Design, by definition, is function over form. This means that as long as function is maintained, a design can take any form. Enter creativity. Any form means that designers have the opportunity to express a function in many different ways. However, true originality is rare, as inspiration to create often comes from another source.

While there is nothing wrong with using other sources for inspiration (in fact, its always a good thing), harm comes when a reoccurring cliché appears within the design community. Designers need to be aware that any element can become overused, and stay original in order to keep designs fresh.

Trend Versus Cliché

Trend

In terms of elements used in design, a trend is an element that can be seen across multiple websites yet still has enough variation between designs to be considered a positive addition to the design.

Strictly adhering to trends is the quickest way to turn a trend into a cliché and turn your design into an unoriginal patchwork of others. However, using trends is alright, as long as you alter the element enough, or use it in an original way to make it your own.

Cliché

In design, a cliché is an element that has been overused to the point that adding said element to your design detracts from your design (regardless of its visual appeal, though clichés are rarely considered aesthetic), as it is so unoriginal.

Simply put, avoid clichés. Its too late to save…

Continue Reading

Kevin John Gomez, a web designer from Brooklyn (Fancy Labs web design studio), has both an inspiring website and portfolio (And in my opinion, a good taste in music too).

Check it out:
Website: Kevin John Gomez
Fancy Labs: Fancy Labs

Earlier this week I wrote a post describing what makes a great web design. I covered the header, usability, typography, C.R.A.P. and color. In this entry, I will continue with the list.

Remembrance

When designing a web site, you need its name all over it, but not in the obnoxious sense. When a you get a visitor, the first thing you want them to know is whose site this is because then, even if they leave, they still will remember your site. This applies to logos as well, you should place your logo in a place to be seen, so once again, every visitor will remember it.

However, remembrance is not just about putting a name on a design. Many principles of design, particularly contrast are not just meant to make a design easier to look out. Contrast is meant to make a design stand out, and with remembrance, you want the design to stand out in a person’s mind.

Style Your Pictures

People hate large blocks of text. What also annoys visitors is pictures that completely clash with…

Continue Reading

Chances are, you have heard about Google Chrome. Its revolutionary features and how it combines the best of all browsers and stuff like that. Whether or not you agree with these statements, or whether you plan to use the browser or not, is not what I plan to discuss. I want to talk about Google Chrome’s design, and how it compares to different browsers.

Browser design is almost an extension of web design. If you look at a piece of art, you want the frame to compliment the art. When you open a web page, you want it to be aesthetically pleasing, and ease your reading experience. The browser becomes the frame, the web page the art. Design is not necessarily looks, but rather how information is conveyed, as I have previously stated.

Today, I will look and discuss the designs of five popular browsers, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and finally Internet Explorer (not really).

The Icon Design:

Why not start here. The icon is what you first see when opening an application. Well, replacing icons is incredibly easy, so if you are not satisfied with the icon design of one browser, that is really of no importance.

• Chrome’s Icon:

Shiny. It incorporates Google’s common color scheme, so it fits well wit the rest of their icons. However, the issue I have with it is it, well, looks like a Poké Ball. Otherwise, the icon is nice, though the bright contrast between the colors does not fit too well with other common applications.

• Firefox’s Icon:

Firefox’s icon, along with Safari’s icon best takes the name of the browser and conveys it as an image. Since this…

Continue Reading

Whether it is a blog, portfolio or anything else, web design is what sells the site. Nearly all of your visitors will decide to stay or leave within the first five seconds, and the rest within the next few. So, what makes people stay or leave? Well, obviously nobody can read fast enough, so it has to be the presentation. This alone makes web design crucial.

Then what makes a good web design? Every design varies, so it is important to know what is best to then build off of the basics.

The List

The Header

It is quite obvious that the first thing somebody sees is not going to be the footer of your website, or even the middle. The first thing a visitor sees is the the header. Your header should represent your site, have the title, and a little bit about the site, particularly about the blog.

However, having information about the website is not as necessary as making the header attractive. So, if it comes down to moving the summary of the site versus the beauty of the header, it is much better to move the summary. In short, the goal of the header is to sell the design, and to identify the site.

Usability

Because design is function over form (unlike art, form over function), anything you design will have a purpose. In web design, a design is meant to convey information in an aesthetically and convenient manner. This makes usability one of the key features…

Continue Reading

Well, why not? Well, this perspective has been explained countless times, so rather than explain why you should not design for free, I will point out when you should.

• For A Cause - Its very common to find something that you believe in, and appreciate the cause or idea. It is still common for this cause to lack a proper design, which you could contribute. Unfortunately, often times these people will be working nonprofit or trying to pay for something, so they are unable to pay anybody for a proper design. This becomes your choice, to contribute to their cause, or leave them without your help.

  The design you give them does not have to be your best work, the work you have spent hours sketching, designing, and coding. It can just be something you put together in your spare time. By contributing to the cause, you can help in ways you are most experienced in.

• Build A Portfolio - If you are just starting out as a designer, sometimes it is useful to give some designs, to show you have some work that has been accepted, and used. Also, whenever you are just testing a design, you…

Continue Reading

One artist I have followed recently started a project called One And A Hundred.

He describes it as: “His intention was pure, plain and simple - to capture the beauty of panorama pictures using only a simple mobile device - the Sony Ericson Walkman, W880i handphone.

In his thoughts, many have oversees this function which has been laying silent and faithfully in the device, waiting to amaze their users. Hence, this project aims to showcase 100 panorama pictures captured using this single mobile device, which in this case, gave rise to the title of this project - One and a Hundred. “

Take a quick look, while he still may only be at 23 pictures, many of them incorporate great contrast and composition. It makes you wonder how he shot these photos with a camera phone.

Inspiration is basically what jump-starts your creativity when you cannot think of anything to make. However, finding it is not as easy as it seems, and often times it depends more on chance than anything else. I have put a list together of ideas and options that will increase your chances of finding inspiration. So, here it goes.

• Keep a notebook

Keep a notebook, and just sketch out your ideas. Since sketching is a lot faster than doing complete design mock-ups or rough drafts of art, it is much easier to quickly pump out ideas. The nice thing about drawing designs out is, when you keep them small and quick you are able to look back at them differently, giving you more original ideas.

• Recycle ideas

Keeping a notebook is also helpful, because, not only is it in one place, but you can take advantage when you have inspiration, and sketch down as much as possible as quickly as possible. Then, later when you need inspiration, you can just use your old ideas. One other option is to, when you have the time, look through all your art or designs…

Continue Reading

For awhile, I have been watching Nano-004’s (a.k.a Atsuko-04) work, and I have been amazed by how little attention it gets. His use of colors is quite amazing in his abstract 3d work, and also in his vectors. Although he does not have many pieces of work at the moment, he makes up for it with the quality of his work. I recommend you go and take a look at his work (especially the more recent works), as it is exceptionally inspiring.