I have a friend who would like to keep herself up-to-date but she doesn't know anything that could look like HN for graphic designers (mostly print). In fact, anything could go : a blog, a forum or whatever.
There isn't anything even close to HN for designers, for three reasons. One, design has traditionally had tenets from on high and views that since there are actual physiological limits to what the human body can read, there are set rules. Because of the acceptance of rules, there's acceptance of leaders in the industry whose trendsetting generally spans the next few years, much like the fashion world. However fickle design trends are, most clients aren't interested in novel solutions, they prefer to use whatever's popular. And, because there's no space for actual innovation, there's no need to discuss how to be innovative, unlike in programming. Basically, design is less creative then programming because nobody wants you to be creative.
Two. Since design is a visual science, you end up getting a lot of people who're in it for the lifestyle to be cool, as opposed to here where people are into programming because they truly love it. In programming, the weak members go home and watch tv. In design, they go home and talk about design. These daytrippers tend to weaken the community, and force gated communities like Dribble and Forrst which further enable the class mentality in design. If these communities aren't gated, there's a huge influx of quasi-designers who wish to pad their marketing. However, this insularity tends to ostracize anyone outside of the class system.
Three. There's been a traditional, accepted path for "real" designers: some freelance, then joining up with an agency, and then forming your own agency. Because this path is already well established in meatspace, there's no reason to form a board online: all the important stuff is going on in the back rooms of print shops and studios.
Marxism in my design? It's more likely than you think.
If forrst users create anything like Orman Clark's premium pixels (http://www.premiumpixels.com/), it's probably very useful for inspiration and discussion. if you want a blog with deep discussions, then A List Apart is hard to beat.
[+] [-] manvsmachine|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sudont|15 years ago|reply
There isn't anything even close to HN for designers, for three reasons. One, design has traditionally had tenets from on high and views that since there are actual physiological limits to what the human body can read, there are set rules. Because of the acceptance of rules, there's acceptance of leaders in the industry whose trendsetting generally spans the next few years, much like the fashion world. However fickle design trends are, most clients aren't interested in novel solutions, they prefer to use whatever's popular. And, because there's no space for actual innovation, there's no need to discuss how to be innovative, unlike in programming. Basically, design is less creative then programming because nobody wants you to be creative.
Two. Since design is a visual science, you end up getting a lot of people who're in it for the lifestyle to be cool, as opposed to here where people are into programming because they truly love it. In programming, the weak members go home and watch tv. In design, they go home and talk about design. These daytrippers tend to weaken the community, and force gated communities like Dribble and Forrst which further enable the class mentality in design. If these communities aren't gated, there's a huge influx of quasi-designers who wish to pad their marketing. However, this insularity tends to ostracize anyone outside of the class system.
Three. There's been a traditional, accepted path for "real" designers: some freelance, then joining up with an agency, and then forming your own agency. Because this path is already well established in meatspace, there's no reason to form a board online: all the important stuff is going on in the back rooms of print shops and studios.
Marxism in my design? It's more likely than you think.
[+] [-] tholex|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] symptic|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zray|15 years ago|reply
Just don't ask what it stands for...
Another good one is http://www.typophile.com/
[+] [-] tom_ilsinszki|15 years ago|reply
EDIT: He's more into print than web.
[+] [-] redacted|15 years ago|reply
http://www.reddit.com/r/design/ - general design
http://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/ - web design
Both of these pages have more specialized subreddits linked in the sidebar (e.g., http://www.reddit.com/r/designthought).
[+] [-] bottlerocket|15 years ago|reply
http://designobserver.com/ http://www.drawar.com/ http://www.undrln.com/
[+] [-] farlington|15 years ago|reply
http://www.underconsideraton.com/quipsologies http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/
There's also idsgn: http://idsgn.org/
[+] [-] edupunk|15 years ago|reply
http://www.underconsideration.com/quipsologies/
[+] [-] grayrest|15 years ago|reply
I personally like http://notcot.org/ for designy stuff as well, which hasn't been mentioned in the comments so far.
[+] [-] edvinasbartkus|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] makethetick|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] iny|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fgblanch|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Strass|15 years ago|reply