It’s been about three weeks since our trip to New Orleans, and between work and play I’m finally getting around to writing about it. An Event Apart was the very first web conference I’ve ever been to, and it was definitely an eye-opening experience. After reading their blogs for years, I finally got to see my design heroes in person — Jeffrey Zeldman, Cameron Moll, and Dave Shea, just to name a few.

Outside the conference, I managed to walk around the French Quarter and eat lots of yummy food. Though a four-day trip cannot be succinctly summarized in one blog post, I’d rather not attempt a multi-post series. A list of loosely connected thoughts will do. Here are things learned, observed, reaffirmed, and realized during the trip:

Understanding web design

This was the title of the first session, in which Zeldman summarized the current state of web design. To put it simply, web design is often misunderstood and unappreciated, and its impact overlooked. It came as no surprise, since the industry’s low barrier of entry is a double-edged sword — it’s easy to start learning and designing, but that’s often taken to mean it is an easy discipline.

Who is a web designer?

This is a subject of much debate. My take is that web designers love what they do and are always learning and improving themselves. Hard work can compensate — to some extent, at least — for the lack of talent and skill, but apathy spells the demise of a designer.

Web design is more than decoration

Web design is not just dressing a site up. It is a part of it, but definitely not all there is to it. Content is, and always will be, king. You have to consider usability, accessibility, and findability. You need to understand the medium and the technology that surrounds it (IE 6, anyone?). You have to integrate all of that to deliver the content to the user while creating a welcoming experience. To top it all off, design should — according Jason Santa Maria’s presentation — tell a story. This might be easy for blogs, but the redesign of a big site like Goldstar has shown me how hard it really is.

And in terms of dressing a site up, one needs to understand the use of color, grids, and typography. The latter two are, in my opinion, the most important yet overlooked and misunderstood aspects of design these days. Learning to use Photoshop (or Illustrator, Dreamweaver, CSS or HTML) does not make one a designer, much like how learning to use Word does not make one a writer. Which brings me to the next point…

Writing skills are important

Web designers and many others in professions in the tech sector often underestimate the power of the written word. I know I did. I’m no writer, and I definitely feel I should work on that skill. Hmm…blogging more would help.

Humility is also important

The speakers were very approachable and friendly at the conference. It was easy to notice that these web superstars are virtually unknown outside the industry, much like how I have no clue who the current real estate super-agents, wedding super-planners, or engineer super-geeks are. I think it is important, in any profession, not to become self-important.

New Orleans

Both Chanlee and I have grown to like this city — one that we thought we’d never return to since our trip last summer. What attracted me to the city really wasn’t what the Big Easy is more known for — nightlife, food, and Mardi Gras (those costumes always seemed creepy to me). What fascinated me more was its unique history and culture that is evident at every corner in the French Quarter.

I suppose that’s why I have this strange fascination with Vegas as well. I don’t particularly like gambling or the nightlife, and buffets are not the reason I go. As fake or shallow the culture may be, Vegas is unique in her own right. And for good or bad, it is fully displayed in the gaudy neon signs and extravagant resort casinos. But I digress.

Here are our attempts at capturing the colorful city of New Orleans:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsutoyo/sets/72157604817428635/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cassa47/sets/72157604956332763/

Filed under: Design, Life, Work

After my little retrospective on my birthday, I felt the need to finish revamping this blog (visually, that is). So here it is, version 4. Be sure you give the browser a good hard refresh. But given the lack of activity here, I doubt it’s necessary for anyone. It’s back to the basics, and making sure I put every single HTML element in its proper place, while maintaining a decently organized stylesheet. Good practice for the upcoming Big Rewrite at work. Moreover, I’m getting better at Textpattern — an awesome CMS IMHO.

New Section

Along with the new design, I decided to add a new section to the blog, just to try to make the blog a little bit more interesting. There I will be spouting hot air about movies, TV shows, musicals, and music that I’ve either enjoyed or endured. I’ve written a few to kick it off.

So What Now?

Hopefully I’ll stick to my little list and post more. More personal projects coming down the pipeline. And of course, stay tuned for the new Goldstar.com

Filed under: Design, Site, Web

Say hello to Kauai, version 3 of my little blog. Still working out some kinks, but most of it is good to go. I’d consider this a vast improvement over the previous version, both in aesthetics and code. I took the picture in the footer at our hotel during our honeymoon (almost a year ago!). Alas, this will be as close as I’ll get to Hawaii this year.

Filed under: Design, Site, Web