LearnGraphic Design: The Forgotten Web Standard

Treehouse
writes on May 6, 2009

As part of my talk at the ‘Future of Web Design’ conference in London last week  I played this short film. It’s basically sped up footage of me making my slides for my talk.

Why I did it

  1. I think it’s interesting to see the design process as it happens. Quite a lot of the footage shows me working on designs that never made the deck. Every time I design something I find it hard and I worry about the outcome. I think it’s cool to show people that ideas just don’t fall onto the canvas.
  2. I’ve seen this sort of thing done before and I found it inspiring. I guess I hope you find this inspiring too 🙂

The music

The music I used is a track called Með suð í eyrum by Sigur Ros from their album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. It’s an amazing record and I suggest you all go out and buy it 🙂

Buy it here: moourl.com/ydh2w
More info on Sigur Ros: sigurros.com

86 Responses to “Graphic Design: The Forgotten Web Standard”

  1. Sesli sohbet on November 18, 2016 at 11:37 am said:

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  3. American Design on June 22, 2010 at 12:11 am said:

    WOW, This was exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’ve been searching for something like this for 4 days straight and was about to give up looking. Thanks SOOOO much, this is going to help tons with getting my next project started.

  4. Sesli Sohbet Sesli Chat kamerali chat on January 15, 2010 at 6:48 am said:

    thank you I’m sorry you felt the workshop in NYC wasn’t valuable for you. Unfortunately it’s impossible for us to pitch the level exactly right for everyone at the workshop.

  5. VideoKlip Video Klip videoklip.net on January 15, 2010 at 6:45 am said:

    thought it was a nice execution and didn’t realize there should be a critique(troll) of this magnitude.

  6. VideoKlip Video Klip videoklip.net on January 15, 2010 at 6:45 am said:

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  7. Sesli Sohbet Sesli Chat WebCam on January 15, 2010 at 6:43 am said:

    thought it was a nice execution and didn’t realize there should be a critique(troll) of this magnitude.

  8. Sesli Sohbet Sesli Chat WebCam on January 15, 2010 at 6:42 am said:

    Fantastic! This really makes me want to make stuff.

    Thanks

  9. Haber on January 10, 2010 at 11:54 pm said:

    is a love of graphic design, art.

    Thanks for the article …

  10. Rafael Minero on August 25, 2009 at 9:44 pm said:

    ¡Fantastic! This really makes me want to make stuff.

    Thanks

  11. sohbet on June 10, 2009 at 9:30 am said:

    Your article is very helpful

  12. where can I buy diet pills online on May 22, 2009 at 4:38 pm said:

    audio is best to be added in web designing. the sounds, the videos and designs should match well. this can attract people.

  13. Matt on May 22, 2009 at 10:24 pm said:

    Loved that!

  14. AREA 1 on May 18, 2009 at 2:00 pm said:

    Excellent video ! Great job !

  15. alex on May 18, 2009 at 7:52 am said:

    great video love it can we see more of this kind of video?

  16. detruk on May 17, 2009 at 4:28 pm said:

    Ouch !
    I love the graphic style of the work shown in this video.
    You didn't answer when someone (don't remember the name sorry…) ask you if it was a mixed video (cut) or not ? If it isn't a mixed video it's very very impressive, you've got a great creativity ! Very talentuous. Congrats
    Sorry for my bad english language I'm french. :/

  17. mattyk on May 14, 2009 at 3:02 pm said:

    That was amazing – thanks.

  18. ecommerce solution on May 13, 2009 at 7:34 am said:

    Thanks for sharing Mike. Its very nice and inspiring video.

  19. Ana on May 13, 2009 at 1:35 am said:

    Nice take love it…I was more inspired to work on my design!

  20. Ana on May 13, 2009 at 1:35 am said:

    Nice take love it…I was more inspired to work on my design!

  21. Shawn on May 11, 2009 at 8:38 pm said:

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  22. Shawn on May 11, 2009 at 8:38 pm said:

    It's interesting to see things evilve on the Web. Dreamweaver is almost outdated, can you believe it? It jsut amazes me to no end.
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  23. jhon on May 11, 2009 at 1:50 pm said:

    Very beautiful . Thanks! …

  24. jhon on May 11, 2009 at 1:50 pm said:

    Very beautiful . Thanks! …

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    This was absolutely brilliant. Congratulations…!!!

