12 September Grumpy Monkey: These Are a Few of My Least Favorite Things September 12, 2019 Case Studies, General, Opinion Piece, The Grumpy Monkey, Trends After 10+ years in the web design industry, I’ve found that the web is still far from perfect. There are a number of things I’d love to see change for the better. Sure, there have been plenty of positive developments throughout the years. Some of them even a bit revolutionary. But I also see things that have remained stagnant or new trends that are probably more of a pain than they’re worth. So, today I’m wearing my “Grumpy Designer” cap once again. It will put me in the proper frame of mind as I take you through some things that I’d like to see either evolve or just go away. FTP The good old File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is one of the few items that have been in my toolbox for every single one of my years as a designer. Back in the day, it felt like being in some sort of futuristic hacker movie (Sneakers, anyone?). Now, using FTP feels very antiquated. While web hosts usually offer a web-based file transfer tool, the ones I’ve tried aren’t all that convenient. What I’d love to see is a more Dropbox-esque type of UI that is both attractive and easy to use. One thing I will say is that, even though it’s not all that sexy, at least FTP is still useful. It just needs a makeover. Editors That Write Bad Code At one time, I shied away from desktop WYSIWYG tools because the code they produced was often bloated and proprietary. Thankfully many have made real strides in helping us generate standards-compliant code. We can choose one that does things the right way. But when it comes to WYSIWYG tools inside of a content management system (CMS), it seems like anything still goes. One I recently used (I won’t name names) still employs tables for multi-column layouts and produces HTML font tags, rather than CSS. And no, this wasn’t a system that hadn’t been updated in years – it actually receives frequent updates. Seriously, there is no excuse for still using font tags this far into the 21st century. What’s next, a return of the blink tag? WordPress NO!! Just... no. Designing for a Notch I will admit that I have great admiration for Apple’s design credentials. Over the past two decades, they have pretty much single-handedly dragged both the computer and mobile device industries into utilizing more handsome aesthetics. But this whole “notch” nonsense of the iPhone X is going a bit too far. Do we really need to design around this thing? As if trying to get things looking great on the plethora of mobile devices out there wasn’t difficult enough. In some ways, it reminds me of the proprietary code and loose standards Internet Explorer used to stuff into their browser. I mean, if you want to plunk down a small fortune to buy the phone – more power to you. Just don’t expect me to cater to it. The phone will be considered outdated in a few months anyway. Subservience to Big Data To some degree, web design has been guided in part by large companies since the very beginning of the web becoming a commercial medium. For example, it made sense for designers to only adhere to standards that were supported by browsers. It seemed rather pointless to do otherwise. But over time the influence of big players has gained a stranglehold on various aspects of our work – and we’ve voluntarily let them do it. Just take a look at how much responsibility we’ve put into the hands of companies like Google. We use them for code repositories, fanciful fonts and statistical analysis. And they’ve gotten to the point where any change they make to a search algorithm has us all scrambling to keep up. And recently, their browser has started informing us when sites don’t use SSL. I’m not saying it’s inherently evil or that they’re going to turn around and do something hurtful. But should Google, along with a handful of others, really have so much influence over the web? It seems to defeat the purpose of a decentralized network. Improve or Remove None of the items above constitute a life-or-death crisis. But in one way or another they either make a web designer’s job more difficult or are just generally disappointing. Of course, many of my complaints are meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek. The “problems” designers face today often pale in comparison to the limitations of the early days of web design. But at least one of the above is a pretty serious issue that all of us should think about (I’ll give you a hint – it’s not the “notch”). The good news is that things do evolve over time and usually for the better. So the next time I decide to list my grievances, there’s a good chance that there won’t be many repeat offenders. The only exception may be FTP – I just can’t see that changing. Related Posts Grumpy Monkey: Being a Workaholic Designer and How to Recover Designers are very fortunate. Unlike a whole lot of careers out there, we quite often genuinely enjoy what we do. We get to unleash our creative spirit and can make a decent living out of it, too. From my experience, it’s an industry full of talented and passionate people. It can be a bit of a mixed blessing, though. If you’re good at your job, more people will want you to do work for them. The trouble is that you may run into times when there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. Because you’re determined to get it all done, you start early and leave late. You work weekends and take time away from family. You might even be a bit grumpy. Grumpy Monkey: Work How You Want To, Adjust When You Have To How many times has your web browsing or social media feed led you to an article telling you not to do things the way you’re doing them? While the quest for evolution in web design is a noble one, sometimes it’s littered with well-meaning nonsense. That’s why, as a grumpy designer with over a decade in the game, I’m declaring that we work in the way that makes us most comfortable and productive. 5 Website-Related Skills Your Clients Should Know A big part of web design is in implementing creative solutions. One area that requires a lot of attention is in making things easier for clients to manage. This often comes with the use and customization of a CMS such as DNN. But fully autonomous websites aren’t really a thing yet. So, no matter how much customization we’ve done, clients are still going to need to do some things for themselves. There are a number of tasks that they just can’t escape. That’s why it’s vital for them to have at least a working knowledge of some common skills. Just as important, we need to communicate these requirements and, if necessary, help guide them on the path to learning. After all, they may not even be fully aware of what’s involved. With that in mind, here are five such web-related skills that clients will need to get the most out of their website. The Biggest Designer Debates It seems like every industry has their own set of fiercely debated topics. They pit tool against tool, theory against theory and can be great fun (or infuriating, depending upon your perspective). But since web designers spend an inordinate amount of their lives online, our debates tend to stir a whole lot of both participation and passion. Today, we’re going to look at some of the subjects of debate that have taken on a life of their own. Some are completely organic to the industry, while others have been adapted from society at large. Regardless, they have resulted in some epic arguments. The Five Inconvenient Truths of Web Design Being a web designer isn't easy. Depending on your niche, it requires a combination of finely-tuned technical and visual skills. And it takes a major commitment in order to keep those skills relevant in an ever-changing industry. What's more, the proverbial rug can be pulled out from under us at any moment. Tried-and-true methods can turn to dust and great tools can disappear without a trace. Even industry-related legislation can throw everything into a tizzy. Taken together, it can all be very difficult to deal with - let alone thrive in such an environment. But it's not impossible. Part of the path to maintaining both success and sanity comes from embracing the things we learn from experience: the inconvenient truths. Over my 11+ years as a designer, I'd like to think that I've experienced quite a wild ride. In that spirit, I've put together a list of “truths” that, once understood, can help to make for a smoother journey. Understanding the Meaning of Color Within Design Color is the perceivable characteristic of light; We see different colors because some objects reflect/absorb specific wavelengths. Human eyes perceive these wavelengths as colors. You can’t use only a single color in your work even if it is a site, logo or a business card. It needs to be a combination of two or more colors to be effective. Unfortunately making a wise mixture poses a tough choice; the modern monitor displays can render more than 16 million (16,000,000) colors. Therefore it’s very easy to make a wrong choice.