What role does design play in your current business?
I define “design” as being more than just graphics. I strive to create smart design that permeates the visuals as well as the code.

Are the traditional elements of graphic design still key to making a
good site, or is concept really more important?
Concept is always king. If you don’t have a solid concept, then all the graphics are simply shallow eye candy. The concept and the overall story need to drive the project. Concept dictates everything you do. It’s the creative blueprint that informs everything else. The content, the navigation, the graphics, the typography. Everything. Any designer who just makes brain-dead web sites dressed with “pretty pictures,” pointless rollovers and gratuitous ambient techno music should be put in jail. Every mark you make should contribute to a greater whole and the project's message. A designer has a responsibility to themselves, the client and the profession not to be a cake decorator. And that applies to any medium whether it’s in print or pixel.

Dot coms have come and gone, what is the future of the web, particularly for the designer?
Out of the zillions of hair-brained dot com ideas that have launched, only a small handful have created a viable business. So as web businesses fail, it spells trouble for studios that serve them. Luckily, my web clients are extensions of traditional media. (Print and cable television for example). They have never been pure-play web efforts so they have weathered the tech sector’s economic storm better than most. I think a designer should be medium agnostic. A designer who can work in diverse mediums stands the best chance of survival and growth.

Having worked in print, are the aesthetics quite different from those in the other medium?
The end user experience is, of course, wildy different. One of the nice things about print is the warmth of the finished product. There is a timeless beauty to ink on paper. Graphics on a page feels honest, humble and perhaps quaint. The very same graphics displayed on a glass computer screen can feel cold. Perhaps I’m being nostalgic for the tactile qualities we’ve lost on the web. Web sites are sexy, but even the most hardcore digital designers agree that sometimes it's hard to top the thrill of touching an exquisite blind emboss or a funky die cut.

How important is intuition versus logic in the web environment?
Communication and navigational solutions that leverage a user’s intuition always produces the best results. Look at the Mac OS for example. It is based on smart, intuitive principles. The Mac interface has remained virtually unchanged for 15 years because the Apple designers got it right from the get go. They created a GUI rule book that was militantly consistent, simple and intuitive. The very heart of the Mac experience comes from the artistry of an enlightened designer. By comparison, Microsoft’s Windows is the result of a programmer. In its early versions, Windows had a lot of logic but no intuition. That’s a lesson to folks who design for the web. Like any piece of software, a web site will serve its audience best when it’s easy to operate and doesn’t frustrate the user.

What do you look for in a web designer?
I look for designers who embrace the future, but respect the past. Specifically, I look for designers who are equipped with the skills to operate modern authoring tools, but also have an understanding of “old world” techniques (like actually sketching a concept on paper or kerning letterforms). I think more than ever, a digital designer needs to understand the design history that paved the way before them and how their craft is an extension of this history.

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From Steven Heller's Design Dialogues
Originally published by Allworth Press

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