What It's All About

There is no question that the process of design - and this may be true with you - fascinates me more than the result of that process. I know that sounds crazy but I'm a process person. For me it's always the journey to the end and not the end in itself.

I have no education - formal or otherwise - in design of any kind, yet I have spent countless hours thinking about how things are made. Thinking about how web pages are designed and produced is with me today as it was 10 years ago when I saw my first web page (blue links, black text, gray background). I was mesmerized by the question, "How do they do that?" Finding that answer - and then teaching people how to do it - would change my life.

What I have come to understand is that design is - optimally - all about making an informed choice. Informed is the operative word here. Becoming "informed" is what I try to teach. My philosophy is, "learn the rules, use the rules, and if you have to break the rules, at least understand what you are doing and why." That's what I mean by making an informed choice.

Making an informed choice means "we're doing it this way and not that way, and here's the reason why." It means you understand the ramifications of your decisions.

An informed choice usually involves making an either/or decision. The newspaper publisher has to choose between tabloid and broad sheet formats. The painter has to choose between oil-based and latex paint. The web designer chooses between working with fixed sizes(points and pixels) and relative sizes (percentages and em units) on an electronic canvas which differs for each user. Making these choices requires knowledge of the medium and understanding the strengths and weaknesses therein.

So make a choice but know what you're doing!! That's what it's all about.