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  30. IanVicious on May 9, 2009 at 10:03 pm said:

    I did find that inspiring.

  31. Müzik Dinle on May 9, 2009 at 10:14 am said:

    Very good news video, I love you graphic design 😉

  32. Lee Norman on May 9, 2009 at 10:13 am said:

    Hi,

    Such an awesome video…. Nice graphic work with photoshop over there…. Certainly Graphic Design is the forgotten web standard … Thanks a lot for such a brilliant video… 🙂

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  35. emo nickleri on May 9, 2009 at 7:43 am said:

    thanks for all the comments guys… Much appreciated

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  38. Nix on May 8, 2009 at 8:07 pm said:

    Mr. Carson, thanks for responding. I actually found FOWD NYC very valuable and heard some great speakers. On another note, isn't the point of Web 2.0 to let people critique and discuss, without the owner of the site interjecting in such a loud way? I understand you're defending Mike and you probably should, but to throw back "your site also sucks" is just kind of silly. I'm not going to even defend my work in this realm because I think it speaks for itself and this post is about Mike's reel.

    Have a good weekend though

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  43. siir on May 8, 2009 at 7:06 pm said:

    Wow – That was awesome! I love to see how other designer's brains work 😉

  44. köpekler on May 8, 2009 at 6:48 pm said:

    thanks

  45. duslersesli on May 8, 2009 at 6:03 pm said:

    Than you for sharing

  46. mustafa on May 8, 2009 at 6:00 pm said:

    I have to say that this talk was THE highlight of the conference for me, coming from print to web design myself I really enjoyed having someone talk from a likeminded point of view. I have found myself conforming to web developers requirements and restrictions and sacrificing good

  47. ncc on May 8, 2009 at 3:30 pm said:

    OMG – Mike's slides are ALL CENTERED? You're shitting me.

  48. james on May 8, 2009 at 2:21 pm said:

    nice one! really cool vid

  49. Nix on May 8, 2009 at 7:14 am said:

    Mike, I guess this is the 28th comment and quite possibly the first critical one of this whole post. I guess the initial critique I have is the fact that I was part of your FOWD 2008 audience in NYC where your workshop attempted to show "Professional Photoshop" techniques and was simple instructions on taking digital pictures that could be turned into textures. The technical difficulties didn't bother me at first, it was the simplicity of it as I watched several other audience members walk out of your extremely basic session….

    Then Ryan Carson introduced you to the whole crowd for the beautiful illustration you did for the footer of the FOWA site. It was nice indeed, but again, it was just a footer.

    But now, I have to stand up for the actual graphic designers out there who have been trained and are weathered typographers and layout experts when you title this post "Graphic Design: The Forgotten Web Standard." Your video clip was dramatic, but by cutting up your process and adding Sigur Ros, in my opinion, is simply not enough to prove your worth. I find it disappointing that it took 27 people to point this out and if anything, I find it proof that the skill of professional graphic design has been turned into an immediately available power that people barely educated can not only succeed at it but become an "author" on it.

    Your video quickly spells out "break conventions" but I see none of this. You use typical typefaces, the movement is cliché, the layouts are almost ALL CENTERED…

    Having seen you speak, you explain your work both live and online, I encourage you to study the grid, the history book of Meggs, the design of No Pattern, Design Republic, Clinton Clark, Electric Heat, Dreamers Ink Aesthetics, and don't just use "Carsonified" as your tag for being an author on design; I simply don't see great design here. I see good mediocrity.

  50. ask siirleri on May 8, 2009 at 2:54 am said:

    I enjoyed that mike, thanks for sharing. And I'll always watch a video set to sigur ros.

  51. Oyunlar on May 8, 2009 at 12:55 am said:

    brilliant mate! Nice choice of music too, Sigur Ros is awseome

    wish I could design that fast! lol

  52. justin hileman on May 8, 2009 at 12:40 am said:

    That's gorgeous. Than you for sharing.

  53. Sean on May 7, 2009 at 8:03 pm said:

    this is really cool. like….REALLY cool.

  54. Jonathan Wagener on May 7, 2009 at 7:28 pm said:

    really great, i love it.

  55. Jason on May 7, 2009 at 3:48 pm said:

    Cheers! Very well done!

