although poor web design still play some part to that falldown too.
so now is the time for web designer to lay down new path of the web, learn information architecture/design, understand that web is not only put those pretty image and thrilling animation into user's browser… it just MORE than that… web design is bigger that than and its bigger than graphic design i will assure you…
but web designer need to learn more, it still a very new kind of 'designing' (not even 10 years old for God's sake, how dare you compare it with hundred years old graphic or print design!! =P).
then I quoted Keith's entry:
"To be a successful Web designer you have to take the time to learn about the Web. Learn how people use it, how coders code it, how best to write for it. All of that. It might sound hard but you can
Again, this is the 10 million dollar question : What is design? Some people couldn't come up with a straight answer and they're already in trouble at the first spot. Some say it's art (in indo), which is totally different but they amalgamated art & design in uni e.g Fakultas Seni Rupa & Desain.
Being educated in school of design but "unfortunately" doing multimedia design, I'm thankful that I finally get what design means (and I discovered that during my last year!). I can see some of my fellow mates don't even know what kerning is.
My personal opinions : Web design has a very weak foundation because it relies on technology and sometimes that makes things look flashy and cool eg. javascript, flash masking, sound loops etc … And in this very country, hardware & software are sold like peanuts, therefore people can claim that they're web designer/designer in 24 hrs as soon as they acquire their latest Pentium 4 system. yeah!
Again, I'm not a firm believer of web design as I witness the dawn & crash of the dot com era, and being the victim of it (let's say "TUMBAL" … hehehe), I can see clearly that this medium is very unstable. But thenagain, the web is such a wonderful thing, it eliminates boundaries and time and increase the productivity.
In the mean time, I'd say I prefer any print/brand related work rather than a web work. Having said that, I'm currently working on 3 large scale web project for 3 very big names in this country … hehehe
But as I said above, I'm not skeptic or pessimist about the web, but somehow the word web just doesn't make my day. The smell of the freshly laid CMYK on a thick slick A3 paper that came out from the printer still one of a few things that turns me on.
In the mean time, if you're a so-called web designer, c'mon mate, be a designer, live as a designer. Get those grid working, kerning your type! And … remove evil Comic Sans from your system
My Rp 200 …
Again, it all comes down to your personal preference. I've been reinventing myself (career wise) about 3 times over the last 6 years and currently settling down. First it was the CD ROM & 3D era, then came the huge wave of dot come, now I'm sticking with 'THE ONE" which is design itself.
I have huge respect for many of design practitioners who doesn't have design backgrounds/literacy but they can pull something to this very world. Remember back in the 60's, graphic design didn't exist! But thanks to those people who really work hard to elevate the meaning of graphic design and design itself, and from that point design became another step in human's civilisation.
Now back to the web itself, I must say the web is an amazing thing. Some say there are 2 things that can turn or move this world. First, it was the humble 'WHEEL', and then THE INTERNET. The wheel makes things easier to carry and to move and make things move. But the web, it turned the whole world upside down! Hehehe … I remember once the Amazon's stock was as high as 50 dollars, and there was some point where it was down to a few pennies. Now, that's a revolution !
Anyway, I did read the article, but once. Hehehe … after revisiting the artice, I now get the essence and couldn't agree more with that Keith guy and of course you, mr avi.
Web design is …. I don't know … Web design is … web design. Hehehe …. I'm sure there are many proud web designers are reading this and my respect goes to you all. Next, let's talk about evil ad agencies … hahahaha