• A case against “pixel perfect” design Chuánqí Sun

    We are working against the grain of the wood

    A woodworker works along the grain of the wood to prevent splinter. A butcher slices across to the muscle fiber to improve tenderness. A sailor trims the sail to balance the lift and drag from the wind. When we respect the material, the material pays us back in convenience, safety, and efficiency.

    Good web design requires the same understanding of and respect for the materials. And that material is the browser, along with its semantic HTML, default styles, and standard behaviors. But the wide use of design software such as Figma, Sketch, and AdobeXD has trivialized the nuances of such material into “canvases” or “artboards” of pre-defined sizes. The convenient styling and manipulation of pixels and objects have disguised the hierarchy of the DOM, the constraints of the device, and the personal preferences and browser setting from real users. Dishonest tools encourage dishonest design.

    We are working against the grain of the wood.

    • What the material wants to be

      Part of how Lou Kahn made things be good was to ask the material what it wanted to do and be. He asked brick what it liked, and would get a different answer depending on the context for the building. In Dacca, the capital of Bangladesh, brick said it liked an arch. For the Korman House in Philadelphia, brick said it liked two giant fireplaces with a lintel between them for a doorway beneath and a balcony above.

    • Should designers code? Brad Frost

      Telling web designers they don't need to worry about code is like telling architects they don't need to worry about steel, wood or physics. [Twitter]

      I still believe this. Does that mean designers need to know how to implement designs in code? Do architects need to be able to lay a block foundation or hang drywall? No.

      Designers need to understand and work with the grain of the medium for which they’re designing. For the web, that means understanding important concepts related to how things play out in the browser.

      ...It’s also important to recognize that static design tools are not the browser and can’t articulate many dimensions of a user experience...The best thing any designer can do is to communicate and closely collaborate with the people who are building things in the actual medium. Designers who foster good relationships with developers will learn what they need to about code, and the final product will greatly benefit from that collaboration.