

I Can’t Design in the Browser (2012) - jasim
http://www.sazzy.co.uk/why-i-cant-design-in-the-browser/

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supercoder
Problem with designing in code is that it starts to influence the design too
much if there's friction in implementing a certain look.

The advantage with Photoshop is most things take a similar amount of time , so
you're not subconsciously changing the design based on what's easy / hard ,
but just what end result is best.

Ultimately if there are multiple break points then I think each should be
'designed' , not just left up to the whim of how its turns out in css.

~~~
girvo
_> Problem with designing in code is that it starts to influence the design
too much if there's friction in implementing a certain look._

Depending on the goals of the project, that isn't necessarily a problem per
se. One of the things we've been working on at my current employer is finding
that nice balance between "amazing, interesting designs" and "not impossible
to implement". What's fun is that if you get the balance right, design and
development flow into one another so perfectly. Avocode with Sketch helps a
_lot_ with that, mind you.

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Puts
I'm kind of allergic to doing things just because the sake of it, even with
design. Start with what you have, which is pure text. Then you look at the
text and you ask your self, how do I make this more readable? Design is about
function and not about looks. If you begin the design process in photoshop
your starting of in the wrong end, because then you start with looks before
function. I can however understand why people tend to do this, because it's
therapeutic and relaxing to just throw painting on a canvas, and you feel good
about it, but will it lead to good design? Most often not.

~~~
rokhayakebe
I am trying to think which companies truly won because of Design. Genuinely
curious.

~~~
lmm
Apple - they sell hardware with worse specs at higher prices than their
competitors, the design is what makes it worth it.

Skype - people talk about their video/voice support but my friends don't even
use that, just the chat UI is better. (Or was - these days Slack is displacing
it for the same reason)

Uber, if you count them as having won yet. There are plenty of competitors
with the same functionality (at least here in London), I think the incredibly
beautiful website is a big part of what's keeping them on top.

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meesterdude
The type of paintbrush you use does not need to limit the painting you can
create, but it may mean you have to approach it's usage differently.

Wireframes are good; just give me a thick marker and some pencil (or a dry
erase board) and i'm set. Sometimes you need to bring photoshop in, but rarely
for concept work, more to produce parts.

Also, where / when you stop designing is up to you. If you're not satisfied
with the way things look, how you got there is not to blame, not enough
iterations is. Start with a solid foundation and add nuances from there,
instead of trying to build a full scale house out of paper.

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mcbetz
I held up the belief that you should design right in the browser and skip the
design phase. But I came to the same conclusion as the author: thinking in
code is a completely different process than drawing things and trying out how
your site might look like. My best advice is: draw on paper first, using just
a pencil and an eraser. This forces you to focus on structure and relationship
rather than pixel-perfection. Hence, by going analog, you focus on function
rather than on design as the critics say.

What you do next is up to your preferences. I think it is worth it to
transform your sketches to wireframes. In most of my cases that was still a
more open process than fitting the sketches into CSS directly - especially if
you have designers, business people and coders involved.

One possible solution for wireframing that was already available in 2012 is
Illustrator or InDesign. Both have global colors, symbols for reusable content
and are vector-based so you can scale it for your responsive designs.

There are less good ressources on wireframing with Illustrator, but I found
these two most helpful:

\- [http://www.designsprint.net/](http://www.designsprint.net/) \-
[http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/10-tips-for-building-
wir...](http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/10-tips-for-building-wireframes-
with-illustrator--cms-19984)

~~~
SunShiranui
In my opinion pen and paper are fundamental. Not just in design, but also in
programming. There's a lot to be gained by just thinking over and sketching
ideas for something rather than just diving into action.

~~~
mcbetz
I could not agree more about the role of paper for coding. I used to jump
right into action and got lost very quickly in details and gave up soon after.
Now I try to slow myself down and do sketches about quite everything. Database
design seems to be of a special importance, as it hurts so much the find out
later that you did not think hard enough and forgot too many cases that you
need to incorporate in your database schema. Slowing down with all screens off
and mind on certainly makes a huge difference in my workflow.

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jasim
This post was written before the time of Sketch (Bohemian Coding). A few
designers I respect swear by the tool, and as a developer I'm all for it since
it respects the way web works. It is a vector-based application, and
everything you do in it can be represented in CSS (they even have a 'Copy CSS'
function), and if not, complex shapes are available as SVGs.

If you're a designer using Sketch, I would love to hear your experience with
it, and also any thoughts you have on how it has influenced your workflow.

~~~
jlmakes
Sketch is great!

I don’t use the CSS export however, and I still use Illustrator or Photoshop
for SVGs due to superior export options.

I actually learned a few tricks from my colleague who has a great Photoshop
workflow, and Photoshop really can be whipped into shape…

but Sketch is already so close to the mark straight out of the box… but
without the bloat Photoshop has acquired over the years as the industry
standard for _everything_.

Plus, it’s the simple things — the color picker, how it handles border radius,
the fact you don’t need to worry about layer management, etc.

~~~
warbastard
"I actually learned a few tricks from my colleague who has a great Photoshop
workflow, and Photoshop really can be whipped into shape…"

I'd love to hear more about this. Do you have any links describing some of the
tricks you and your colleague used to improve your Photoshop workflow?

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Blackthorn
I think this is a similar (though more annoying) issue to what we go through
in engineering at times. Before coding, my workplace likes to draft up design
documents that specify the what, the why, and (sometimes) the how of what
we're about to do before we go and do it.

In a way it's like using Photoshop in that the nuances of the language don't
really impact the plans at the time, though losing the prototyping can be
annoying. But this metaphor does break down because I think the problem she
illustrates is far worse.

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jlmakes
I understand that the typical Photoshop workflow became burdensome, but to fly
wildly off the other end of the spectrum and design directly in the browser
never made any sense to me.

A critical step in any design process is experimentation, which typically
involves bouncing between sketches, high fidelity mockups, content strategy,
structure and user flows, and evaluating technical opportunities/constraints.

That said, I think the underlying ideal is about embracing the web for the
medium that it is — and not a digital incarnation of print/graphic design.
Which is fair.

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rrrx3
This is from 2012. I'm not sure how relevant it is anymore. As tons of others
have mentioned here, tools like Sketch help to bring designs closer to
implementation. Also, "design in the browser" was never meant to mean "forgo
all other parts of the design process and just start coding." Some people
seemed to skip over that.

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bluthru
I love that we're in an era where we expect sites and interfaces to be more
than just desktop pixel grids. Designing in the browser feels like you're
actually crafting something real, the same way a carpenter is refining the
actual pieces of wood until it turns into furniture.

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userbinator
_If I don’t have my design to follow, the whole process breaks down for me.
I’ve tried, goodness knows I’ve tried, but my designs end up suffering,
looking boxy, bland and uninspiring._

I can see there being some users here (including me) who would think that's
actually a _good_ thing... unless your goal is to make an extremely artistic
site.

~~~
uptown
Even unartistic sites should aim higher than "bland and uninspiring".

~~~
krick
The point is you probably should be cautious about what designer thinks is NOT
"bland and uninspiring".

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jaequery
This is a problem for lot of artists and designers I know.

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Theodores
If you don't know code then use Photoshop, get it approved by the client and
get a project manager to get a developer to come up with whatever it is you
have designed. Easy.

~~~
iamlolz
You may have missed the point she's trying to make.

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owlee
I'm not sure she can design well at all. The tiny, light gray text on the
white background is painful to read.

