Tag Archive for: Jacob Gube

Ten Infographics About Responsive Web Design

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I believe pretty much every web designer that hasn’t been living under a rock knows what responsive web design (RWD) is, but for the few that might be unaware, responsive design is a technique that allows websites to have flexible layouts that change depending on the screen size of the device accessing the site.

I’ve already discussed the pros and cons of responsive design at length, but there is much more to know about the technique than simply what it is good and bad for. There is so much to know, in fact, that it can fill ten whole infographics, like the ones compiled by Jacob Gube at Design Instruct.

Of course, there is an infographic devoted entirely to simply stating the beneficial aspects of RWD, and the obvious infographic focused on explaining exactly what responsive design is in clear visuals. But, other infographics contain basic tips for RWD I haven’t heard elsewhere, or the numbers on how many people are moving to mobile devices and how our use of the web is impacting how people interact with web pages.

Enjoy the infographic showing you what exactly responsive design is below, and you can see the rest at Design Instruct.

Responsive Web Design Infographic

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10 Infographics on Typography

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Typography is one of the most deceptively complex components of design imaginable. I mean, to the outsider, it is just arranging letters and picking fonts. The uninitiated have no idea about the complexities and the history of typography; they don’t know typography has a rule book all its own.

Now, I’ve said infographics will tell you “all you need to know” about a couple different design aspects, but the truth is, you can never learn too much about design, and just about every part of design has books upon books worth of material to learn. But, reading books about design seems kind of boring right? Everyone in the field at this point got into it because we love looking at awesome images.

Instead of reading a book about typography – which you should totally do – you can always look at infographics which will put all of that information in visually stimulating ways. Typography lovers and experts certainly love making them.

Jacob Gube collected ten different infographics from across the web on Design Instruct. I am posting one of the ten below, but you’ll have to go to their site to see the rest. The one I’m showing you is “A Brief Introduction to Typography”, which you will notice is not particularly brief. That should give you an idea just how much there is to say about the “simple science” of “arranging letters”. Click on the image to see the full size.

Brief Introduction

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Prototyping Is One Of The Most Important Steps Of Design

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Prototyping your web designs can come in many different forms, from sketches on a napkin or in a notebook, wireframes, or high-fidelity mock-ups. No matter what way your prototyping takes shape, it is critical that the prototyping process is treated as an important part of your workflow.

Wireframe

Source: Flickr

There are quite a few reasons prototyping is integral to the web design process, but the main point is that they can save you extra effort you might otherwise use on creating a design that may not work. This is because prototypes take relatively little time to create, and they can help you identify issues in your design early on. Instead of spending hours laying out a page and tweaking it to find what works best, you can start crafting your design with a solid idea what you want, if you’ve spent the time beforehand to plan it out.

Prototypes also allow you to create variations on designs and compare them much more easily. Instead of coding different designs and layouts to compare. Using sketches or high-fidelity mock-ups, you can easily put the different iterations side-by-side. This means no switching between tabs and saved layouts and designs.

Jacob Gube points out more reasons prototyping is a must for any designer’s work process. Most importantly, putting your ideas on paper before investing time and energy allows you to cut any bad ideas at the beginning of the process. It also makes it easier to communicate your ideas to clients or employers who may need to approve a design.

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