- Good programming uses sensible patterns to make code maintainable and flexible. Good design does this too.
- Insanely great programming is a little insane - it breaks the rules. Insanely great design does too. But you can't shortcut to this step - you have to put in the time.
- For me, I learn the most programming by looking at what other people have written, and modifying it in some way, or applying something to a project of mine. Learning design works the exact same way.
- I would argue against learning anything like color theory, typography or information hierarchy. This is like take 5 CS 101 classes before beginning programming. You might have a better "foundation", but you will probably get burned out before you even start. That stuff can wait. And it will make a lot more sense when you have some corpus of work to set the context for what you are learning (same with programming).
- Don't worry about making anything look like "cool" websites. Honestly most trendy designs are simply terrible to use. Design should make the products more enjoyable to use and easier to use. Anything else is intellectual arrogance.
As with programming, I find doing things like katas is really useful. So grab a pen and paper and start drawing. Sketch like this - http://strongdesignstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/is..., boxes for stuff and lines for stuff. don't try to add the detail. keep things light and easy to change. use a pencil. then start sketching stuff.
- make a landing page for a construction company
- make a page to market an event
- make an app "page" to find good barbers nearby
You will naturally start asking yourself the right questions. "What information is most important?" "How should information or pages be broken up?" "Who will be looking at this page?"
if you have more questions feel free to email me jeffchuber @ theBIGsearchgiant.com
"Insanely great programming is a little insane - it breaks the rules. Insanely great design does too. But you can't shortcut to this step - you have to put in the time."
IMO, this is very important and a common pitfall for lot of hackers. Hackers get overzealous and apply their programming creativity into UI design, which confuses users. It is better to stick to common UI patterns initially (or just look at popular apps for patterns) and learn from user testing before jumping into insanely great design.
"- Don't worry about making anything look like "cool" websites. Honestly most trendy designs are simply terrible to use. Design should make the products more enjoyable to use and easier to use. Anything else is intellectual arrogance."
Largely disagree with the above statement. Consumer psychology is largely irrational, therefore frivolous attributes like the "look" and "feel" of a site that have nothing to do with functionality can influence what you perceive to be "easy to use."
A good example of this irrationality in action is how the taste of food can be influenced by how it looked visually prior to the act of tasting.
As someone in the same position as the OP, first thanks for the ideas, it is a useful post. But I am a little surprised about advising against colour theory (the only of those suggestions that I actually know anything about).
Sure no need to go into depth, but there are plenty of short easily manageable resources for getting the basics. Before I read a blog post about colour theory I had no idea the concepts even existed. Now I'll use an online tool to help me select colours that will work better together. The effort required is basically a bit of google, and less than an hours reading.
I don't think he meant "don't learn color theory". I think he meant don't wait till you know color theory to start designing. Just as you don't need to know Object Oriented theory to start banging out some code, you don't need color theory and typography to start sketching out designs. Its all important in its time, but don't jump in the deep end too soon. You risk intimidation and burn out. Pick it up as you go.
- Good programming uses sensible patterns to make code maintainable and flexible. Good design does this too.
- Insanely great programming is a little insane - it breaks the rules. Insanely great design does too. But you can't shortcut to this step - you have to put in the time.
- For me, I learn the most programming by looking at what other people have written, and modifying it in some way, or applying something to a project of mine. Learning design works the exact same way.
- I would argue against learning anything like color theory, typography or information hierarchy. This is like take 5 CS 101 classes before beginning programming. You might have a better "foundation", but you will probably get burned out before you even start. That stuff can wait. And it will make a lot more sense when you have some corpus of work to set the context for what you are learning (same with programming).
- Don't worry about making anything look like "cool" websites. Honestly most trendy designs are simply terrible to use. Design should make the products more enjoyable to use and easier to use. Anything else is intellectual arrogance.
As with programming, I find doing things like katas is really useful. So grab a pen and paper and start drawing. Sketch like this - http://strongdesignstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/is..., boxes for stuff and lines for stuff. don't try to add the detail. keep things light and easy to change. use a pencil. then start sketching stuff.
- make a landing page for a construction company
- make a page to market an event
- make an app "page" to find good barbers nearby
You will naturally start asking yourself the right questions. "What information is most important?" "How should information or pages be broken up?" "Who will be looking at this page?"
if you have more questions feel free to email me jeffchuber @ theBIGsearchgiant.com