I’ve just finished reading through a forum post on a design forum I visit quite a lot that seems to typify exactly how 90% of young designers understand the term “design” these days. I was even like it about 2 years ago. I believe the root of the problem is straight and simple: an over-reliance on software.
Every new website design I seem to see these days is filled to the brim full of Photoshop filters, gradients, and shiny buttons – at the expense of any design thought whatsoever.
All these new designers that post on design forums like the one I linked to above, and they haven’t got the first clue how to structure a communication. Design is effectively structuring a communication no matter what the medium is – it’s giving somebody’s idea or words a visual presence that attracts Joe Public to the product you’re trying to sell.
What’s worse is that if you were to give these so called “designers” a poster to design or anything that isn’t online, they wouldn’t have the first clue where to start. This is exactly why everybody thinks that they can be a web designer, because people have a misconception that all you need is a copy of Photoshop to create a website and then you’re suddenly a designer because you can make buttons shiny.
Design is not making things shiny and attractive. Design is communicating a certain message within the limitations of the medium.
Turn off Photoshop and go read some bloody books.
Apr 16, 03:01 PM
Kimmy
I always read books, i very rarely just ponder around my computer desktop, software and applications. Games maybe… but not designy stuff. I’d much rather go read a book than trawl through a lot of bad looking stuff that i have to orient myself with and figure out whether it’s just a bit of shiny decoration or something of importance.