  56. Mike Kus on May 7, 2009 at 3:27 pm said:

    Hey,

    thanks for all the comments guys… Much appreciated 🙂

    Simon – I recorded my screen with a little bit of software called 'iShowU' nice and easy to use.

  57. Tracey on May 7, 2009 at 1:18 pm said:

    Wow. I'm totally jealous of your talent.

  58. neileo on May 7, 2009 at 12:51 pm said:

    brilliant mate! Nice choice of music too, Sigur Ros is awseome

    wish I could design that fast! lol

  59. Ashley on May 7, 2009 at 11:56 am said:

    Wow – That was awesome! I love to see how other designer's brains work 😉

    Ashley

  60. Mike Hedge on May 7, 2009 at 10:38 am said:

    love it!

  61. jon on May 7, 2009 at 7:03 am said:

    impressive. im blown away

  62. Paul Randall on May 6, 2009 at 10:42 pm said:

    A great video – a really great way of watching design evolve.

  63. prisca on May 6, 2009 at 9:31 pm said:

    Thanks, Mike — just fantastic 🙂
    loved it at FOWD – now so happy I can share it with others 😉

    And I can only repeat what Anthony wrote – a truly inspiring talk, wonderful to go straight to the design itself – your slides were just beautiful, especially seen on the huge screen. A pleasure to listen to you and see your wonderful graphics — thank you!

  64. rich wells on May 6, 2009 at 9:27 pm said:

    ah, wrong link!
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/richwells/3506899801…

  65. rich wells on May 6, 2009 at 9:27 pm said:

    ah, wrong link!
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/richwells/3506899801…

  66. rich wells on May 6, 2009 at 9:23 pm said:

    Really inspiring slides and a great video!

    The free poster from the day is now framed on my office wall
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/richwells/3506899801…

  67. rich wells on May 6, 2009 at 9:23 pm said:

    Really inspiring slides and a great video!

    The free poster from the day is now framed on my office wall
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/richwells/3506899801…

  68. Anthony @afovea on May 6, 2009 at 9:10 pm said:

    I have to say that this talk was THE highlight of the conference for me, coming from print to web design myself I really enjoyed having someone talk from a likeminded point of view. I have found myself conforming to web developers requirements and restrictions and sacrificing good asthetic and design for this end. The talk was such a kick up the arse for me and left feeling almost told off for betraying my roots in print, there's not reason not to bring that beauty into the web in any way we can. Thank you, in all seriousness and most genuinely, thank you!

  69. Simon Pritchard on May 6, 2009 at 8:17 pm said:

    I would love to know how you acheived this time-lapse recording of your workflow? Did you just run a screen catpure tool such as Camtasia during all of your design time and then edit it down afterward or is there another trick to it?

    Wish I could have seen the presso itself… love the retro look.

  70. eric on May 6, 2009 at 1:59 pm said:

    Very beautiful to watch. Thanks!

  71. Andreas on May 6, 2009 at 1:58 pm said:

    Here's the link to that sigur ros album on spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/7cKMna4MR8xGwnuSPMA…

  72. Andreas on May 6, 2009 at 1:58 pm said:

    Here's the link to that sigur ros album on spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/7cKMna4MR8xGwnuSPMA…

  73. alextronic on May 6, 2009 at 1:44 pm said:

    This was absolutely brilliant. Congratulations. Real talent.

  74. Nick Burd on May 6, 2009 at 1:44 pm said:

    beautiful

  75. Dennis Coughlin on May 6, 2009 at 1:38 pm said:

    Brilliant video Mike – I was there for FOWD and it was an inspiring talk.

    Ps – Also, thanks for the free poster! : )

  76. Tjeerd van Sas on May 6, 2009 at 1:36 pm said:

    Well, I find it inspiring!

    Nice to see similar designs back in your work! I sure hope more people will go for such an illustrative style instead of the web two dot oh apple-site clones. Thanks you for posting!

    note @ self: practice, experiment, practice, experiment…

  77. Rob on May 6, 2009 at 1:34 pm said:

    I enjoyed that mike, thanks for sharing. And I'll always watch a video set to sigur ros.

  78. David Bonner on May 6, 2009 at 1:34 pm said:

    Awesome as usual Mike!

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