Keeping web design in context
In any kind of design or artistic process context is all important. When you start working on a web design, whether in photoshop, illustrator or dreamweaver, it is all important to bear in mind that your audience will be viewing the final result rendered as HTML in a browser.
The Danger of Page mocks.
When designing a page it is common to make page mocks, a picture of what the final site should look, usually in gif or jpeg format. The advantage is the designer is free to design without the overheads in time and effort of rendering in HTML and css. The problem is that when you actually do build it for the web, it appears different from your initial concept.
Rendering on the beach.
I remember once watching a tv show in which fashion models on a beach were being photographed, the images to be published and sold on mobile phones. In the sand on the beach they actually had a computer, and as soon as they took a photo they could see how it looked rendered on a mobile phone – keeping the image in context allowing them to make superior artistic decisions right from the start of the project.
Get to the HTML as soon as possible.
The idea is to get building the site as soon as possible. This way you can see it in a browser, its final resting place and the prototype can actually become the design. You can evaluate the feel and logic of the navigation, and work with all the freedom and constraints of the final medium – a browser on the internet.
