Being a cool kinda guy, I was sat at home last night and decided to listen back to some of the recordings from last year’s Future of Web Design conference in New York. I know you’re jealous.
Elliot Jay Stocks, a designer I respect (possibly more due to his hair than his skills…) decided to rant about web 2.0 design. How could he commit such a heinous act? Well someone has to, and it may as well come from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.
His ‘beef’ was not regarding the web 2.0 culture and technologies, but the design mindset; that accompanying this explosion of social web interaction and development is a sidelining assumption that to be ‘web 2.0′ you have to show off a glossy navigation bar, reflected logos, banners and badges, beveled edges etc. You all know what I’m talking about. And many of us are guilty - myself included.
Elliot’s point was that we should all stop being sheep, get trying new ideas, styles and approaches - push boundaries, get out of the web 2.0 mindset and keep evolving. And he’s right, hit the nail on the head.
My problem is (drumroll excuse), I’m a web 2.0 guy in a web 2.0 world! I’ve been designing for just over 2 years, I’m born into the web 2.0 explosion and have adopted a lot of my design styles from current trends. I’m not naturally a designer, I don’t have sketchbooks full of doodles and drawings and I never studied any form of natural or fine art. My experience is all purely web based.
So, just when I get to a point where I’m beginning to get comfortable with my design ability - Mr Stocks comes along and shakes it all up. And that’s exactly what I need, it’s exactly what all designers need. A slap in the face to say “Whoah, hold on matey - you ain’t there yet. Get setting trends instead of following them. What makes you so special if you’re just doing what everyone else is doing, you sheep?”
Well, all I have to say is that I’m sorry. I will double my efforts from now on and never settle for second best, I’ll even make sure to take a step back from the gloss mania every now and again. I’ll break web 2.0, you’ll see!
