I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Plea for Sanity

To my fellow designers,

Stop trying to be clever with your layouts. You aren't good at it. Using all the idiotic bells and whistles in programs just makes it harder for me to make you look good. It also makes it difficult for me to correct the work so the client is happy. Learn the trade craft, not the programs. The software is not the designer. Don't let it be.

Also, if you do as I ask, you'll find the productivity of your own studios will be greatly increased as you won't have to spend an hour doing what should be a five minute change. You also won't need to rely on the same designer to do all the work for the project if you make your structure transparent and easy to use thereby reducing overtime and stress. Just some food for thought.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,
Me (design professional for two decades and the guy that typically gets asked to fix your screw-ups)

PS, bleed is .125 of an inch. Not .03125, not .0625, not 1". You should have learned that in Production 101.

4 comments:

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

Thank you! I see this stuff all the time on webpages, too.

Dr. Phil

Steve Buchheit said...

Yes. As we said in the olden days, "Would you like your logo to spin or be on fire. Spinning while on fire costs more."

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

Spinning while on fire is harder to read, too.

Dr. Phil

Steve Buchheit said...

Read? I'm sorry, we can make it look COOL. I never said it would be functional from an actual informational stand point.

Or at least that was the thinking back then.