From Twitter:

mringlein: my new years resolution is stop designing web 2.0 … i am all about the 2.5 this year. vintage wallpaper backgrounds and real life objects

mringlein: gradients and reflections are out …. the masking tape and handwriting fonts are in baby!

SamanthaToy: @mringlein http://www.24-7media.de/ was doing that stuff since forums were the “in” thing. I feel like trends are recycling themselves

dndrnkrd: @samanthatoy, @mringlein I agree, it’s not time for 2004 to come back yet. Good design can exist irrespective of trends.

I’m a little confused. I have heard so many people refer to the “Web 2.0 Look” and have been dealing with this confusion for a while. After all, the definition of “web 2.0″ says nothing about a specific aesthetic style. After my twitter conversation yesterday I followed up with my friend Dan to chat more on this subject. Dan explained that Martin’s comment may be a direct result of a backlash happening in the design community since Elliot Jay Stocks’ Presentation “Destroying the Web 2.0 Look” at the Future of Web Design Conference. I hadn’t seen the video of this presentation and decided to check it out.

I agree with Elliot Jay Stocks for the most part. I just think there is a little more to it than that.

Some things I would like to add, expand upon, or just discuss further…

Concept is King
The more concerning point that was just brushed over here is that there is a common theme in the design community to go ahead and move forward with a design without a strong concept. Elliott Jay Stocks mentioned that it’s OK to use a reflection on your logo if the name of your company has the word “reflect” in it. Well… that would be illustrating and supporting an overarching concept.
Ellen Lupton says it best

“Think more, design less. Many desperate acts of design (drop shadows, gradients and the gratuitous use of transparency) are committed in the void left by a strong concept. “

Rock on, Ellen. Rock on.

But are all trends bad? No just overusing them is.
Design is about communication and sometimes established trends help to communicate an idea or feeling. Sure they have been done before, but perhaps you need to say “technology” ” or cutting edge” without looking dated and like a 1960s SCIFI movie poster. Well then referencing some of the elements used by Apple in your design would help communicate the language that Apple has previously established for visually saying “innovative”. Any and all of the elements of the “Web 2.0 Look” can be successfully integrated and used in a design if you have a reason for doing so.

Form follows function
If I am designing a website for the US army, gloss is not appropriate most of the time. I mean those guys get pretty freaking dirty. No need to create a new look for them, they have a pretty clear one already established. If I am designing a Website for an IT company splatter paint and handwritten fonts are most likely not going to clearly communicate what the company is trying to say.

Grungy and Glossy are textures not looks
The web involves interaction design. Texture can help define the visual hierarchy of information and guide a user through the site. It also helps to create dimension transforming the screen into layers of interaction. Using texture is good, just some types are more commonly used than others.

Who’s Guilty of Using the “Look”
I am. I bet you might be. A lot of designers are. I have said before and I will say it again, if you see my use of diagonal lines as a background its because I really am spent for ideas and something is keeping me from developing a strong concept. Sometimes that may be a client, other times it may be a deadline. But the reality is at the end of the day, I gots to get paid. In a perfect world clients will come to designers for their expertise and trust their decisions, but it just doesn’t always happen. Designing something that is aesthetically pleasing versus conceptually appropriate is still a win in the war on ugly. Ya gotta pick and choose your battles.

Creativity is Part of the Job Description
There are lots of designers out there just recycling other people’s ideas. Shopping around from site to site picking and choosing what they like and putting it all back together for their client. This is not a designer this is a Digital Collage artist. Your duty as a designer is to present the creative concept. I understand that the client may shoot it down or some jackass managerial type person may not feel ya… but part of being a designer is seeing how the website fits into the big picture in a smart way. If you find yourself recycling too much, maybe you need to sit down with a notebook and do some drawing… away from the internet. It will help.

Stop worrying about trends & think about making good design
In conclusion there is a lot of shit being overused on the web, and there is definitely an overarching lack of originality and concept. As Dan said “Good design can exist irrespective of trends”. What is “good design”? It is when the designer has a clear, researched, creative, and appropriate answer for the “why” about every part of the web-site. Those diagonal lines may not be “just a default” if there is a thought-out reason for using them. If that reason supports a kick-ass concept, then that is “awesome design”.

