I got a hold of a copy of “The Project” – new, hyped magazine for the iPad that’s supposed to revolutionize the way we think about digital magazines. I got to play with it for a while and despite the fact it’s pretty pricey (almost 3 euros) it also has some really cool ideas too. It probably won’t revolutionize the market but it brought a couple of things to it and we might see them in other publications.
How many of you remember adding “back” arrows in your websites about 10 years ago even though browsers back then had a “back” button? Or when gradients came into play and became super-popular around 2002 didn’t we abuse them for a while? Now they’re either used with style or are an example of a lack of thereof.
I recently give a lot of thought to two things: usability of a project (be it a website) and creative communication so the ideas are easy to grasp/read for a majority of readers. The time of “pweety weebsites” is over. It’s time for thinking at least as much as the design process itself. Think what you want to say in a claim, before you type it and add a dropshadow. Analyze other successful projects and copy only what you think is important. And by that I dont mean the 30 layer header background. If it’s a business don’t add people in business suits, unless it’s the suits you’re selling. This is so overused now that for a business to stand out it just takes to come up with something different.
Think about mobile use, it’s growing at an unbelievable rate, you don’t want to be the last on the wagon do you?
And remember that form and function should be equal without one praying on the other!