There is a perception of the Website Designer busily working away, headphones on, brief in lap, mouse at hand, pushing pixels while striking a balance between their own artistic license and the client’s demands. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Great websites are not created on a computer, and they’re certainly not designed by [...]

The 15th Annual Webby Awards winners were announced today. Now, I’m not one to be cynical (and I’ve pledged to avoid negativity) but I’m completely perplexed at some of the design related choices. Many of the awards are purely content based which I’m not interested in, but this won Best Navigation/Structure: The Webby Awards winner [...]

I design websites all day which means I’m one click away from the design community. Participation is rewarding but exposure can be difficult to control. On a good day it leads to inspiration that keeps me up at night in awe. Other times I’m left feeling like a mighty small fish. At worst I develop [...]

I’ve mentioned simplicity a few times before but I thought I’d expand on this concept within web design as it’s such a fundamental part of my process. Simplicity in Aesthetics Although aesthetics are perhaps the least important aspect of website design they are initially the most noticeable, at least for demonstration purposes. Let’s consider four submit [...]

Misguided “Search Engine Optimisation” is the harbinger of a website disaster, and after the ‘sensationalist’ headline above, I’ll do my best to explain why. The Logic of a Good Search Result Websites should be optimised for search engines but you have to remember one important fact. Search engines care about delivering good results to their users. Users can [...]

As most people know I don’t ‘do things by half’ and taking on ambitious projects is generally how I role these days. (Not Sunday though, I refused to take things serious on Sunday.) Last week I launched xheight.co.uk as a blog for many more designers than just myself to discuss the theory of design from [...]

I find it hard to believe we’re already (ok, almost) in April. 2011 in web design for me has kicked off with a BOOM! If I do say so myself. I’m no longer interested in just designing websites for clients and clients’ clients. I’m doing all that, and I’m pushing it further; looking for opportunities to [...]