
Jessica Hische - Why you should not hire me for web design - twampss
http://jessicahische.com/spendstoomuchtimeinternetting/
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petercooper
Answer: Because her text is so small (10px Georgia!) and low contrast at the
standard size that it's painful to read. Probably looks lovely in print (like
most of her portfolio) but no decent Web designer would ever set type like
that online.

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rauljara
To be fair, the whole post is about how she is not a web designer. She
implicitly acknowledges her shortcomings in that regard.

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petercooper
Except she seems to argue that's because she's not good at the Web specific
technicalities. She also says she could respond positively to "I just need you
to do the .psd file designs" requests, but believes the whole process should
be handled by one person/team.

A good print designer should realize that tiny gray serif text on white
wouldn't be particularly reader friendly, as much as a Web-only designer
should know that Comic Sans will suck just as much on a billboard.

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samdk
That's actually exactly the kind of thing that prints _beautifully_ though.
That would be much easier to read if printed than it is on a computer screen.

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jack7890
She seems to have a better understanding of web design-related issues than
most "web designers". Now I want to hire her.

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jister
She knows her craft well that's for sure! And I'm glad that she knows when to
say NO.

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translati0n
why?

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gridspy
Until you say no, you are a slave to every request that comes your way. Much
better to be selective and stick to your strengths - excelling at everything
you do.

PS: Why is always a valid question.

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dylanz
Her typography is absolutely beautiful, that's for sure.

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fnid2
Yeah, I thought it was appropriate for a print specialist. It's a blog and
it's her personal space, she can use whatever font she wants and it's totally
fine. I did of course get so shocked by it i had to inspect elements and
thought, "She's going crazy with her fonts here."

If you aren't a professional, stick to arial and verdana and the web will
thank you.

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Sukotto
I like her quote on this page:
[http://jessicahische.com/spendstoomuchtimeinternetting/?p=15...](http://jessicahische.com/spendstoomuchtimeinternetting/?p=156)

    
    
      The work you do while you procrastinate is probably
      the work you should be doing for the rest of your life
    

The fact that she uses unreadable urls and text-images argues strongly that
she's right about NOT hiring her to design web pages.

She writes well though and, once you print her work, it's beautifully
readable.

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baddox
I don't know if I agree that web design is more complex than print design.
It's just completely different.

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InclinedPlane
Web design is definitely very much less straightforward than print design.
Having an understanding of typography, graphic design, layout, etc. is
sufficient to get by in print design (more or less). In web design there are
so many bizarre quirks of the trade that those fundamentals just aren't
enough. The depth of knowledge required just to make a simple bordered box
with rounded edges on the web is insane to the point of being kafkaesque,
especially if you have to make it look pixel perfect in every single popular
browser (including IE6).

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callmeed
I've been a fan of Jessica's work for a while.

This article is great and wish more people would read this–especially ones who
think graphic designer == web designer.

Of course, Jessica is great at what she does (possibly the best). She doesn't
need other work. Those who are mediocre at one at it have to take on other
jobs (and are usually mediocre at that too).

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alayne
We looked at some of Jessica Hische's lettering work in a typography class I
took at a local art college. I believe it was some Tiffany & Co displays she
did. Her designs are obviously of unusually high quality and beauty.

That type of work really is much different than web design. It's more like
illustration. Her own personal style shows through most pieces. It must take a
huge amount of time to produce one of these.

It would really be a waste of her artistic ability to do traditional online
work, though I can see it for particular branding and logo design
applications. You can see Tiffany did exactly that on pieces 8-10 which are
web samples.

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njrc
I understand her point. However, if I am offering one thing but people keep
repeatedly asking for another thing, then maybe that other thing is what I
should (also) be offering. Seems like pretty good feedback from the market.

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patio11
People often repeatedly ask you for things which are bad ideas for you to
offer, though. Web design is, ahem, being quickly commoditized at all but the
highest levels. If you command a good wage as a print designer, and fill as
many hours as you care to sell, why would you start at the ground floor in
something you're not good at competing with more skilled, more experienced,
more technical folks willing to work for $15 an hour?

Similarly, I will probably never implement my #1 feature request ("How can I
make cards with pictures?") If anyone here thinks they can bang that out in
the proverbial weekend a) if you do I will send you customers and b please
tell me if the support burden ends up being as hellacious as I expect it will
be.

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orborde
Why do you think it's so difficult?

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JangoSteve
If it were me, I'd take advantage of the potential customers and the SEO that
seems to be making her a popular destination for a related field.

1) Hire a good web designer. 2) ... 3) Profit.

This would be a prime example of being flexible and observing the market. Of
course, to her credit, she seems to have no desire in growing a business, and
just wants to do her thing. I can respect that.

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translati0n
just another smug navel-gazing twenty-something who is engaging the age-old
conceit of false humility

since she's already got a full schedule of clients, she's decided to offer up
this pithy little bon mot of narcissism veiled as honest advice

let me summarize the next ten thousand blog posts that will emerge from the
tumblrverse and their brethren:

"pffffft" (make eye rolling gesture)