You can still press return to size up the situation , but dying of cholera is much less likely. One of your players may stay behind in Vegas with a cocktail waitress named Starla but no one is going to come down with a case of the measles. Covered wagon? Try a hybrid sedan with a Thule luggage rack. Want to hunt for a bear? Ford the river or take a ferry? No way… how about you enter a snowboarding competition outside of Boulder Colorado.

The Oregon Trail is now the Thule Trail, an online computer game designed by Periscopic to support TDA’s Thule Road Trip advertising campaign. If you are not familiar with Thule they make car racks for anything from kayaks to snowboards. So the challenge here is… make someone want to take a road trip and do outdoorsy stuff… while they are sitting at home hovering over their computer.

The Oregon Trail was popular computer game in the mid to late 80s and rereleased in the early 90s. Asking around almost everyone in my age range (20s) has nearly shrieked with jubilation over the near mention of the game. This demographic would also be those who play extreme sports and have the cash to add a new bicycle rack on top of their SUV. Sprinkle in some post-college humor and relatable road trip scenarios and you have kick-ass rainy Sunday morning entertainment.

From Periscopic’s website:

Developed entirely in Flash, the game makes use of a set of sophisticated XML files to dynamically create a gaming experience that is new each time. Filled with numerous smaller games within the game, players travel over 2000 miles across the USA in search of wacky people, sketchy food and unexpected adventure.

Think you and four friends could spend seven days in a car together? You might want to give this a try first.

I love the idea. A strong concept and humor really carries this design.

I have played the game now 4 times, and damnit… I can’t make it past Vegas. I will probably play it another 3 or 4 times. I am now blogging about it, I will probably e-mail about 5 friends with it.. oh and hell… I will add it to my delicious. BUT where will I compare scores with other competitors… where will I talk back? Wouldn’t it be cool if you could contribute your own personal random scenarios to the game?

This is where some would go on a “web 2.0 is a conversation” rant and ponder the sustainability of this 1.0 interactive marketing tactic on the social web. But I am not. Not because I don’t think it is relevant… its just that my time is better spent right now trying to figure out how to keep Keri from “sticking a small fruit candy up her nostril” around Des Moines and Jim from “rolling around wild flowers and wierding everyone out”. Excuse me I need to make it to the freaking Music Festival on the Thule Trail with a hybrid car-load of modern day slackers.

Want to share Scores? Funny random events from your trip? Feel free to take a screenshot and discuss this game here in the comments. I would love to get this going.

http://www.thuleroadtrip.com/thule_trail/thuleTrail.html

Thanks to Eric for passing this along.

Martin Ringlein of n’clud recently wrote a post called
“Should Web Designers Know How to Code?”:

All designers must know the medium and canvas in which they design for. How can a sculptor sculpt without knowing the difference in stones? How can a painter paint without knowing the difference in brushes, paint or canvas? How can a print designer create without knowing about the printing process, types of paper stock or difference between CMYK and RGB? And how can a web designer design without knowing how to code, or at least how the code works? The important aspect to mention is that a web designer must know how to code, but doesn’t need to or have to actually code.

I started to write a comment and realized I really had a blog post…

I find myself smack in the middle of this debate all too often and I can’t agree with Martin more. I especially disagree with the argument “that designers who code will let that knowledge limit their design “. Thats a load of crap and a poor excuse. Since I have learned CSS and HTML it has allowed me to see the big picture, understanding the limitations puts me in the position to think of new ways to push the boundaries. Some important advantages of knowing HTMLand CSS as a designer (in addition to the ones that Martin has listed) are:

Being able to estimate budgets and timelines more effectively. A designer who understands how much work it will take a developer to execute their design can more effectively design within budget constraints.

Cutting corners on load time. The first time I shaved several seconds off of a site for replacing image based navigation with one that utilized system fonts felt great. The satisfaction of knowing the user was not going to have to wait a few seconds longer was a release on that anal retentive print mentality that it had to be that very specific font.

Appreciation for Bad Asses. Its one thing to be a killer designer but its another to be a bad ass. My biggest “AHA! moment” came when I experienced the site of a developer who was just as innovative in his use of javascript as he was in his use of beautiful swiss typography. There is a creativity in development that you can not understand until you learn it and it will change the way you look at the web. Don’t miss out.

Remember designers; a Photoshop document is not your canvas. A PSD file will do nothing on the internet but take a really long time to download.

Disagree? I would love to hear opposing opinions… I know they are out there.