Design Direction For Web Design
May 24, 2004 | 
11 Comments
I think Art Direction is an underused practice on the Web, and I don’t think I’m the only one who sees this. A List Apart recently did a great piece about Art Direction on the Web. If you haven’t yet — give it a read. In many ways I see Art Direction as being almost as important as editing is, quite obviously depending on the project and the goals you’ve set out for the site.
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to work with an Art Director on a Web site you’ll probably know what I mean. Just as an editor can make your writing much better, having someone there to go over your design will do the same.
But let’s face it, talking about Art Direction and actually being able to do someting about it are two different things. Many of us don’t have the proper resources in place, just and many of us don’t have access to an editor. But what about something a little easier to access?
Let’s call it “design direction.”
What is Design Direction?
It’s quite simply editing for design, or having another designer go over and “edit” your work. Just about every designer has someone they can talk with about their projects, either at work or outside. It need not take much time and having even one person spend five or ten minutes can help quite a bit.
When I worked at Boeing we had design reviews where we’d meet up and basically rip each others work. These taught me more about design than I’ve learned anywhere else. Sure, it was trying at times, but you really learn a lot from your mistakes.
An Example Of Design Direction In Action
While working on Design Eye for the Usability Guy I had the unique and valuable opportunity to use Andrei much in the way I’d use an Art Director.
Sure it wasn’t “Art Direction” as such, but I had him go over my initial designs and talked with him about some design ideas to solve the problems and goals we’d outlined for this project.
Without his help the final result wouldn’t have been near as good, even though the differences in my original version and the final are minimal.
A Fairly Easy Thing To Do
We spent less than 15 minutes working in this way. So we’re not talking a huge amount of effort. Most designers should have no problem getting someone to check out their work. The benefits I saw were huge compared to the efforts involved.
This person need not be more experienced, or even a peer, although those folks might have more to offer. It could be someone you mentor. In that way maybe both parties will gain something.
For another thing, it’s easier than user testing, and while I would never suggest using design direction to substitute for real user testing it would be better than nothing.
I think the biggest barrier here is opening up your work to a colleague before it’s ready for prime time. You know — getting over your ego. It’s a fear I think every designer must get over if they are going to grow as a designer. Let’s face it, we should be open to useful criticism, every one of us. We can really learn from it.
Getting Started
There are lots of ways even the most isolated designer can get a little direction. This is why becoming involved in your community can be so important. Some of the best designers I can think of are very open to feedback. It’s one of the reasons I allow comments and talk openly about my sites and the design decisions I make.
Make some friends, comment and send email to other designers. Offer feedback of your own and then ask for that favor (and most feedback is a favor) to be returned.
Design, and Web design in specific, should almost never be done in complete isolation. When it comes down to it most Web sites have a community of sorts and aside from your users, your clients and your stakeholders, your colleagues are your best bet for helpful feedback.
Filed under: Web Design
Comments
1. Scrivs said:
We have something very similar setup with Mike being the lead designer and he consults me about the direction of the design. Amazing how many ideas we can bounce off of each other and how quickly we can get a design up. Very useful indeed.
Posted on May 24, 2004 03:16 PM | #
2. Josh said:
Keith, I was skeptical up until the “getting started” subheading.
I think many new designers hit a road block in this area, not because they can’t get over their ego, but just the opposite. They long for talented people to give them criticism and not just fluff. I am almost sure, any designer gets an email from Keith Robinson in their inbox titled “your site and suggestions” they would jump up and down with excitement.
The reality is that most talent out there does not have the time or even the desire to hit up every small time site however and offer suggestions. This is why I really like your “getting started” section.
I think some expect just to design something and then get, get, get, get. Like a fat kid at the end of a conveyor belt at a chocolate shop with his mouth open. I see the first step with anyone looking for help/design ideas is to get involved themselves and do the same thing for less experienced designers than them. Reminds me of “Pay it Forward” or some strategy similar to that.
Great read though. I appreciate it.
Posted on May 24, 2004 04:38 PM | #
3. Daniel said:
Thanks for the “getting started” section. It really helps me because I’m really just getting started with serious design work and using standards and such. thanks!
Posted on May 24, 2004 04:53 PM | #
4. Amanda said:
Feedback in any sphere is critical - not just designwise. Design is an ‘easy’ thing to critique and feed back on because there are definite elements you can talk about and shift, but things like navigation systems need this just as much. I think a lot of areas which fall under ‘web design’ could benefit from the type of honest approach you’re advocating here.
Posted on May 24, 2004 07:33 PM | #
5. Keith said:
Amanda – Fair enough and for the record I’m not saying these other things shouldn’t get feedback. I absolutely agree with you in that.
I just seem to see quite a few designers working in a vacuum and since we have such an active and engaged design community more designers should get involved in and benefit from it.
Posted on May 24, 2004 07:52 PM | #
6. Jim said:
True. Feedback is good, from any direction. It is sometimes difficult to take criticism from somebody you think is not as ‘informed’ about design, but really it is always preferable to finding out later on down the line that you’ve made a mistake.
I think the hardest thing to deal with is when a friend or client looks at what you’ve just spent the past 2 days working on and says ‘hmm, that’s a good start, I think we can work with that’ instead of ‘wow! that’s exactly how it should look!’. We need to bite our tongues a little and get on with the revision. After all, it is a job and not just a hobby.
As for the community, I’ve found that some of the biggest names in web design are pretty forthcoming when it comes to giving support to us mere mortals. Reminds me of Bob Hoskins in that BT commercial (UK), ‘It’s good to talk’ - remember that one? I used to drive my housemates nuts with very bad impressions :)
Posted on May 24, 2004 08:54 PM | #
7. Mike P. said:
“Offer feedback of your own and then ask for that favor (and most feedback is a favor) to be returned.”
Hmmm… ;-]
Posted on May 24, 2004 10:32 PM | #
8. Michael W said:
This site just gets more and more useful…
Good read especially the ‘Getting Started’ section. From the viewpoint of someone who is still somewhat new to design this is extremely helpful.
Posted on May 24, 2004 11:02 PM | #
9. s t e f said:
I’ve always advocated exchange and teamwork.
At first people who come to work with me feel strange because I ask coworkers as well as trainees about the things I’m doing, be it design, server-side development, an object-oriented method. After a while they get used to being asked a lot.
And then they realise that it’s not a matter of me lacking confidence in my work, but that it’s better to check with people (obviously the more common sense they have, the better) *before* revealing any actual work to the Powers-That-Be.
Posted on May 25, 2004 01:12 AM | #
10. Cameron said:
I think stef makes a good point, about getting over the mentality that asking for feedback is a sign of lacking confidence - once you manage that, there’s nothing to hold you back!
Posted on May 25, 2004 02:16 AM | #
11. Georg said:
It takes a lot of mistakes to create something good.
One out of one hounded is my baseline.
Ripping up other peoples work in a constructive way, needs a bit of practising on both sides - but it’s a good way to learn.
It is often quite hard to get someone to “edit” ones work, because they may be afraid to say/tell the wrong thing.
Very often they say what they think you’d like to hear, and when it’s all “the other” comments you really want it can be quite confusing at times.
I’ve entered the css-discuss list to find something to “rip up” constructively, and someone who can return the favour. It works quite well after a while.
Posted on May 25, 2004 04:21 AM | #
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