Stop Decorating & Start Designing

Submitted by admin on Mon, 04/19/2010 - 19:23
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(notes on a session at DrupalCon 2010)

This presentation is intended to inspire! Not so much to instruct.

  • You don't have to be a designer to design.  You don't have to be limited to decorating.
  • To design is to conceive or execute a plan.  To decorate is to ornament.  Example: decorated sheet cakes vs. designed cakes.
  • Content precedes design.  Design without content is decoration.
  • Many people decorate pre-existing themes or sub-themes, resulting in a poor fit between content and presentation, and giving designers the impression that Drupal is limited.
  • There are benefits to building from an existing theme, but there are also benefits to starting from scratch:
    • flexibility of content
    • flexibility of creative concept - trying to hack an existing 3-column layout to fit a concept is like a square peg in a round hole.
  • we should care because happy designers will contribute to the community.
  • why do people start with existing themes? save time, esp. in 1-person shop
  • consider Art Direction: rather than being the person who does it all, be the one who makes it come together.  Movies and magazines use art directors.
  • work with a team!  Even if you're by yourself.  network.
  • be honest with yourself - determine your weaknesses and find people who are great at them.
  • be flexible. clients will want you to change your process; be prepared for that.
  1. brainstorm.  dribbble.com allows designers to get feedback on each other's unpublished designs
  2. ask questions, collaborate with the client. get multiple perspectives and make the whole team aware of the challenges. designing is about finding solutions, not just creating art.
  3. Make sketches! wireframe, define the style (branding restrictions, etc.)
  4. Get inspired by other sites, but don't waste time ripping off other people's ideas.
  5. interface design, usability testing, etc.
  6. pause to reflect. designer/developer relationship is key, so devise a method to make designer & developer happy.
  • developers hate getting HTML/CSS files (or PDF, etc.) from designers because it doesn't fit Drupal.  Need a common prototyping system
  • CustomPage is a Drupal module for creating "cutups" of pages and blocks within the Drupal framework.
  • Context v3: unlimited layouts and flexible block positioning