A LIST Apart: For People Who Make Websites

No. 263

Discuss: Designing Through the Storm

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1 A good read

You are of course right to caution against the use of the “I told you so design”, I find myself struggling with this almost daily. Of course I have produced some seriously lacking design work.

What I don’t understand though is why people bother asking you to do something for them, when all along they think they could do it themselves.

Well? why don’t you sigh

Also a great point is inspiration. You have to keep filling yourself up so that there is somthing to give out.

posted at 05:58 am on July 25, 2006 by jesse Steinfort

2 Thanks for the tips

Getting outside for a stroll in the fresh air can help ‘reset’ your creative brain, although it’s sometimes difficult when you’re running short on time.

posted at 01:42 pm on July 25, 2006 by David Oliver

3 Nice article

I enjoyed reading the article, it’s full of useful advice.

With regard to David’s comment, I am very much a pacer. When I’m working through a problem in my head, you can usually find me wandering aimlessly back and forth somewhere in the office, mumbling to myself. A change of scenery is often the best way to get myself to look at a problem in a new way.

posted at 02:30 pm on July 25, 2006 by Mike West

4 good read

Giving yourself a break for a timeout is a great way to give your brain a rest and get your creative juices flowing. It’s amazing what a change in scenery can do for your inspiration.

posted at 04:02 pm on July 25, 2006 by Jeannette Ordas

5 Good one

Good tips. Thanks. :)

Often when I try to make a designs (mostly as practise for myself) and I jam up beign creative and stuff, I take a break and redesign an older project or another site I find redesigneable (usually I keep these to myself). It sometimes gives me ideas and inspiration for the main project I’m working for. :)

posted at 04:39 pm on July 25, 2006 by Otto Rask

6 VERY MOTIVATIONAL

I certainly agree that it’s good to take breaks.

Our team regularly takes walks, when it’s not too hot outside. This gives us a chance to discuss something outside of what where working on, get feedback on a particular problem, or talk about the latest ALA article.

Whatever your choice, taking a break is crucial to keeping yourself sane and your ideas fresh.

posted at 05:34 pm on July 25, 2006 by Brion Mills

7 I almost wanted to prove my point

Your are very right about your thoughts about proving a point. It just won’t work.

I almost got to the point where I wanted to prove a point but then resisted to do it. Instead I looked at my suggestions, looked at what the clients wants and tried to figure out a way to fit both together.

Now you may think that it’s just a compromize. No, during that process I realized that even my thoughts had some problems and therefore the mix might work even better than my initial draft.

posted at 09:16 pm on July 25, 2006 by Michael Hartmann

8 also

my boss asked me if i can do 1 design per hour one day without putting much effort on details. i thought that was impossible. turns out its a good way of just sketching and dumping ideas. the result was something out of the box. this is more like the subconscious working thing.

posted at 11:53 pm on July 25, 2006 by gab pascua

9 DPH (Designs per hour)

I’m curious about Gab’s comment regarding designs per hour (per day). Gab, was this your boss’ idea of iterative design or just was it just a brainstorming exercise?

DPH for Iterative Design I ask because I would be pretty concerned if your supervisor was trying to compress the creative process into hard intervals like ‘an hour’. For some projects, it might take an hour just to understand the client’s objectives and preferences, much less putting pen to paper. For other projects, I might have a design slapped out in ten minutes, drinking coffee with my feet on the desk for the remaining fifty.

DPH for Brainstorming Exercise A design per hour might might be a little more reasonable benchmark if the stakeholder’s goal is simply to experiment with a fixed number of ideas giving equal amount of time and attention to each one. Having said this, I would watch out for filler designs—spending the dedicated hour fleshing out an idea that didn’t have legs.

Clarify this point for me. I’d like to understand what level of design you were expected to produce at the end of hour…

posted at 01:45 am on July 26, 2006 by Walter Stevenson

10 DPH for Brainstorming Exercise

Yes it was more of a brainstorming exercise.. Just trying out different looks and different layouts based on the client specs/content.

I understand what walter wants to say. That type of design exercise I mentioned varies depending on the project and which stage you’re at in the development process.

I guess my point was sometimes it just helps not to think about how to design something. Let ideas flow freely. If you find or discover something you like and you know it would work, start building on it.

posted at 03:47 am on July 26, 2006 by gab pascua

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