Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

In all honesty, I can’t recall how it all started with web development; I vaguely recall using Wordpad on Windows 3.11

Maybe because I’m about to push mid-4o’s or perhaps because it doesn’t really matter. There are things that one fails to register, for good.

At some point, however, I started using Arachnophilia, a brilliant HTML editor by programmer and world traveler, Paul Lutus. That was around 1996 but the editor is still being supported. Check the guy’s web site out, you will gain a lot from his philosophy in life.

During the same time, I used Paint Shop Pro at an era that Photoshop did not support layers. Adobe invested more in development and version 3.x introduced layers, something that took Photoshop a giant leap away from the competing software of its time.

Design skills are acquired by observing the trends around you and by using the tools at your disposal to emulate these trends. In other words, as a designer you don’t always try to be unique in your creativity. You are also bound to emulate, to reverse-engineer, to improvise on territory already explored.

A few days ago, the owner of the DNXpert blog talked down on tools used in the web development industry, specifically Dreamweaver, as opposed to ‘hand typing your code‘.

I laughed at this comment, only because I too had the same approach 15 years ago - when I used non-WYSIWYG editors. But I soon realized what a fool and a tool I had been; these tools saved me time and effort for a simple reason: I had full knowledge of the theory behind it all, using the right tool was simply an extension of my mind, my imagination, my vision.

Let me explain.

To this day, very few monkeys use tools: rocks to break nuts and sea-shells and sticks to poke bugs and bees out of their nests. These tools are essentially extensions of their own hands, arms, of their brain and intelligence. The ones that don’t use tools often depend on these tool-yielding monkeys for food.

If I were using Wordpad to type HTML and XML code today, I’d be a starving monkey.

Adobe is about to unleash the beast that is called CS5. In just four days from now, on April 12, the biggest bitchfest of tools dedicated to the serious web developer is about to be officially presented to the general public.

My goal in my professional life as a web developer is to always become better, to improve my skills and my capabilities, to serve my clients and myself better. My software upgrade will be monumental, as I am using CS2 – a tool that in my monkey paradigm would have been a 2-inch stick.

I want to own the foot-long bamboo to reach that pot of honey, and I’m going to get it. Because in web development, you’re only as good as the tools you use.

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I’m often amazed at the type of content slated as “development” with the usual tags of “minisite”, “stores” and “portals”. Often a euphemism for graphic headers slapped on an interface that lacks intuition, those design atrocities are presented to domainers as money-makers that would beat parking and PPC revenue.

Stop for a second and think – why would any visitor click on the AdSense content you flaunt in those “minisites” when the rest of the content is so poorly and distastefully done?

Are domainers truly on a shoestring budget, or is it because nobody has taught them better?

The subject of taste in everything is related to one’s background, education and exposure to alternatives. When you’re shown a bunch of poorly done skeleton sites as the cheap, better alternative then you’re getting what you’re paying for.

Having been a web and graphics developer for the past 15 years, I simply shake my head at the acceptance of poor quality as a quick, economic solution to domainer needs. Quite often, domainers fall flat into the pitching trap of fly-by-night individuals with no design credentials, no portfolio and no ethos; because whoever tells you that money will be flooding your pockets when you slap that “minisite” onto your long-tail domain, is lying through their teeth.

What is the solution to this disease permeating through the domainer halls?

Simple: choose the top 5 domains from your portfolio and hire a professional for the job. Invest in a true design that delivers not just the eye-candy but also incorporates an intuitive user interface, effective call to action images and custom-written copy that wasn’t ripped off Wikipedia.

Lose the bad taste, gain from the experience of true developers that live and breathe what they do.

Follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/acroplex

It’s really a shame seeing AEIOU.com pull out of the minisite business, simply because it appeared that the company – led by Rick Latona – had a streamlined process in place and many satisfied customers.

The truth is, Rick’s statement that “there is no money in web design” is incorrect. The domaining market with its small returns for PPC and non-development is not ripe yet to follow closely the high standards and expectations of web development for general, non-domainer clients; and that’s where the money really is.

Therefore, there is no money in web design for domainers that aren’t willing to understand a few basic principles:

1. You get what you pay for
2. Design requires time
3. Monetization is an extra step to tackle

In other words, anyone offering any type of serious “minisite” or full-fledged web design is doing so on the basis that the clients are willing to be aware of these steps and that are willing to invest time and money into development.

Anyone who promises “push button” web development with instant results and revenue is simply after your money. So use professional services, instead of someone that has no qualifications, no portfolio and no willingness to work using proper methods and standards in web design.

Tia Wood already has a development system in place, catering to domainers who are eager to develop their web sites with dynamic content – for more info visit her web site – a great sample of the system is at Candy.ca

Personally, at Acroplex LLC I offer full-fledged web & graphics development, logo & identity design, print design and consultation on how to best proceed with your existing or future projects.

On Election Day, I commented about how the aesthetics of politics assisted to the outcome of the elections. It was evident that the Obama campaign listened to the hopes and aspirations of the American people, offering visuals that support such a choice – a genius approach, given that millions of new and younger voters are more Internet-savvy and better educated than the generation that produced eight years of “doom and gloom” under former president G.W.Bush.

A new administration is in place, bringing political, financial and social hope and aspiration to the American people. By employing the smartest people for each job, the Obama administration faces a long but successful road ahead, if it continues to listen to the heartbeat of the American people.

As of today, change has come to the official White House web site, at WhiteHouse.gov featuring similarly strong yet elegant hues, colors and a spacious layout as the BarackObama.com web site did during the presidential campaign. Offering a clear, attractive and intuitive navigation, the new presidential web site looks better than ever, displaying options and menus that present information for a multitude of resources. It’s an expertly designed web site that combines elegance and well-defined content.

Hopefully the owners of WhiteHouse.com will now spend some cash to redo their crappy web site as well – it’s still stuck in the Bush era.