6 ms·

How I Designed Code Year in 1 Hour

183 points by zds 15y ago

sgdesign 15y ago
As a designer, this is why I love working with startups. You can go from idea to actual live site in a few days only. Paradoxically, it was a lot of fun working on such a short timeline: it basically took all the pressure off and made sure I couldn't second-guess myself.
- pdenya 15y ago
  That's part of what appealed to me at the ad agency I worked at. It's fun to build things as quickly as possible sometimes. I'm glad I'm not doing that constantly anymore though.
- culturestate 15y ago
  "Paradoxically, it was a lot of fun working on such a short timeline: it basically took all the pressure off and made sure I couldn't second-guess myself." I couldn't agree more. I often give myself artificially short deadlines if I'm having designer's block, it works wonders.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
- sgdesign 15y ago
  Aren't we actually agreeing? My point was exactly that good design does not depend on the timeframe. It can be quick, or it can be slow. So you shouldn't be afraid of going fast sometimes.
  - ed209 15y ago
    I agree that time spent does not equal good design. But years of experience is always required before doing good design in a short time. Always a good read :) "...you were asking me to design a logotype which would have taken me a few hours and fifteen years experience..." from http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p.html http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p.html
ddw 15y ago
Has Code Year started yet?
RoboTeddy 15y ago
It's interesting to see the iterative thought process of a designer as they go through and make changes. I wonder if it'd be a good way to learn design. How about Design Year? :P
- sgdesign 15y ago
  That's a good idea actually! I could imagine weekly design lessons each focusing on a new design principle or element. For example, one week you'd design a sign-up form, the next focus on contrast, etc.
deepkut 15y ago
Gorgeous design, nice work. Your call to action, the big red "Start learning!", is well done and placed effectively. I like it.
danso 15y ago
If the most valuable web design tip I learn this year is that this site exists: http://subtlepatterns.com/ http://subtlepatterns.com/ ...Then it will have been a decent year
- sgdesign 15y ago
  Then let me make it a super extra fun year :) http://sachagreif.com/the-design-freebies-list/ http://sachagreif.com/the-design-freebies-list/
  - kemka 15y ago
    My collection of files is growing really nicely :) Do you use anything in particular to manage all of these resources locally?
Jun8 15y ago
This was a fantastic step by step guide for people who have absolutely no design sense, like me. Thank you!
zds 15y ago
If you want to work with Codecademy too, we're hiring ;) http://codecademy.com/jobs http://codecademy.com/jobs or jobs(at)codecademy(dot)com thanks!
- danoc 15y ago
  Are you guys hiring summer interns as well?
phil 15y ago
Great writeup, and helpful for people like me. I often know exactly what message I want to deliver and the visual hierarchy I want, but coming up with a nice layout is harder. So the break down is good to see. It was pretty shocking to see the McCurry Afghan girl photo as an icon placeholder though. That's probably one of the top 5 news photos of all time, and I'm not alone in having a strong emotional reaction to it? Maybe Cookie Monster as a placeholder instead? http://www.google.com/search?q=cookie+monster&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=fWsDT6jfMoKXiALS17zTCw&ved=0CEYQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=995 http://www.google.com/search?q=cookie+monster&hl=en&...
mcantor 15y ago
Title should actually be "How I Re-designed Code Year in 1 Hour".
- rblackwater 15y ago
  No it should be "How I Re-designed Promo Material for Code Year in 1 Hour"
metra 15y ago
I must be missing something, where's the CSS discussion? Isn't that what takes up most of the time?
- metra 15y ago
  This is a serious question. I'm not a front-end guy. Instead of downvoting, can someone enlighten me?
  - ctide 15y ago
    The article was about design, not implementation.
  - enra 15y ago
    It depends of the design, but I think generally it takes me longer to design mockups than to implement them. When implementing you know what you should do, and when know your tools, you can pretty much do it as fast as you can type. When designing you start from scratch. You try to wrestle all the ideas and requirements with the best practices and the right style, to create something that's new and works. So I think designing well is much harder than implementing the design well.

