I strongly agree with the emphasis of web page/site design shifting to the large web-based suppliers. Their factory template based design offers the small business owner a static web presence for a very low fee. As a small boutique design/photo agency we are seeing much more interest in our capabilities of supplying strategic rich media such as streaming video and Flash inserts with custom imaging work, something the mass web based shops can't supply effectively.
Very interesting, and definitely something that needs to be discussed.
I completely agree with the survey quoted in the article, however I also believe this is a short term trend. Just as designers tamed HTML and made web pages more and more visually interesting in the '90s, the same will happen to database driven sites. Once again, "cosmetics" will become important and it won't be enough just to have your data on the page if you know that it can look professional too.
Personally I think it's going to be applications like Flash that win out over HTML and CSS. Flash, or another application that combines design and database connectivity will eventually represent the new requirement for design literacy.
This piece is right on. I loved the web from the very start (before that we were transfering files on a 'bulletin board' at 300 baud). But as the 90's waned, I felt that as pure designers we were losing our edge. So, I took up the granddaddy of all web programming languages, Perl (Amazon, Yahoo...to name a few), and started writing for the server-side. We now offer content managers, extranets, e-commerce, etc. Along the way we picked up Javascript, pure CSS and XHTML. We can still offer clients great design and strategy, but now we can keep it all in-house. Besides we are doing lots of programming for those designers who aren't comfortable with the geeky side.
Submitted by breadwild on Wed, 09/07/2005 - 05:48.
I agree with the intent of the article but I disagree with the idea that static web page design is in a state of passing. I believe it has already passed. You cannot get by with just a pretty interface anymore.
Submitted by jamesoblak on Wed, 09/07/2005 - 07:30.
We are a small-mid sized printer in the midwest with our own prepress and creative services. We did and still offer web design services, but by Y2K, we had found that our original web page clients wanted far more than we could provide.
Even our (then) long-time ISP business partner was stealing away clients for simple web site refreshers by offering design services with your monthly payment. For the more complicated stuff, they had plenty of 'geeks' on staff. Plus, some of our larger clients re-assigned some of their internal IT people to do website maintenance, obstensibly to cut costs.
It's been a long time since I described myself as a webmaster, since the term really no longer applied to what I did on a daily basis. We only maintain one or two websites beyond our own now.
After 9/11 took place, we concentrated on our core business of printing, creative and prepress services. I was the only person doing web work, and since my background is print production anyway, it did not break my heart to bow out of the 'nuts and bolts' of website creation.
Submitted by geozinger on Thu, 09/08/2005 - 04:51.
As a Creative Director for a small agency we are seeing clients
I strongly agree with the emphasis of web page/site design shifting to the large web-based suppliers. Their factory template based design offers the small business owner a static web presence for a very low fee. As a small boutique design/photo agency we are seeing much more interest in our capabilities of supplying strategic rich media such as streaming video and Flash inserts with custom imaging work, something the mass web based shops can't supply effectively.
Creative applications like Flash need to take the lead
Very interesting, and definitely something that needs to be discussed.
I completely agree with the survey quoted in the article, however I also believe this is a short term trend. Just as designers tamed HTML and made web pages more and more visually interesting in the '90s, the same will happen to database driven sites. Once again, "cosmetics" will become important and it won't be enough just to have your data on the page if you know that it can look professional too.
Personally I think it's going to be applications like Flash that win out over HTML and CSS. Flash, or another application that combines design and database connectivity will eventually represent the new requirement for design literacy.
We made the move, we're designer geeks
This piece is right on. I loved the web from the very start (before that we were transfering files on a 'bulletin board' at 300 baud). But as the 90's waned, I felt that as pure designers we were losing our edge. So, I took up the granddaddy of all web programming languages, Perl (Amazon, Yahoo...to name a few), and started writing for the server-side. We now offer content managers, extranets, e-commerce, etc. Along the way we picked up Javascript, pure CSS and XHTML. We can still offer clients great design and strategy, but now we can keep it all in-house. Besides we are doing lots of programming for those designers who aren't comfortable with the geeky side.
Passed, not passing
I agree with the intent of the article but I disagree with the idea that static web page design is in a state of passing. I believe it has already passed. You cannot get by with just a pretty interface anymore.
Oh yes, very much so...
We are a small-mid sized printer in the midwest with our own prepress and creative services. We did and still offer web design services, but by Y2K, we had found that our original web page clients wanted far more than we could provide.
Even our (then) long-time ISP business partner was stealing away clients for simple web site refreshers by offering design services with your monthly payment. For the more complicated stuff, they had plenty of 'geeks' on staff. Plus, some of our larger clients re-assigned some of their internal IT people to do website maintenance, obstensibly to cut costs.
It's been a long time since I described myself as a webmaster, since the term really no longer applied to what I did on a daily basis. We only maintain one or two websites beyond our own now.
After 9/11 took place, we concentrated on our core business of printing, creative and prepress services. I was the only person doing web work, and since my background is print production anyway, it did not break my heart to bow out of the 'nuts and bolts' of website creation.