Comments on: Tutorials Gone Wild…

By: Error601

Error601 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:46:06 +0000

I just wish knuckle-headed (old-school) designers would stop using Illustrator for multi-page documents. That's what InDesign is for! Oh right, InDesign wasn't around on the "dark ages" and Quark sucked then and still sucks…

By: Ben Young

Ben Young — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:32:00 +0000

I agree with most of the points you make here, all except the last one, which, by the way, feels a bit 'tacked on' (rants gone wild?). Why should it matter what tools a designer uses? There is no "correct" app. That sort of opinion stifles innovation. Some of the world's most amazing creations come from people who decided that rules like that don't apply to them.

Also, if I'm not a professional illustrator but I design the odd logo for the web, do I really need to buy Illustrator? No, I can use Photoshop, or any other software package I choose, provided I get the result I want. The process of how I get there is up to me.

Bottom line is, i I want to paint a picture with my feet, I'll damned well do so.

Other than that, good points.

By: Alma

Alma — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:48:53 +0000

To me your statement "Design without meaning or concept is merely decoration." says it all! As an instructor, I often battle with the students because they think that skill over concept will make them more successful. And unfortunately it often seems that way. However, critical thinking, problem solving, and being able to conceptualize an idea from beginning to outcome requires iterations after iterations, after iterations, and did I say iterations? That requires discipline, commitment, and respect for the profession. Sometimes design shops hire the very skilled designers in software because there will always be the need to fill that gap in this rapidly evolving technology. But those who are the design thinkers are the ones doing the hiring not the ones being hired. And that is a very important distinction. Design is a process that maintains a love and hate relationship with technology, but at the core it is about how to problem solve and how to communicate visually and effectively with the audience. That implies learning, reading, understanding visual theory and rhetoric, being able to articulate thoughts, and others. Great post Niki!

By: Matt Haltom

Matt Haltom — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:51:12 +0000

I'm not sure I agree with the whole "teaching creativity" thing… I mean common, has anyone heard of Job Security?! JK!!! I totally agree that teaching creative thinking with technology techniques it critical to the development of any professional creative.

By: Sneh Roy

Sneh Roy — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:58:13 +0000

Agree on the Photoshop thing .. not for logos [I have done several posts on that myself]. I kind of disagree on Tutorials not being about a cool end product. A tutorial with a Cool Finished Effect is what grabs my attention in the first place and my mind starts thinking about what techniques might have been used in it. As designers, we all follow structure, wireframes, sketches, conceptualizing .. a tutorial that shows you how to do all of those things is not really a tutorial in my opinion, it is just a process or method of the person writing it and it will most definitely not be my process, because I might do things differently. But tutorials that show cool effects, fantastic end results show the use of tools and techniques most importantly and that is what I am after, not necessarily to produce the exact result but to stow that information away to create and imagine results of my own.

By: Don @creativelydone

Don @creativelydone — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:40:01 +0000

I agree about the over use of Photoshop for designing almost everything. I am currently working on my site for design conversation, inspiration and tutorials. I think tutorials that teach how to apply the knowledge in design and why you would want to use certain techniques are my goal. I like reading, checking out ideas, and doing some tutorials I come across. Mostly I point them out to others (tweet), save them in a file for later and/or pass them on to students for the 2 design programs that I am on the advisory boards for.

By: Rob Bowen

Rob Bowen — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:19:32 +0000

I agree, Nicki, not just with you, but with many of the other comments. I think that many inexperienced designers walk away from a tutorial with a single way to accomplish a task, and the subtleties that built up all through that process, the finer points they should have been focusing on, get overlooked.

I think Brad C. said it wonderfully with this statement 'It takes so much longer to learn the "why" of design than it does to learn the "how". It's a shame there aren't more resources like that around.' Great discussion!

By: Soh Tanaka

Soh Tanaka — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:39:09 +0000

I think if the design tutorial is doing a good job teaching the concept or technique, its on the right track.

Most likely we won’t be duplicating the end result to a T, and will be using the tutorial and applying it to our daily tasks and projects. So the fancy end result is not as important as the process like you mentioned~

Great insight

By: rory

rory — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:25:42 +0000

I do find tuts very helpful, I’m a very busy web designer and although can design well I don’t always have the time to sit for hours working out how to do things, shame cos I’d love too but I gotta pay the bills keep those tuts coming I say…

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