Speaking for myself, I find an explanation of theoretical principles reinforced with examples is the best way to grasp such concepts.

I really enjoyed Nate Steiner’s “Soup to Nuts” (DIF Jan 05) where he explains how he builds his sites from the ground up. I would like to see something like that from a designer’s perspective, where each step in the evolution of the design is explained with reference to the design principles that drove the changes. Yum.

Looking forward to what you come up with, Mark. I can hardly wait until April.

I’d be well up for including it in the April issue, thanks! I’ll get together a more detailed overview for you over the next week and email you direct. Cheers!

Mark, your article idea sounds wonderful. We can consider it penciled in for the April issue, if you’re willing (Mar 1 deadline). If you need any help fleshing it out, feel free to contact me.

I’ve been giving this some more thought and I currently underway with an article which hopefully DIF will publish, if they don’t it will be here anyway.

The articles will be in 2 parts – 1. Grids, Form and Balance and 2. Typography, Heirachy and Access structure. They will both address using and construction of these elements from a traditional ‘craft’ point of view. They will include historical and modern day examples as well as tutorials to work through. Hopefully i’ll combine the articles with a tutorial or two online here for people who want to delve a little deeper.

Any thoughts you may have on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

I’ve not been classically trained as a designer, so I’d welcome some of those theoretical articles, and perhaps slightly fewer op-ed pieces from ‘the designer’s perspective’ – but then I guess the readership may have a different view! I’ve also felt a little bit as though the web standards side is perhaps a bit elementary, but again, the readership may just be dipping its toes in the water of XHTML/CSS.

To help balance the theoretical articles, how about some articles or how-tos in Illustrator/Photoshop, some more about project management and client handling, and some more in the vein of Jason Santa Maria’s great article on creativity?

Thanks for the comment Andy. I was actually about to rephrase it slightly as I thought it might seem a little harsh in addressing a potential gap in the content.

I was thinking about this a little more this afternoon and have come up with some ideas for some articles. I’ll be getting some rough drafts together in the next week or two.

I guess the danger with design theory and practice pieces is they generally aren’t very inclusive. They also have a habit of being a bit dull. I try and address this!

Hmmmm… This is definitely got me thinking.

Thanks for the comments and constructive criticism on DIF. I’m glad that you’ve enjoyed it for the most part.

That said, I would welcome any and all articles that you might come up with. Feel free to writeon theory and design practices—they are what is missing!

Best,

Andy Arikawa

Editor, Design In-Flight