Beyond The Print Legacy

Posted by Bree on Feb 13, 2009 in You | 0 comments

What do we do when the established rules begin to chafe? When the rules that form our foundation begin to stifle growth, how do we break free? When the leash no longer guides, but limits, what then? The answer should come easy to anyone familiar with the ever-mutating realms of technology, design and pop culture: You change the rules.

From whence we came …

We are proud of our print-media heritage, and thankful for the structure it provided our young profession in the late 90’s. Established design theory provided a starting point from which this new medium could grow. Lacking in a formal set of standards, we borrowed heavily from the graphic design and typographic rule books. Cozy and familiar, print-based design skills were a natural friend in this time of discovery. Websites posed few challenges that the designer had not tackled before. They were still just as flat and unresponsive as a flat sheet of paper.

This ain’t your pappy’s net anymore

Years after its creation, the web is fundamentally different than its 1.0 progenitor. It provides more than the simple static information we were once content with. As people ask web to do more, they desire to interact with online systems in new ways, each more complex than the last. Designers and developers are being asked to solve questions which are only partially formed, and less than fully understood. Is this the right way to move a person through process X? Does a person want this service flavored this way or that? How will a customer want to go about doing something?

Even the general public, consumers of web content who have little professional interest, have grasped the driving idea behind “Web 2.0.″ The notion being that we have reached a new era of what the web is and does. We’ve made a quantum leap forward to something that is different and, hopefully, better for everyone. We have explored a few dead ends along the way, but overall things are greatly improved. Unfortunately we are still heavily couched upon the 1.0 foundations in a few key areas.

Necessity is the mother of invention
-Plato

With all this new interactivity, we must leave behind the notion that web content resembles a sheet of paper in any way that really matters. To truly make a substantial move forward, we need to re-frame our mind’s eye, so that it does not gaze upon a two dimensional object whose content is merely absorbed. Instead we will envision a morphic, four dimensional object that does something that someone needs.

It’s not a sheet of paper.

Being a visual person, I enjoy picturing a website as something other than what they are, an object that implies the shape or structure within. Perhaps it’s an iceberg or a submarine, use any visual metaphor you like. The crux of the matter is that what lies beneath the UI of any web system is complex, malleable and purposeful. To open your mind to truly new and creative solutions, you need to shed every ounce of two-dimensional convention.

• Remember that people don’t view your website, they interact with it.
• Traditional media may be encountered randomly, web content is often asked for.
• Printed media can inform, engage and entertain. Websites do this while performing a task.
• Please, please (please) stop using “the fold” to refer to the bottom of the viewable content.

Remember, spray the fire extinguisher at the base of the fire. By changing your entire frame of mind about what a website is and can be, you open yourself up to elegant and creative ways to fix problems that might not even have a traditional solution. The way you get to be a Google or Flickr or Youtube is by offering something truly new. Re-framing your mind’s concept of the web can be tough, but the rewards are great. Doing so will provide you, as a designer or developer, a much larger sandbox to play in.