dead simple design 3 - for web designers

Dead Simple Web Design 3

Confessions of a Forty-something Design Guy Living In a Hipster World.

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John Coonen

The FINAL

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“Everything should be made

as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Albert Einstein

But First… !

Let’s introduce you to various creative types: fine artists, graphic artists,

graphic designers and you: web designers

!

…

Fine Artists: They create works to

please themselves.

Commercial Artists:They create works toplease their clients.

Graphic Artists:crossover fine/commercial artists,

with a bigger mortgage to pay.

Graphic Designers:are graphic artists, with

a serious case of OCD

Web Designers:are a mix of all that, plus code!

Which means…

…We are seriously messed up.

So, if designers werewere personified

by dogs…

Fine Artist: A Breed Apart

Graphic Artist: Everyone’s Favorite

Graphic Designer: Perfect Showdog

Web Designer: The All-Purpose Mutt

Web Designers are today’s design, code & project

management pros;Jacks & Jills of all trades,

and masters of none.

The way to stay within your skillset, and keep customers

coming back is through “dead-simple design.”

“Graphic design is a creative process that combines art

and technology to communicate

ideas.”

-AIGA

Dead-simple design delivers maximum information with a minimalistic style.

“I didn’t have time to write a

short letter,

Mark Twainso I wrote a long

one instead.”

Dead-simple design: !

Communicates Engages Clarifies

Economizes

to MOVE the User Along

Design is not User Experience, but design

helps dictate UX.

This is NOT Dead-simple design:

Neither is this:

But this is:

There’s dead-simple, and there’s

dead on arrival…

(OK, take a deep cleansing breath)

God likes things simple for us.

He said:

“Just follow these ten simple rules.”

!- God

But did we listen?

“OMG. That’s not so good.”

“Only TEN Laws? It can’t be that simple.We need MORE!”

IF/AND/THEN:

IF90% of communication

is non-verbal,

ANDDesign is non-verbal,

THENyou can communicate

90% better through great design.

we may be living

!

!

!

in a hipster world

but don’t worry, most hipsters

can’t design either.

butnow, you can too!

These dead-simple design techniques & tools will

have you designing like a hipster in no time.

!

• Don’t use more than 2 fonts or variations

• Don’t break the grid

• Don’t let your client dictate design

• Don’t view templates first

• Write first

• Embrace the grid

• Coordinate colors

• Use paper & pencil

• Use Photoshop or Fireworks

Do This. Not That.hipster approved

!

• Don’t ignore accessibility

• Don’t forget to “kern” headlines ;)

• Don’t mix design styles, no matter how tempting

• Embrace photos

• Choose classic fonts

• More line space!

• Be consistent

• Hire a designer (seriously)

Do This. Not That.hipster approved

Also:

• Make the point early

• Know the rules before you break them

• Focus on benefits, not features

• Be reserved in your art direction ;)

hipster approved

• Edit, edit, edit

• Question every step, remove if unsure

• Check final against goals

• Get input before going live

• Show it to a 5th grader

hipster approved

Read up onSaul Bass & Paul Rand,

kings of dead-simple design.

hipster approved

Saul BassSaul Bass

Paul Rand

“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and

modest expectations.”

Paul Rand

These design resources

will give you a head start:

hipster approved

RocketTheme YooTheme JoomlArt

ThemeXpert Gavick

Bang2Joom

hipster approved

PHOTOS:

Veer flickr

Instagram Getty

Jupiter

hipster approved

INSPIRATION:

Smashing Mag Dribbble Envato

CSS Tricks ShayHowe.com

!

hipster approved

hipster approved

DIY DESIGN:

And Finally,My “Never Evers”!

• Never Ever: estimate under 40 hours to create a website or app

• Never Ever: estimate under 60 hours to fix someone else’s

CREDITS: !

Bass, Saul Budweiser

Canter, Mitch Dannaway, Adham Da Vinci, Leonardo

Einstein, Albert Fairey, Shepard

!God

King, Phil Lautrec, Henri de Toulouse

Leroyer, Philippe Levie, Aaron

Matisse, Henri Miedaner, Eke Miller, Alyssa

Miller, J. Howard Monet, Claude

Petrovski, Vase Rand, Paul

Rebsch, Sadi Roscover, Dylan

Twain, Mark Warhol, Andy

Williams, Sean

Logos & brilliant quotation Budweiser poster Clever tweets Web design / Coder iIllustration The Mona Lisa Quotation, the e=mc2 thing & crazy hair Smashing Pumpkins album cover Obama Hope poster 10 Commandments, plus like, everything Sweet mutt photo 7 Dance at the Moulin Rouge Wicked tattoo artist CEO of Box, smart Tweet on UX Isn’t in this. I just like Henri. Photo of the “fine artist” dog “Rafa” the Golden Retriever portrait “We Can Do It!” poster Monet Reading The Newspaper Wizenheimer photo Quotation & awesome logos Typography poster with Super Mario Steve Jobs illustration Quotation + great sense of humor First “selfie” ever Bob Marley poster

Contact Info: !!

John Coonen Partner, Coffee Group Inc

http://coffeegroup.us @CoffeeGroup

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