The way websites are designed is changing rapidly. It’s a natural hazard for this type of work unfortunately. I thought to myself recently “I can’t keep up with all of these changes”. But really….has it ever been different? Likely not.
I’ve done webdesign since the days of the dial-up modems where even having a background color that was different from grey was considered the coolest thing. I’ve seen techniques where it was once cutting edge, became common, and then died out completely (slicing anyone?)
I’ve had to work around browsers that are constantly footracing to see who can outdo the other. I’ve seen browsers completely disappear now that I think about it. I’ve seen monitors get larger and larger demanding that we design interfaces that meet changing viewing habits. I now live in a world where my own retired father, who once used to humor his son’s excitement over a dialup connection, is now installing beta web browsers just to see what it looks like.
It’s a bit overwhelming when you look back. How did we web-designers ever get by? It would be akin to asking a print designer to print a brochure where the paper size is constantly changing materials and sizes. It would be near impossible to predict any nice design outcome. Yet somehow we do it.
Does the fact that these new retina displays shake up yet another reliable web-standard concern me a bit? Yeah it does. Anything that brings more uncertainty to an already uncertain design standard makes me jittery. But as always I have to remind myself to take it in stride. It’s what we’ve always done. (via TheNextWeb)
LoweStudio Inc was founded by me, Raphael Lowe, a Honolulu based illustrator and web designer. I presently design and manage a few dozen commercial websites, but my main focus these days is acting as the head developer for Kapiolani Community College and teaching