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9.19.06
Lou Fuiano
Thinking and Meandering Much of the readings we're currently working through are helpful in terms of professional methods and practices. The big benefit here is understanding how much more goes into this process than most of us think. The Three T's (Thought Takes Time) should also be a mantra. The nature of the beast however is very different. I've met too many clients that feel that if they have a check in their hand, they should be able get what they want. when they want it. Therein lies the rub. As a designer and illustrator, I was always confounded by designing for the web. It felt like such a different process to apply my visual skills into "design for the screen". I'm not sure why, it's a flat surface with information, color, images and composition. Shouldn't be a real stretch. However, the more I read Krug and research site design, functionality is the beautiful thing. The graphic design should support the functionality, not the other way around. In fact, the "invisible interface" seems like the holy grail more than anything else... At the moment at least. The best part about Krug is that he truly seems to cut away all the fat and help everyone to see clearly. Even an easily distracted, image person like myself. It gets tricky however when we look at some of the Flash driven stuff. It's dazzling and engaging, but seems to be operating on a whole different agenda. Web art and the web artists contribution to the screen is to "make you think" - Where do things lead? What is the purpose of this? Is that all this is? Maybe that's all it needs to be? These are questions that will ultimately inform our understanding of this remarkable medium. Many of these things force me to re interpret my relationship with the screen. I'll admit, most of my time on the computer is to get things done. Namely, work! I don't make as much time for games and most of my time on the web is spent looking for specifics and reading the screen. However, like life, as important as it is to understand order, it's just as important to deconstruct it. Make time to look at it all. |