It's What I Do...: I decided I liked the latest design so I took it for myself. getting images ready, and writing the projects now. And why I build constrained sites as well.

The new site is under construction. We are having some JQuery/Css issues but they are easily ironed out.

I had a question to my blog about why I constrain the width of my websites to 960 pixels instead of letting them stretch across the screen (referred to as 'variable width').

It gave me an opportunity to discuss all that I am thinking about when designing a web site. I am not simply making something cool looking... it has to 'work' for the client. And by 'work' I mean bring in the visitors, keep them there, and generally make the site a part of his/her business instead of a pretty online brochure. That stuff ain't working any more.

Here is the answer I posted:

Hi, ____

thanks for reading.

1. variable width means I have no control over the display of my items.
2. Texts can crawl to terribly wide lengths.
3. Images that are meant to be seen next to something else can shift.
4. The spatial relationships can be altered to be incoherent
5. Designing a fixed property gives me control over the viewing of the design
6. Elements placed spatially on x-y will be relational to themselves when viewed on any screen
7. It isn't 'design' if it looks a thousand different ways.

If I was using a three column layout, and had the left column set to 30% - center to 50% and right column to 20%, can you imagine what that would look like on a cinema display? paragraphs would become single lines. Images that were meant to be wrapped with text to make them contextual would be hanging out with text that didn't relate.

Contricting design to a pixel width... and floating that design within a larger context of a background big enough to be seen on most every monitor means the client KNOWS the context of his work is seen as it is meant to be seen.

On single column it makes even less sense to design for variable. People do not read sentences that stretch beyond about 6 inches... and even then it is tough to get them to read 'graphs.' It is why newspapers are small columns... easier to read. And while I rarely use small columns for continuous text, it is a concern I have.

There has always been sort of a 'web' centric view to this variable design thing. I take a controlled content view of design. I cannot control the monitor, but I can control my content to work within it. I have always viewed it as IT design versus Design design. Not a slam, but usually when I see IT design stuff, it has variable width with no control over viewing the context, paragraphs that extend way too long to read, text that rides up against elements and more.

Functionally designed, sure. Aesthetically designed, no. Designed for client readability and usefulness, not at all.

I have similar thoughts about always opening into the same browser window instead of launching a new one. On Smashingmagazine.com they have long lists, and the idea is to go and see the work on the list. Every link opens in parent window... so going back to the smashing page is arduous if you have spent any time at the new site... and when you do, the damn thing takes forever to reload...

That isn't usability for the readership... that is conceit driven by people who seem to think that there is some sort of 'purity' to the function.

To be fair... I have designed floating columns before. In almost every case the clients have had me come back and restrict them.

I stay with 960 - and may change to 1080 only because of real estate, scrolling issues on millions of laptops and smart devices, and the reality that using up another 20% means graphics get bigger, text gets smaller (relative to the full page) and more content gets swept across the viewers eyes.

Finally... I prefer minimalistic approaches on the web. Overdesign was a staple a few years ago and now minimalism has become almost cliche... I am looking for my own voice, but staying within the parameters of design as I feel and understand it to be done.

1. provide easy access to the information
2. provide an easy way for the viewer to find the information
3. create an environment that has aesthetic appeal as well as functionality
4. make the site 'work' for the client instead of being a burden or a waste of resources and time
5. bring an understanding of color, spatial relationships. aesthetics and information design, wrapped in the totality of interactivity AND the reality of the search engine findability.

There are way too many - way too many - designers for the web who are simply 'designers' with the only emphasis on the way things look. While that is important, the way things look, and they way things are conveyed, and the ease of finding those things, and the ability for search engines to find them as well are equally important. That takes an understanding of the web... not just CSS and 'cool'.