Maturity and the Weight of Learning
As the web matures, great designers are distinguished not by conviction but by the ability to look beyond the tools at hand, to inquire deeply, and to define a lexicon for the field.
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Simon Collison
Lesson
Marked by intense focus and mutual understanding, a conversation with artist Ian Breakwell yields a necessary breakthrough and sets the foundation for a creative path.
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Frank Chimero
The Space Between You and Me
Contrasted with the complexity of technology, our human needs are simple. There's much left to be done to build the web in a way that eliminates the distance between us.
Lesson
In the context of a years-long conversation, a brief portfolio review with a respected teacher has a lasting effect. Just three simple words make for a gem of insight that sustains a career.
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Jon Tan
Taxidermista
Playing off our enthusiasm for the new, galleries misrepresent web design as a state, not a process. In the exhibition and archival of web design, more context is essential.
Lesson
On a beach in the Gulf of Thailand, a jarring encounter illustrates cultural difference in the extreme. Even a gesture, a smile, an interjection is dangerous when left untranslated.
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Dan Rubin
Off the Page
The concept of the page has lasting influence on our understanding of the web. An awareness of the history and meaning of the term makes room for new possibilities in the evolution of the web.
Lesson
For a youthful new member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, an honest mistake leads to a gesture of careful teaching and a lesson in kindness, discretion, and respect.
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Liz Danzico
Names and the New Public
In our new public, behavior is not an etiquette we can memorize. The web yields space for a multiplicity of identities, and a greater sensitivity to context is required.
Lesson
When everyone and everything is interesting, it's hard to say no. But it’s what you leave out, not just what you put in, that forms a story, that makes a life.
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The Standardistas
Designing the Mind
Building on the foundation of craft, individual designers and the broader industry will benefit from a three-stage process for critical thinking: input, synthesis, and output.
Lesson
Two paths cross unknowingly in a fleeting, memorable moment. Later, the discovery of the shared memory sheds new light on a shared present and future.
