How great is that – tracking the changes made to a website not a sense of content, but in functionality. Since websites are not longer just containers of content it makes perfect sense.

Is it interesting to the visitor? Sure, here are a couple of reasons:

Feature Discovery
Just like you are interested what are the latest features your favorite app has, website visitors are interested what they can do on your website. Especially if you have a lot of functionality that is not immediately visible.

Help Documentation
While you add more and more functionality a website might need help documentation – it becomes in the end more and more an application. The Version History keeps a log of what features might need to be added to the help section or which description might be out of date.

Showing that you listen to users
By having a version history you can show that you listen to suggestions of your users. Not all new features might be inspired by visitors to your site, but many will be and giving credit is a transparent way of showing your commitment.

Reduces feature redundancy
It also gives you a place where you can look up if a similar feature might be already in place. If you are part of a big website with multiple developers and units the chances are high that you don’t know all the functionality of the whole website – and you might want to add something which is already there. Even if the site is small you might take over from another developer/designer you might want to know why the site works the way it does. The version history shows you when and where new things got added and might give a hint why the CSS file is messed up the way it is.

It doesn’t have to be public
You can also make the version history just for yourself – as a reference when you introduced a feature. This can than later be used for measuring how effectively that introduction has been – have you met the goals you have set for the new feature (you have set goals right?).

These are just a few of the benefits I can see for the version history on a website, what are yours?

#website #ux #idea

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We’ve got a Version History!

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No time for reading about Design? Want to get an insight what designers/developers/artists think about their work directly from their voice? Why not listen to some design podcasts. I often feel that written interviews are edited versions of the voice of designers – interpretations of the designers thought by writers and editors. In podcast interviews I can not only hear the voice but also get an idea about the character and the importance of a subject to a designer – it’s a real conversation after all.

I will share weekly a podcast who inspires me to do better work and/or think differently about my work.

First off a very popular one – Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Design Matters with Debbie Millman is a thought-provoking internet podcast, which profiles industry-leading graphic designers, change agents, artists, writers and educators.

Although very popular I just found out about this great interview series – take you time to listen also to the archive. Here are the links – Enjoy:
- http://observermedia.designobserver.com/show_designmatters.html
- http://observermedia.designobserver.com/show_designmattersarchive.html
- Podcast Subscription URL: http://designobserver.com/show.designmatters2009-10.xml

#podcast #design #interview #inspiration #education

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Design Matters Archive: Observer Media: Design Observer

09.23.11. Jessica Hische In this podcast interview with Debbie Millman, Jessica Hische discusses her attachment to the internet, the differences between being a letterer and a type designer and workin…

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I use podcasts to learn while I work. I listen to design talks, keynotes, interviews and news from science, culture and some entertainment. Especially during the tasks every designer can do without thinking (photo retouching, filling in content, corrections) are the ideal activities to up your game by staying in touch with the latest developments.

Even though graphic and web design are visual media, the most important part in my opinion about design is not visual – the mindset and the different approaches behind design solutions. In the old days it was really difficult to get the inside view of designers because not many had the opportunity to publish books or discuss their point of view in a magazine. Design Blogs fill this space a little bit but mostly podcasts can give you the opportunity to hear what designers think in their own words.

For a selection of interesting Podcasts about design subscribe my Huffduffer Channel – available as RSS or Subscribe in iTunes

To give you a further starting point for the design podcasts I listen I publish here my Subscription list from Google Reader (if you want you can even subscribe to it) – this list will update itself automatically.

Photo by Melvin Gaal (Mindsharing.eu)

Computer Human Interaction and Design?

Designers don’t think about it all the time, but the products/services/websites/brochures etc. are made for interaction with humans. The mobile “revolution” (more about that later) extended the websites and Apps to connect to the real world through touch screens and other sensors and have become Computer Human Interfaces. Therefore the CHI is a good venue for designers.

I just peeked in at the “taste of CHI” for a couple of hours. For $10 I have visited the exhibition and seen a few presentations. I enjoyed most the talk of Bill Buxton and the presentation of his Buxton Collection, an archive of digital input devices. What we can learn from such a collection is that technology is evolutionary. Designers try to create an image of “creation” which comes from nothing. They try to hide where their inspiration came from and the legacy they build on.

