4 ms·

I can't believe Smashing Magazine is writing this article. They soundly missed April Fool's Day. If there is a single thing I've seen Smashing Magazine promote,

by SlyShy 17y ago

I can't believe Smashing Magazine is writing this article. They soundly missed April Fool's Day. If there is a single thing I've seen Smashing Magazine promote, it is imitation and mindless copying. Their analysis of design is consistently surface level, of the likes of "Look at how this deep blue makes this brand look expensive, also curved corners". The result is "designers" who can make a flashy site, but have no underlying knowledge of usability or taste. Taste is something sorely lacking in a lot of design. Design should be useful, not ostentatious. Anyway, I like imagining how laughable a Smashing Magazine equivalent for programmers would be. "15 Great For Loops and Iterators"

mixmax 17y ago
This comment calls for the classic Steve Jobs quote on taste: "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste; they have absolutely no taste. And what that means is–I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way–in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their product. And you say ‘Why is that important?’ Well, you know, proportionally spaced fonts come from typesetting and beautiful books, that’s where one gets the idea. If it weren’t for the Mac, they would never have that in their products. And so I guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft’s success,I have no problem with their success, they’ve earned their success, for the most part, I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products."
matrix 17y ago
I think that "15 Great For Loops and Iterators" article is on Coding Horror.
jamesbritt 17y ago
' Their analysis of design is consistently surface level, of the likes of "Look at how this deep blue makes this brand look expensive, also curved corners". The result is "designers" who can make a flashy site, but have no underlying knowledge of usability or taste. ' So, is there a site or a book that teaches (to the extent possible) taste? Because it's not just Smashing Magazine, it's most sites and books on design that I've seen. They focus on certain mechanics without much to help you train you mind and eye to manage higher visual concepts. The few that are not simply prescriptive how-to's are in turn too vague about notions of attractive design and aesthetics. Or they trot out the Golden Ratio which, while good to know, mostly helps you make designs that are attractive in a practical way, rather than truly striking yet not overbearing.
- matrix 17y ago
  I have found that the best grounding in aesthetics and design is learning to draw. This teaches you to truly 'see' and gives you basic techniques like appreciating white space and better ability to perceive color/tone values. From there it's much easier to learn and apply principles for creating satisfying compositions and color theory. Once you have the fundamentals in place, the next step is to learn about more specific graphic design topics like typography and grid layouts.

by SlyShy 17y ago

mixmax 17y ago

This comment calls for the classic Steve Jobs quote on taste: "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste; they have absolutely no taste. And what that means is–I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way–in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their product. And you say ‘Why is that important?’ Well, you know, proportionally spaced fonts come from typesetting and beautiful books, that’s where one gets the idea. If it weren’t for the Mac, they would never have that in their products. And so I guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft’s success,I have no problem with their success, they’ve earned their success, for the most part, I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products."

matrix 17y ago

I think that "15 Great For Loops and Iterators" article is on Coding Horror.

jamesbritt 17y ago

' Their analysis of design is consistently surface level, of the likes of "Look at how this deep blue makes this brand look expensive, also curved corners". The result is "designers" who can make a flashy site, but have no underlying knowledge of usability or taste. ' So, is there a site or a book that teaches (to the extent possible) taste? Because it's not just Smashing Magazine, it's most sites and books on design that I've seen. They focus on certain mechanics without much to help you train you mind and eye to manage higher visual concepts. The few that are not simply prescriptive how-to's are in turn too vague about notions of attractive design and aesthetics. Or they trot out the Golden Ratio which, while good to know, mostly helps you make designs that are attractive in a practical way, rather than truly striking yet not overbearing.

matrix 17y ago
I have found that the best grounding in aesthetics and design is learning to draw. This teaches you to truly 'see' and gives you basic techniques like appreciating white space and better ability to perceive color/tone values. From there it's much easier to learn and apply principles for creating satisfying compositions and color theory. Once you have the fundamentals in place, the next step is to learn about more specific graphic design topics like typography and grid layouts.