183 points by zds 15y ago

As a designer, this is why I love working with startups. You can go from idea to actual live site in a few days only. Paradoxically, it was a lot of fun working on such a short timeline: it basically took all the pressure off and made sure I couldn't second-guess myself.

pdenya 15y ago
That's part of what appealed to me at the ad agency I worked at. It's fun to build things as quickly as possible sometimes. I'm glad I'm not doing that constantly anymore though.
culturestate 15y ago
"Paradoxically, it was a lot of fun working on such a short timeline: it basically took all the pressure off and made sure I couldn't second-guess myself." I couldn't agree more. I often give myself artificially short deadlines if I'm having designer's block, it works wonders.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

sgdesign 15y ago
Aren't we actually agreeing? My point was exactly that good design does not depend on the timeframe. It can be quick, or it can be slow. So you shouldn't be afraid of going fast sometimes.
- ed209 15y ago
  I agree that time spent does not equal good design. But years of experience is always required before doing good design in a short time. Always a good read :) "...you were asking me to design a logotype which would have taken me a few hours and fifteen years experience..." from http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p.html http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p.html

ddw 15y ago

Has Code Year started yet?

RoboTeddy 15y ago

It's interesting to see the iterative thought process of a designer as they go through and make changes. I wonder if it'd be a good way to learn design. How about Design Year? :P

sgdesign 15y ago
That's a good idea actually! I could imagine weekly design lessons each focusing on a new design principle or element. For example, one week you'd design a sign-up form, the next focus on contrast, etc.

deepkut 15y ago

Gorgeous design, nice work. Your call to action, the big red "Start learning!", is well done and placed effectively. I like it.

danso 15y ago

If the most valuable web design tip I learn this year is that this site exists: http://subtlepatterns.com/ http://subtlepatterns.com/ ...Then it will have been a decent year

sgdesign 15y ago
Then let me make it a super extra fun year :) http://sachagreif.com/the-design-freebies-list/ http://sachagreif.com/the-design-freebies-list/
- kemka 15y ago
  My collection of files is growing really nicely :) Do you use anything in particular to manage all of these resources locally?

Jun8 15y ago

This was a fantastic step by step guide for people who have absolutely no design sense, like me. Thank you!

zds 15y ago

If you want to work with Codecademy too, we're hiring ;) http://codecademy.com/jobs http://codecademy.com/jobs or jobs(at)codecademy(dot)com thanks!

danoc 15y ago
Are you guys hiring summer interns as well?

phil 15y ago

Great writeup, and helpful for people like me. I often know exactly what message I want to deliver and the visual hierarchy I want, but coming up with a nice layout is harder. So the break down is good to see. It was pretty shocking to see the McCurry Afghan girl photo as an icon placeholder though. That's probably one of the top 5 news photos of all time, and I'm not alone in having a strong emotional reaction to it? Maybe Cookie Monster as a placeholder instead? http://www.google.com/search?q=cookie+monster&hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=fWsDT6jfMoKXiALS17zTCw&ved=0CEYQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=995 http://www.google.com/search?q=cookie+monster&hl=en&...

mcantor 15y ago

Title should actually be "How I Re-designed Code Year in 1 Hour".

rblackwater 15y ago
No it should be "How I Re-designed Promo Material for Code Year in 1 Hour"

metra 15y ago

I must be missing something, where's the CSS discussion? Isn't that what takes up most of the time?

metra 15y ago
This is a serious question. I'm not a front-end guy. Instead of downvoting, can someone enlighten me?
- ctide 15y ago
  The article was about design, not implementation.
- enra 15y ago
  It depends of the design, but I think generally it takes me longer to design mockups than to implement them. When implementing you know what you should do, and when know your tools, you can pretty much do it as fast as you can type. When designing you start from scratch. You try to wrestle all the ideas and requirements with the best practices and the right style, to create something that's new and works. So I think designing well is much harder than implementing the design well.