This leads in his opinion, and I agree, to two bad consequences. Students in design schools learn from this kind of designers that creativity comes a genius spark and therefore they don’t learn how to improve existing things with better design for example. And secondly the speed of the innovation is slowed down. If everything seems to be magically new and have never been here before we think that we are progressing, even when we progress only a little bit or not at all.

The archive shows that things like the iPhone and iPad and other magical devices are not only nothing new (while improved) but that this kind of devices where already on the market 18 years ago. From the first Smartphone with touch screen, the Simon from IBM, to the iPhone basically the improvements are thinner, lighter, color and maybe a longer battery life. Not a big revolution in 18 years.

To get to the moon on the other site took just 9 years. Why? Because the USA had a legacy they build on – Werner von Braun and his technicians.

What can Designers learn from this?

Designers should not try to reinvent the wheel every time. Don’t copy and don’t be boring, but try to bring a design that inspired you into a new context and push it to another level. I know that it might seem abstract, but in reality it is not.

Moodboards are great way not only to get ideas and as collections for a certain style and design – but also as a starting point for your designs. And when you take the moodboards with you in the presentation your client can actually see where you started and how your design evolved from this starting points.

Impressions from the conference

The exhibition side was more like a design school graduate party. A lot of students showing their projects. Some are really funny but nothing new here. I have seen a lot of the approaches taken by this designer-engineer hybrids already in commercial products on the market or close to market – or in the keynote about Android at the Google IO this morning. I think the real value lies in the panels, but I couldn’t attend any – will see next time.

Here are now some images and movies I grabbed with my phone.

Doing charts is a almost a daily business for any graphic designer. Most of them don’t need to be super-fancy, but some spice can always help. Creating a 3D Effect is quickly done with the standard tools we all use – rectangles, lines and gradients. But if you have to do many charts (for an annual report) then this options can really slow you down. Unless you use a tool to speed up the process.

Why not use the 3D Tools provided by Illustrator. The positive side effect is that you don’t have to worry about the shading and you can apply text on the surfaces (the trick here is to convert the Text into symbols). The best part is that you start from the 2D versions of the charts – easy to change and to manage. The examples I show here are neither fully styled or finished, but should give you a hint about what you can do.

Download the sample Illustrator file to get an idea behind the example given. This is a great starting point and you can dress the result up and quiet easily.

Stock images are cheaper than ever and access to creative commons material is great, but often not available in print resolution. Having your own stock photography is better – and easy. I show you how.

This will be quiet short and is more a reminder.  Yes a reminder – I want to remind you to take some more pictures for your stock library while you are taking photos for your private albums.

How many times have you bought a wood texture background or a crowded place or a busy street? I have many times. Once I needed a picture of Picadilly Circus, nothing fancy, but all the photos I had where with some of my friends in the middle. I lived in London for 6 month and have not taken one picture of the place except those “tourist” photos.

So remind yourself when you are on vacation or on a business trip – take a few extra pictures with the eye of the graphic designer. You don’t have to have the greatest gear to take good pictures , but you need a little bit of practice. A blogpost over at Boagworld actually tells you how to make unique stock photos for your website

And most important, tell your wife/girlfriend/friend why you are taking pictures of the floor, the wall and the scenery without them on it. The photo of this post for example was shot on my old balcony during a bbq session – perfect for various uses, don’t you think?

So go out and take the lens cap off (as they say in the TWIP Podcast)

Facebook has with its over 500 million Users a nice potential readership if you (or your client) plan to start a blog or website. To publish a Facebook page you just need a few clicks and the tools offered (for the one who likes to learn FBML – the Facebook Markup Language) are not too bad – especially the feature that people who “like” your page get automatically updates is compelling. The design is given by Facebook and if you (or your client)  just want to get the “message” to your readers you might don’t care as much. But wait, here are a few aspects to consider before you put your effort into a Facebook page:

• Facebook can disable pages at will – its their platform
• The content is not yours once posted on Facebook – they can use it as well and at will
• You cannot export the contents in a convenient manner (you are locked in)
• Your can never turn your page into a business
• Facebook shows advertising on your page
• You are tied to facebook – bad reputation can backlash on you
• Facebook is seen as a private space (lol) and not as a serious place

These are a few aspects – there are for sure many more. But there are good arguments for having a Facebook page as a promotional tool for your website. You can boost the number of visitors to your site through Facebook pages. Here are some resources I’ve found helpful and inspirational.

• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/07/07/designing-a-facebook-fan-page-showcases-tutorials-resources/
• http://designm.ag/design/designing-a-facebook-landing-page-12-of-the-best/
• http://icetemplates.com/blog/134/absolutely-free-cool-facebook-template/

Foto by Ray-Franco Bouly

How many times have you looked at your website and wanted to do an complete redesign? And how many times you said, ok I do it next month when I’m less busier. The truth is, that we just keep postponing the redesign and don’t do anything. But maybe just a little evolution and some small tweaking would do the job and would improve the website. How to decide if you need a complete new design or just some improvement? Here some questions to ask yourself and if you answer the majority with yes you need a complete overhaul.

Is your webdesign “trendy”?

Design is like fashion, there are trends. And the bigger trends of the last couple of years have been grunge, comics, <insert other trend here>. The beauty of the internet is, that it’s evolving fast. But just like in fashion, your site can look old fashioned in a blast. So if you don’t plan to renew the site design every year or so don’t get too trendy on your next design. And if your design is trendy now, get on to the next trend – sustainable web design.

Are you changing (or need to change) your website technology?

You are on a self hosted wordpress installation and want to switch over to a tumblr blog or get over to squarespace to not have to deal with updates and servers any more? It’s a good time for a redesign. You spend as much time to recreate your website on the new services as redoing the whole design. It can be evolutionary at large but take this opportunity.

Is your website  just in Flash?

While I’m not a Flash hater and I see many uses of Flash in the real world that make sense, I cannot see the point of having a complete site in Flash anymore. It’s not even ok for “business card” sites with no content and who don’t want to get found in the search engine except for your local pizzeria which name you know but not the telephone number. Many of this businesses want something “flashy” and don’t mind the technology. It’s easier for a designer to please them with a nice Flash animation – and often it’s also quicker to do a Flash site, but you will get in trouble when mobile gets more important and the sites won’t work correctly. So I hope that with the advent of HTML 5 we will get rid of these problems – but if you want to prepare yourself now, get rid of Flash.

Evolution is better

I just picked three questions for the revolution section because there are not many reasons to do complete redesigns. Many times small improvements can have a big impact and help your site. Big sites like Amazon and Wikipedia have gone a radical redesign if you compare them to 5 years ago, but the steps where small. One by one. Testing and seeing what works and what doesn’t. Is learning from nature – making a lot of small variations to experiment what works best costs less “energy” that redoing everything from scratch. The are some instances where your have to revolutionize – but more often than not, evolution beats revolution.

Image courtesy of StePagna

Next up in the series of font alternatives for popular fonts is Thesis – or better known as TheSans, TheSerif, TheMix, TheSans Mono. I’ve found 7 interesting alternatives – from huge and expensive to very big and resonable priced.
Thesis is maybe one of the most used font systems in the world. Most non graphic designers don’t recognize it, but be assured it is used a lot. I’m speaking about a font system because the variety Thesis offers is almost uncompared. I like to use it especially in corporate design for corporations with many different departments as I can use different speciments for different resorts.

But if you are sick of using Thesis I have here quite a few alternatives for you.

Top Alternatives

• Compatil (www.linotype.com)
  
• Fedra from (www.typotheque.com)
  

Runners up

• Leitura (www.dstype.com)
  
• Absara (www.fontshop.de)
  
• Generis (www.linotype.com)
  
• Nexus (www.fontshop.de)
  
• United (find it at www.houseind.com)
  

Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks — including death itself — at the university’s 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005. Inspiring and worth 15 minutes