“Everything in nature is the way it is by design; evolution has no aesthetic or personal opinion. Like art, some people find bugs to be quite beautiful while others cringe at the sight of them. But like them or not, their design is the way it is because of their environment and the obstacles they face trying to survive. In other words, it doesn’t matter what you think; it has to work, or they die.”
- Eric Fisher
Here’s a link to an excellent article about design, but more specifically about user experience design. It explains the difference between art and design, sometimes not very clear since the lines are continually blurred by both artists and designers. But the central tenet behind this article suggests something that I’ve been ruminating on for quite a while. It explains that the discipline of user experience design at it’s core is objective, not subjective. So I’ll add to this idea by making some basic distinctions. Yes, graphic design must be very artful and aesthetic, and I would venture to say that it’s probably the most artistically free expression of design along with motion graphics, where the only goal is to communicate and suggest an emotional response. But once you venture into architecture, product design, industrial design, application design, and web design, the stakes get higher. The goal is no longer limited to communication, but to guiding the action of the user. User design adds an additional layer of complexity to the work of design, and of course it must have an aesthetic appeal for it to work effectively.
But getting back to the issue at hand, designing objectively is very hard if you don’t know what your aim is, who the users are, or what your context is. This is why psychology, cognition, learned experience, and environment are such important points to explore when designing for successful user experience. As explained in the article there may be different routes to going about the same task. But if you design with the simplest and most efficient goal in mind, you save the users a lot of confusion. That’s Occam’s Razor at it’s finest. And nowadays the success of a product depends on it’s ease of use, which means intuitiveness. If you placed the button right where the user would have looked for it initially you’re on the right track. In order to know this you must get in your user’s head. And getting in people’s mind is no easy task. User design utilizes relevant and logical steps to guide experience. Art and aesthetic appeal don’t have a strict need for efficiency and logic. Although user experience design and graphic design are related, their aims are different. But both must work in conjunction for an experience (be it web, software, product, environment) to be completely effective.
Blogging has come a long way since it’s humble beginnings as a personal diary of sorts. Now more than ever photographers are turning to the blogging format to display their photography online. In the same way as many businesses use blogs to periodically update their news section, photographers can use photoblogs to regularly upload new images to share with the world. This post will focus entirely on the web design aspect of a blog for photographers and offer some insights that you might find helpful.
As a web designer I can’t remember the last time I used Dreamweaver. I don’t know of any hardcore web designer who does. I have been designing and coding websites for over eight years now. In this time the web landscape has changed immensely and the tools to make websites have improved dramatically. If you’re still using Dreamweaver and ImageReady it’s time to update. I ask that you give new software a chance. Here I present a list of professional applications that I can’t work without. They’re indispensable tools of the trade that make my job a thousand times easier. My work would be slowed down or brought to a screeching halt if I used anything else. I use these programs daily because they all contribute in some form to usability, efficiency, and simplicity. They have helped me become a better web designer and I hope they help you in your workflow. 
