3 ms·

What's funny is that the kerning example is the only one where I can tell the difference between the 'good' and the 'bad' example. Now, perhaps I have atypical

by lsc 16y ago

What's funny is that the kerning example is the only one where I can tell the difference between the 'good' and the 'bad' example. Now, perhaps I have atypically poor taste... actually, knowing myself, that's not at all unlikely. However, it is also possible that I'm the normal one and 'wrong' design isn't as big of a deal as you think?

jerf 16y ago
If presented with a design full of these errors, and presented with an otherwise-identical design that has these errors corrected side-by-side, you will almost certainly prefer the one with the errors corrected, even if you can't put your finger on why. I'm not very good at design, I'm especially terrible with colors, but if you study these mechanics a little you can significantly improve the look of your websites just by mechanically following these rules. It does work; a startup I worked at created a report of vulnerabilities on your website and by blindly following the principles of good design actually produced a very good looking report, better than the competition that could afford designers (but apparently didn't). It was a subtle thing, but putting our report next to the competition's report really made it look as if we were the ones with years of experience and knew what we were talking about, instead of the upstart newcomer. It failed, ultimately, but not because of our report format :)
- lsc 16y ago
  So you think it's a subconscious thing that even I have, rather than something like color vision, that some have and some do not have?
flyosity 16y ago
The little things add up. A few pixels here, a broken alignment there, they make the overall design look unkempt. If it's egregious enough it makes things look sloppy. It may not seem like a big deal, but getting things pixel-precise makes someone a better, more fastidious designer.
- lsc 16y ago
  but look at the iphone button example. Can you see the difference between the good and the bad? I can't. even side by side, they look identical. the same with the 'blurry button' example. Now, maybe you are right, and maybe most people can notice those sorts of things... I'm just pointing out that I can't.
grannyg00se 16y ago
Even the kerning example took me some time to figure out. These "wrong" issues are so imperceptible I think they're safely ignored by most. If a 1px spacing offset is so troubling to this person, he must be constantly frustrated by the "wrong" design he sees everywhere. Most people just aren't that perceptive.

by lsc 16y ago

jerf 16y ago

If presented with a design full of these errors, and presented with an otherwise-identical design that has these errors corrected side-by-side, you will almost certainly prefer the one with the errors corrected, even if you can't put your finger on why. I'm not very good at design, I'm especially terrible with colors, but if you study these mechanics a little you can significantly improve the look of your websites just by mechanically following these rules. It does work; a startup I worked at created a report of vulnerabilities on your website and by blindly following the principles of good design actually produced a very good looking report, better than the competition that could afford designers (but apparently didn't). It was a subtle thing, but putting our report next to the competition's report really made it look as if we were the ones with years of experience and knew what we were talking about, instead of the upstart newcomer. It failed, ultimately, but not because of our report format :)

lsc 16y ago
So you think it's a subconscious thing that even I have, rather than something like color vision, that some have and some do not have?

flyosity 16y ago

The little things add up. A few pixels here, a broken alignment there, they make the overall design look unkempt. If it's egregious enough it makes things look sloppy. It may not seem like a big deal, but getting things pixel-precise makes someone a better, more fastidious designer.

lsc 16y ago
but look at the iphone button example. Can you see the difference between the good and the bad? I can't. even side by side, they look identical. the same with the 'blurry button' example. Now, maybe you are right, and maybe most people can notice those sorts of things... I'm just pointing out that I can't.

grannyg00se 16y ago

Even the kerning example took me some time to figure out. These "wrong" issues are so imperceptible I think they're safely ignored by most. If a 1px spacing offset is so troubling to this person, he must be constantly frustrated by the "wrong" design he sees everywhere. Most people just aren't that perceptive.