Manifesto - Design for Web
My history as a web designer begins with the first incarnation of my own personal website during my multimedia certficate, before duties as an IT project assistant at Nunga IT between 2001 and 2002. A computing suite for local young people allied with the Aboriginal Health Team at the Parks Community Centre, I acted as the webmaster for the programme's website, while writing a syllabus for teaching aboriginal students in Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash. I also supervised the suite outside of school-hours as a drop-in centre for games and the internet.
In 2003 I accepted a postion as a web designer at Optcom, an IT solutions studio in Adelaide. My role was to design and build pageshells for programmers to template from for online applications in PHP. I began creating graphics and images for the web using Photoshop and Fireworks, as well as constructing webpages with Fireworks and Dreamweaver. Along with round-trip editing in the Studio MX suite, I often hand-coded to trim fat code, and used CSS to impose my design schemas.
While cranking out cheap and simple five-page pre-templated static websites as a staple, for its major custom Optcom concentrated on dynamic and hybrid sites, ranging from content management systems custom-built with open source PHP, through PHP packages such as Typo 3, to custom 'hybrid' sites - static sites extended with forums and advertising banners.
The functionalities of these projects ranged from high-end PDF libraries, through shopping carts, to javascript-powered pop-up galleries. We also built a number of online documents for the government, disability organisations and education, which required stringent W3C and accessibility compliance, as well as printer-friendliness.
Optcom was actually the shopfront of a disability business service, and I was also appointed as a production supervisor, managing a team of supported employees in website production, Microsoft Office products, and database entry.
In 2005, Optcom merged with sister company Inprint Design, and I was reassigned to a design studio and print brokerage situated at Flinders University south of Adelaide, again managing and teaching people with disabilities this time also in print production. My role broadened, going back into print work and training with the Adobe Creative suite, as well as being entrusted with bringing over the web clients of the former Optcom to Inprint, and finding a few more since.
Throughout the journey I have learned how designing webpages is very different to laying out a design for paper. Especially with pure html, that a design must conform to an inherent grid underneath. Arguably, web developing has been wrestled back by the programmer from the graphic designer - even armed with Dreamweaver, because of this. The nuances of spacing and composition taken for granted with a printed page are not so easy to achieve efficiently with a webpage that stretches and wraps. While Flash does alleviate some of this restriction, ultimately it still has to sit within that invisible box.
Generating images and building webpage shells for fussy PHP developers over the last few years has taught me some tough but valuable lessons about web design. I look forward to the journey continuing...