Comments on: Self-expression in Web Design

By: Bunzlauer Keramik

Bunzlauer Keramik — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:53:46 +0000

Great site, good article
Bunzlauer Keramik

By: Apuestas

Apuestas — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:50:12 +0000

If we can judge design objectively, then it is possible to hold someone responsible, but is that really what we want ?

By: Tee

Tee — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:50:18 +0000

Good article, Many greetings from Germany Tee Versand

See you Tee

By: John

John — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:49:07 +0000

Good article, thank you, it’s a little help.

By: nowuseit.com | links for 2006-08-28

nowuseit.com | links for 2006-08-28 — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:07:13 +0000

[...] Bokardo » Self-expression in Web Design no designer can expect perfection in design. They can neither expect to create the perfect design nor expect to be able to know it if they did. And even if they did, somebody would hate it just because it was perfect. (tags: design webdesign web reference article bookmarks usability ToRead webdev blog) [...]

By: mywebdesignblogs.com »

mywebdesignblogs.com » — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 12:35:05 +0000

[...] Self-expression in Web Design In The Power of Positive Whining, Jeffrey Zeldman writes: “If web design were not an art, then we would always get every part right. But it is an art, and, like all arts, it deals with the subjective. The subjective is something you can never get 100% right.” [...]

By: Brigitte Schuster

Brigitte Schuster — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 16:54:04 +0000

concerning Art and Personal Expression:
It depends definitively on the client whether one can express himself in a design or not. Working for big brands usually provides little space for creation, because everything is predefined by their corporate guidelines. I would call this accomplishing of a job which doesn’t have anything to do with arts for me. Working for small projects and especially for those sort of clients who give you enough freedom to create can be exciting. That’s when one can express himself by designing and doing arts.

By: Christopher Fahey

Christopher Fahey — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 22:41:02 +0000

Design can be measured objectively, but not every aspect of design can be measured to the same degree. You can certainly measure the effectiveness of an e-commerce UI based on revenue changes, but on the other end of the spectrum there’s branding design which is almost completely immeasurable — trust, coolness, taste, confidence, etc. There are some who argue that brand-oriented advertising — the kind that Coke spends billions on every year — is 100% a waste of money. The jury is out on that.

By: johndan

johndan — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 02:30:56 +0000

And here’s this bit from Design Observer about five designers who refused to show up at the White House to accept a National Design Award, in protest of the Bush administration’s use of communication design.

By: Francis Wu

Francis Wu — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 00:20:21 +0000

Huhuhuh… Kevin “Mullet” :P. Seriously though, good post.

“Part of their resolve to distrust evaluation is that designers have a clear vision other people aren’t privy to”

That pretty much hits the nail right on the head. I often struggle with decision makers who bring unwavering assumptions to the table based on the weak designs of the handful of websites they frequent. Whereas I need to use an RSS aggregator to keep up with the amount of sites I visit. It’s as much a clash of cultures as it is political.

By: Sholom Sandalow

Sholom Sandalow — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 19:00:43 +0000

Good post. Unlike something static such as a painting, a web site is interactive on many levels, and has to satisfy the needs of the user, and the client. I should point out that it’s almost always inevitable that it will be modified after you deliver it. Which is another sober reminder not to get too emotionally involved in any single project. Be objective, and let a consensus be built…it will only serve to enhance the design.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 17:52:03 +0000

Thanks, Bill! This is a choice quote:

“Design is political because it has consequences, and sometimes serious ones. The power of designers is that we can design things to have different consequences. The Butterfly Ballot, of course, was not consciously designed to have the impact it did, but it points to an inescapable question: Are designers responsible for the consequences of their designs?”

If we can judge design objectively, then it is certainly possible to hold someone responsible…is that what we want?

I think there would be a lot of fear about that.

By: billhd

billhd — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:30:53 +0000

Johndan over at Datacloud points to an interesting post by Jennie Winhall entitled “Is Design Political?” It’s a similar theme, but framed such that the stakes of the designer’s actions are higher.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 12:50:26 +0000

re: no designer can expect perfection in design

If you make something foolproof, someone will just invent a better fool.