A new year and inevitably, a new design. I had a look at the posts written in the last six months and noticed that many of them were code demos. In light of this, I have decided to try (for 2011 at least) to pull these posts out and give them a designated page on the site, named Lab. The slight change in IA should aid users who are only interested in browsing these experiments as they can now be found in one place. At the same time, users who wish to read the regular articles can continue to do so in a traditional list.
As well as introduce the new theme, I’d like to share a bit of my experience with the design preview site, dribbble. I have to admit I didn’t understand the true value of dribbble until I started uploading some of the redesign on twitter (with photos taken on my phone). What I got in return was a lot of unexpected, but very useful feedback from followers. So after experiencing this, I decided to give dribbble a go and thankfully Mr David DeSandro responded to a request I threw out for an invite.
The experience I got from uploading my first shots has changed my perception of how an open design process can work. Specifically in the case of redesigning the Monocubed logo I was able to get it checked against other similar logos from designers who spend much of their time working in just this area alone. After a few revisions, I finally got there. [12.01.11 update: it's actually still ongoing!]
On top of that, dribbble is of course a great place for inspiration too. The 400x300px preview window may seem to be a limitation at first, but it’s great for focusing on the details – these are as Charles Eames puts it, what actually “makes the design”.
