TAQIN

Designing Visual Experience

Trust and Discuss

I've mentioned this many times in my previous blog, twitter, facebook etc. Clients should trust web designers to create websites which serves them. Most of the times, clients take it for granted that we designers are their hands and legs. The only time i think that a web designer is able to unleash his full potential is during the 1st mock up stage.

At this stage, the designer usually thinks for the client and tries to solve problems which the existing site fails to address. Usually the client will lament that the previous designer did a half-ass job on his site and how he wish that you will do him the honor of fixing the bad parts of the site. Most of the time, the designer (only the good ones i must add) will fix most of the problems in the first visual mockup. After presenting the kick-ass mockup and inputing his ideas on how the clients can leverage their site with other web services, he will be told by the client that they will discuss his ideas internally and get back to him soon. This is usually the epitome of website design. Everything goes down hill from here.

Why i say down hill is because the designer is intentionally left out of the core discussion on the website design. Which is ironic cos technically he is the most qualified guy (again i must state that the designer in this scenario has years in web experience and usability) to discuss key issues pertaining to a company's online presence. From the minute details such as the size of fonts to major details like implementation of a Flash navigation bar, the designer plays and important role as a specialist in his field of excellence. Clients should acknowledge and listen to his views on these kinda of things.

Unless the designer is an in-house designer, he will sadly be left out from the board meetings and the outcome of the website will be based on the limited web knowledge of the old but powerful fogies in the room.

Which explains the current web predicament from where i come from (Singapore). The website design scene here (the 98% majority at least ) are always 5 years behind time with the world. Why is this so? Well lets just say that in corporate singapore, every level that filters through a visual mockup will have something to add (or subtract) and in the end, the outcome will be a website which satisfy everyone in the organization (for political reasons) and will neglect the most important core group of people, the users.

I will write more about this in my next article.

Working with Print Designers

I have no problems with the Print Media world.


In fact, I regard print as an art form by itself, much like web design.
The thing that pisses me off is that when print designers take for granted that "creating a website" is simply just another 72dpi print job.
Well, it's not! The fact that your "website is in a 300dpi Ai file with pixel perfect kerning"  does not make it a perfect piece of artwork on the monitor screen. Don't get me started on the kerning issues. I find it ridiculous to have to succumb to displaying 9 pixel fonts on the screen just so that it balances and resize proportionately with every other elements in the site.
What ever happened to usability and readability?
No offense intended to you print designers out there but please let us web designers put our expertise to good use in the medium that we are familiar in. Deal with your printers, let us deal with our firebugs......