C.R.A.P.
No, I'm not being rude and I'm not swearing at you... I've just finished reading a book (The Non-Designers Design Book — Robin Williams) and have learnt that "CRAP" is the best way of remembering the four basic design principles: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity.
I make no secret of the fact that I don't consider myself to be a designer. I've never done a design course. I didn't study design at school or college. I don't look at elements on a page and think "wow, I wonder how I could arrange those to create a stunning visual display", I think "wow, I wonder how I could semantically mark those up to create an informative web page that ranks highly in Google". I don't think of fonts as ways to make a page look pretty, I think of them as simply that: fonts. Typography is — or was — of little value to me.
However, by simply presenting me with 'rules' that can be followed to make design more effective, I can think of ways to mark-up elements of my website AND rank highly in Google AND make them look better: tying sections together (Proximity) and creating consistency (Repetition). Creating visual distinction (Contrast) to make important points stand out whilst looking tidy, and flushed together (Alignment). I am brimming with ideas already!
Of course, the problem now is getting them out of my head, and down on paper...
On Wed 28th Mar 2007 @ 20:29, Amber said:
My problem is having the ideas in the first place and the knowledge to do what my designs require...
On Wed 28th Mar 2007 @ 20:58, Malin said:
There is so much info you should know AND apply to everything you do. Blah. Thank god I don't do it for a living! It's hard to keep up!
On Wed 28th Mar 2007 @ 20:59, Nan said:
I hate the feeling of having an idea inside my head and not be able to make it into something real - whether it's on a pc or something more solid.
On Wed 28th Mar 2007 @ 22:00, Tish said:
When I have a design idea, either a) it's impossible or b) my fingers freeze and I've forgotten the meaning of the word "keyboard". In the latter case, I find that consuming vast amounts of caffeine usually does the trick. If only there was a machine that sucked ideas out of your head and turned them into something you could make use of. Hmm. Maybe not. Sounds a bit dodgy to me.
On Wed 28th Mar 2007 @ 22:32, Sara said:
So, you weren't complaining? Just kidding! It sounds like a nice book!
Just wondering, is it a lot like the books for dummies? The sarcastic title gave me that idea.
On Wed 28th Mar 2007 @ 23:32, David Airey said:
That does sound like it's worth the look (the book I mean). Even as a designer I'd be interested to see how other aspects of creativity are explained. It can't all be crap.
On Wed 28th Mar 2007 @ 23:52, Bubs said:
I consider you a designer... your layouts are always very organized and clean. There are a lot of sites of graphic designers who have nice illustrations but crappy websites
On Thu 29th Mar 2007 @ 00:20, Belinda said:
I think your site layouts are quite CRAP as it is. Contrasting, repetitive, aligned and proximate of course.
BTW, off-topic, but would you happen to know what happened to nu/mb?
On Thu 29th Mar 2007 @ 00:37, Angela said:
That sounds like a really good book. Now I must go find it, as I could use to read something like that myself.
On Thu 29th Mar 2007 @ 04:45, Melissa said:
LOL...the title is awesome. And I'm interested to see what extra things you can come up with for your site...I think it rocks already. ^_^
On Thu 29th Mar 2007 @ 18:14, Han said:
I'm doing a design course and I wouldn't consider myself a designer, doing some arty farty course doesnt make you a designer in my opinion!
On Fri 30th Mar 2007 @ 02:15, Arien said:
I consider you a designer. I think the layouts you create are visualy tasteful. Not to mention, they're always clean and compact, just the way I like it when browsing a site. You may not have this big flashy header but sometimes big flasy headers looking nasty.
On Sun 1st Apr 2007 @ 12:26, Political Monster said:
Of course you're a designer. You don't have to have had any courses, you just teach yourself.
On Sun 1st Apr 2007 @ 21:30, Michele said:
I'm currently pursuing my degree in Graphic Design but I don't consider myself a designer just yet. It is something that I would like to do once I get out of the military. Just because it's something I can do from my house and it won't take me away from my family. Just to echo what's already been said. I consider you to be a very good designer.
On Fri 6th Apr 2007 @ 16:07, Montoya said:
Ah yes, that was a great book, and one I enjoyed teaching. Make sure to check out my lecture slides on it: http://www.christianmontoya.com/2006/09/28/teaching-web-design-part-5/