Sharing Web Design Influences

This then got me thinking a bit about credibility on the Web, where “bloggers” fit in and the role of the “guru” today. There is no easy resolution to these issues. I mean there is no doubt Jakob Nielsen has very little “street cred” but he does have a lot of experience and insight.

Not too surprising he sits where he does and that people have a problem with him a lot of the time. But then again, we’re talking about people here and with people, regardless of their status, reputation or label, there are no clear cut answers.

There is not one person alive that I can say I agree with 100% all of the time. Not even myself! There is lots of grey area out there folks. Call a person a blogger, call them a guru or call them something else. (By the way, I hate the terms “guru” and “blogger” even though I use them all the time) Most of the people involved in these discussions have something of value to say and most have said something completely half-crocked.

Anyway, this also got me thinking about how I’ve developed in my career and all the people who influenced me. I thought that, rather than weigh in too heavily on the whole blogger vs. guru thing, I’d let you in on who my influences are and invite you to share yours with me.

Ten People Who’ve Influenced Me

These are not ranked in any particular order, they appear as they came to mind. Everyone listed here has had a measurable impact on my career at some point. Some I still find inspiring and others I don’t follow as much, but they were all important to where I am today.

Jeffrey Zeldman

From his old school Web design tips back in the day to his Web standards advocacy I’ve been learning from Jeffrey for years and I can’t thank him enough for all the valuable advice.� Zeldman is one of the good ones — a force for real world positive change on the Web, he’s been a part of shaping my career and making my life easier as a Web designer and developer.�

A List Apart was also my first experience writing for the Web.� It went fairly well and without it I might not have developed an interest for content and the independent Web.

Eric Meyer

What can I say?� Without Eric’s books I’d probably have never taken as deep a dive as I did into CSS.� What I love about Eric is the fact that he’s what I would consider a “CSS Guru” but he is able to keep a real world perspective on things and provide information in a manner that’s easy to understand and relevant to everyday problems.

Steve Krug

Don’t Make Me Think was a huge eye-opener for me and marked a huge change in the direction of my career.� I’d already been learning about usability, but Krug’s book really helped to make a lot of what I’d been reading all come together and in a real world way that I could understand and, probably more importantly, explain to others.

Donald Norman

The Design of Everyday Things was probably my first exposure to usability and user advocacy although I didn’t know it at the time.� It a great book that I feel anyone who designs anything should read.

Nick Finck

Nick’s been publishing Digital Web for years now and it’s still going strong. It’s has really helped me grow as a Web professional in so many ways, not only today but in years past. Oh, and I’m not just saying this because I consider Nick a good friend or because I’m now part of the magazine. Ok, well, maybe a little.

Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld

In the last few years I’ve come to realize that Information Architecture and it’s related practices are the backbone of what makes a great Web site.� I make no bones about the fact that I consider IA to be perhaps the most important, and hardest, part of a Web project.� The polar bear book and many related articles from these two have helped me immensely and were the catalyst of another turning point in my career.

Joshua Davis

Joshua’s work with Once Upon A Forest and Praystation have been constant sources of influence to me, even if you don’t see a whole lot of that in my work.� In my early to middle days as a Web designer I followed everything he did religiously as it always seem to light a spark in my creative mind. Does anyone else remember Dreamless.org?� While I don’t keep quite as close tabs on him now as I used to I still respect greatly all the work he’s done and still find his work amazing.

Doug Bowman

The Wired redesign was the first thing that really pushed me full force into really trying to master CSS and Web standards.� I’ve been interested in everything he’s done since.� Stopdesign has become a very welcome resource for me and I find his posts on CSS technique, design process and all the rest to be extremely helpful.

Edward Tufte

While working at Boeing I had quite a bit of exposure to Tufte’s work, he was a big deal there as you can imagine.� At the time I didn’t realize he was who he was, but I remember spending hours pouring though his books and trying to absorb as much as I possibly could.� The Visual Display of Quantitative Information was probably my fist brush, although I didn’t know it at all, with what I’d come to know as Information Architecture.

Toke Nygaard and Michael Schmidt

These guys had as much influence on my early to middle career as anyone did. I kept tabs on k10k at least as much as I did on A List Apart and later Digital Web.� I still do and find it a constant source of great design news and amazing inspiration.� It’s one of the first places I go to get the creative juices flowing.

A few people who could easily be on this list: Saul Bass, Clement Mok, David Siegel, Jason Fried, David Kelley (IDEO), Dave Shea, Paul Rand, Dan Cederholm, Jakob Nielsen, Jeffrey Veen, Joe Clark, Gerry McGovern, Lance Arthur, and Hillman Curtis.

I’m quite sure there are many others as well. A designer — a person — is constantly being influenced by what is going on around him (or her) and I feel very grateful to all the wonderful and talented people who’ve helped me along the way whether on this list or no.

Some Important People You Don’t Know

I also’d like to not a few folks y’all might not know who were even bigger influences on me in my career. While I’ve been lucky enough to meet many of the folks on my list above, they could never replace the folks who influenced me on a day-to-day basis.

First up is my old Creative Director, Danimal Walling, who was probably the biggest influence I could think of. He gave me my first “real” Web job and taught me that you catch more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar.

Then there is ‘cardo Novak and Matt Wardian from that old Boeing crew.

Mike Hren, one of the first Web designers I ever worked with and DL Byron, another former Boeing-ite.

Of course, my current manager, Christian “Smiley Cat” Watson and old coworker Brian Fling.

And last, but not least, Peter Svensk one of my managers from my first dot-bomb job.

All these folks were essential influences on me. The Web is about people and without good people, you don’t stand a chance. I count myself very lucky to have had contact with such good folks along the way and can’t wait to meet more.

Share Your Influences! Comment On Mine!

Did one person, or one site cause an epiphany for you? Are there people you can credit to the direction you’re taking in your career? Do you share some of the same influences that I do?

In some way everyone who’s commented here or sent me an e-mail been an influence on me and many others as well. Please, feel free to share your own influences and any stories you might have about how you’ve grown in your career.