Web design is lame
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- formed0
What I find far more "lame" is doing "bad" design.
I don't think it really matters what the medium is.
I come from an architecture background, so graphics/web will always seem "temporary" and "less meaningful", but really it doesn't matter. If you create a logo and basic website for some starting company that makes a huge difference in your client's business/life, that's pretty cool.
Everything changes. I do think Jobs/Apple essentially killed web design (eventually it'll come around, but 10 years of testing/progress are gone) and has left us with Word Press being the defacto standard that no one can avoid (not unless you have extreme budgets).
That is "lame", the rest just depends on the context you are looking at.
- ukit20
The web has gone mainstream. It cashed in and sold us out for the money.
- qTime0
I'm amazed at how fractured the industry has become.
It feels like you have to specialise in something to get a job.
- inteliboy0
It will ebb and flow. Just like when the modern magazine matured, the idea of a magazine spread was experimented with. This will happen with web design.
Also, considering the last 15 years of web design... I'm not sure there is that much to be nostalgic about. It's been a pretty ugly place until recently imo. The web is far better designed and interesting then it ever has been.
- FallowDeer0
I kind of agree with fate and the post above is what I was thinking.
Early days everything had an experimental edge about it, exploring where we could take web design. Now everyone has found a "formula" that works and everything pretty much looks the same.No doubt it will change when trends change, but not much
- hans_glib0
i kind of understand where fate is coming from. In the early days of teh interwebz (pre standards) there was all manner of interesting stuff happening and being created/tried out. But as the medium has matured, and standards have been drawn up, and metrics used to determine what works and what doesn't, many sites end up looking and working the same way.
So it's fairly soul-destroying producing one site after another.
I used to work at a packaging design outfit and almost exclusively worked on M&S food packaging. After a while it all got very samey and dull and I felt like fate. Doing the same thing month in month out isn't very conducive to creativity. So I moved to a firm that did a lot of brochure work and it was great for a while, but eventually got into a rut there as well. And so moved on again.
The key is to have a wide range of projects to keep you fresh.
But at the same time, don't get into design to have a "legacy". It's far too ephemeral for that.
- animatedgif0
Out of interest Fate what would you rather have a portfolio full of?
Other than these ridiculous comparisons to "You're not a doctor, a lawyer" because yeah a lawyer adds so much to the world.
- I'm guessing ad work, branding, campaigns, events, books, brochures, packaging, etc...monospaced
- Yep. What monospaced said.fate
- slappy0
As traditional advertising revenues continue to decline, the web continues to thrive. It's becoming the backbone for the rest of a companies marketing materials to hang off.
We are seeing clients move from using 5% of the marketing budget for digital to up to 80%
Good design costs money and digital budgets are on the up.
- When the internet reaches 100% of marketing, then we can spring the trap and blow it up.cannonball1978
- I fondly remember the 90ies, when just about all ad agencies hushed digital and considered it a mere afterthoughtPeter
- and being a "mere afterthought" meant we could do cool stuff without all the idea-killing meetings from hell!vaxorcist
- ETM0
Listen you're clearly have some sort of existential crisis. Perhaps there is someone better to speak to than QBN. I mean that with sincerity.
- fate0
Let me put it to you this way.
No one here will disagree that Arnaud Mercier was a talented, skilled designer, or that his life was far too short.
But what was his legacy on this planet, beyond his family?
A bunch of web layouts.
- He was recognized for his work. Is that not something? Was he to cure cancer?ETM
- You could say that about any profession. Eventually our sun will explode too.jonnypompita
- ETM0
Online is so boring and uncreative. If only we had Flash still and the industry was a playground for companies with more ideas than business plans that handed out stocks like toilet paper and all went bust.
Seems like interesting stuff in the last few years still exists:
http://flipboard.com/
https://soundcloud.com/
http://slaveryfootprint.org/
http://www.ludei.com/sumon
http://helloracer.com/webgl/
http://discover.store.sony.com/t…
http://www.laurentiuswonen.com/j…- interesing urls.... and true about randomness of business plans....vaxorcist
- ernexbcn0
2013 just begun but I can give this thread the stupidest thread award already.
- vaxorcist0
they're not "hobbies and other things you're passionate about".... there's part of your LIFE... which is already waaay too short as it is, and not worth doing things you hate.... so if you make your LIFE worth living, you have a longer-term plan to stop making a living doing things you hate and start making a living doing what you're good at.... and if you're fixated on how the "bean counters and numbers geeks have taken over" then go elsewhere,... before you get too bitter.
- fate0
Guys, I have hobbies and other things I'm passionate about.
I still think web design is lame. The bean-counters and number geeks have taken over. There is no fun or passion in this field anymore.
Even print has more going for it...
- print doesmonospaced
- But why the fuck do we care about your hang up?ETM
- What validation are you seeking? The thread was not framed as a discussion or debate, but a statement.ETM
- The big budgets are still in TV, not online.jonnypompita
- vaxorcist0
I think somebody needs to take up the guitar, or trumpet.... or windsurfing... something hedonistic and different can often inform your design, where you relearn how to be creative within tight boundaries... rather then fight them like a skydiver smashing his head against the airplane window....
- fate0
" doing banner ads now at a place that's willing to take some risks could be super exciting"
Please exit this thread.
- Take a drawing or photography class for no reason but yourself. Chill and get some perspective again.ETM
- do you have any experience whatsoever in advertising?doesnotexist
- doesnotexist0
i do ecomm work for fashion & luxury brands. i think most of what goes on in the industry is SEO, best practices, and dealing with existing systems and vendors on the client side. but, through all that, if you can't see the light and opportunities to do new things then i would say design in general isn't for you (or you're in a rut so stop whining). this is a service industry oriented towards making millions of dollars for your clients, they're always looking for new and better solutions from you.
if new technology isn't tickling your brain (and there are tons of new things out there being developed), then you're just complacent and you should blame yourself, really.
imo, doing banner ads now at a place that's willing to take some risks could be super exciting. i've done pretty much everything you can do digitally, and what i love is having those moments where you get to do something differently with something so familiar.
- fate0
qoob, no, it's not about understanding the work itself.
It's about seeing the value of what we do.
You should be able to tell anyone...Grandma, any schmuck on the street, your children...what it is you do, and they *know* what you do is important and valuable to this world.
- Your argument is so flawed. I don't know many 90 year olds who see value in anything younger generations do.ETM
- And their inability to recognize, based on a dated frame of reference, doesn't invalidate anything.ETM
- Did your gran shit on your work, or something? It's like you have granny issues. lolETM
- BTW, I thought artists strived to blaze a path and NOT be understood or appreciated by past generations.ETM
- Not being understood was often a sign of success. Big band, beatniks, hippies, rock 'n roll...ETM
- fate never studied art history.Glitterati_Duane