Gollaher’s Before and After
Redesigns continue. The most recent one to cross my desk was Gollaher Ranch. This one was a little more difficult to style because I had to build the CSS using ems instead of my customary pixels. The client requested larger fonts and something easily resized. Most of our customers are using Internet Explorer 7, and ems readily translate font sizes for IE7 and Firefox users.
I also took the opportunity to learn what a:active meant and experimented with it in Gollaher’s redesign. CSS has become one of the easiest concepts I have learned, but is incredibly difficult to master. Every time I work on a new project I have discovered new features and capabilities available through CSS.
Before (See the old design here.)
and After.
While not as complex as Blue Flavor’s blueprint.css, Tim and I have developed our own CSS framework. Take a peek at the basic HTML and CSS we start with.
Ice Storms and Internets
This is one nasty ice storm. I live in one of the hardest hit areas of the Midwest, and consequently am coping with no power at home for next 10-12 days.
The Internet has been an excellent communication tool during these severe storms, however. E-mail keeps our family members informed, and weather reports online keep us prepared.
Normal posts may be delayed or nonexistent for a short time, pending the levels met in Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs. Stay warm and safe in the mean time 
Help Resources
There are days when tutorials just won’t cut it. Is your question too advanced for the forums? Need to talk to a person instead?
Try connecting to a community of developers. Yahoo! Groups and the Figleaf Mailing Lists are great ways to find and talk to the pros. The ones I subscribe to are:
- Dreamweaver on Yahoo! Groups
- ActionScript Tiger on Yahoo! Groups
- Flash Newbies on Figleaf
- Flash Coders on Figleaf
Some quick tips before asking your first question:
- Search the archives. Chances are good that someone else had the same trouble.
- Be specific. If your question is too broad, it won’t get answered.
- Be brief. 2 page diatribes aren’t read. They’re trashed. Bonus points for clear, concise messages.
- Try a format. E-mails that can be skimmed are good. The ones that get responses are similar in format: a short paragraph to explain your problem, a question at the end of it, a few lines of code after. Complex questions sometimes have 3 paragraphs, a question or two, then some lines of code.
- Mark it OT if it’s a discussion question or off-topic. It signals to others that its something to read at leisure, not a pressing issue.
Web Design != Graphic Design, No Matter How You Slice It
I see the Web as an amazing equalizer. From my perspective, I have grown up watching the Internet transform before my eyes and have experienced firsthand how it can change your own personal world. I know its powers and possibilities. I see other web designers and developers as my peers. I actively seek out people whose ideas may influence or challenge my views. This is why I am compelled to say, Web design does not equal graphic design, no matter how you slice it.
I’ll take a deep breath and start from the beginning now.
Armin Vit recently wrote, Landmark Web Sites, Where Art Thou? and attempts to gloss himself over as a web designer by asking in his last line:
Rather, an honest question about what makes a great web site and, even more challenging, what web sites could be considered landmarks for our profession?
This question is misleading at best and loaded at worst. As he proclaims to work as a graphic designer, how does web design fall into that category? Wouldn’t a web site design be considered the web designer’s profession? At best, I believe he means to ask, What web sites offer great visual design?
Some interpret that question at its best, and offer answers. Others make snarky comments:
[...]Web design is really boring. Sorry, but it’s true.
I am so disappointed in you, Khoi. Shed the I am better than you attitude. It does not become you.
From whence did this tension begin?
The need to group and generalize other seemingly related professions may be the cause of the tension and competition. Yet, the belief that graphic design is superior to web design smacks of ignorance. One cannot compare apples with oranges and expect a fair, impartial outcome. They are two very different, resolutely evolving animals. Just because the word ‘design’ was accursedly tagged at the end means little.
It becomes a nebulous term when paired with others: software designer, architectural designer, interior designer, engineering designer. When does graphic design ever get compared to architectural design? Then why compare web design to graphic design?
The us vs. them mentality grows tiresome. It doesn’t have to be this way. Acknowledging good work is easy to do, only becoming difficult when arrogance is thrown into the mix. Can’t we all just get along? is too general to put into practice. I admit, a haughty artist turns me off to their beautiful art just as much as an egotistical computer programmer turns me off to their programming language of choice.
Maybe the better question is: Can we exercise humility when we become experts?
