How I Designed Code Year in 1 Hour

[sgdesign]

As a designer, this is why I love working with startups. You can go from idea to actual live site in a few days only.

Paradoxically, it was a lot of fun working on such a short timeline: it basically took all the pressure off and made sure I couldn't second-guess myself.

[culturestate]

"Paradoxically, it was a lot of fun working on such a short timeline: it basically took all the pressure off and made sure I couldn't second-guess myself."

I couldn't agree more. I often give myself artificially short deadlines if I'm having designer's block, it works wonders.

[pdenya]

That's part of what appealed to me at the ad agency I worked at. It's fun to build things as quickly as possible sometimes. I'm glad I'm not doing that constantly anymore though.

[mcantor]

Title should actually be "How I Re-designed Code Year in 1 Hour".

[rblackwater]

No it should be "How I Re-designed Promo Material for Code Year in 1 Hour"

[phil]

Great writeup, and helpful for people like me. I often know exactly what message I want to deliver and the visual hierarchy I want, but coming up with a nice layout is harder. So the break down is good to see.

It was pretty shocking to see the McCurry Afghan girl photo as an icon placeholder though. That's probably one of the top 5 news photos of all time, and I'm not alone in having a strong emotional reaction to it?

Maybe Cookie Monster as a placeholder instead? http://www.google.com/search?q=cookie+monster&hl=en&...

[danso]

If the most valuable web design tip I learn this year is that this site exists: http://subtlepatterns.com/

...Then it will have been a decent year

[sgdesign]

Then let me make it a super extra fun year :)

http://sachagreif.com/the-design-freebies-list/

[Jun8]

This was a fantastic step by step guide for people who have absolutely no design sense, like me. Thank you!

[zds]

If you want to work with Codecademy too, we're hiring ;)

http://codecademy.com/jobs or jobs(at)codecademy(dot)com

thanks!

[danoc]

Are you guys hiring summer interns as well?

[RoboTeddy]

It's interesting to see the iterative thought process of a designer as they go through and make changes. I wonder if it'd be a good way to learn design. How about Design Year? :P

[sgdesign]

That's a good idea actually! I could imagine weekly design lessons each focusing on a new design principle or element.

For example, one week you'd design a sign-up form, the next focus on contrast, etc.

[sgdesign]

Aren't we actually agreeing? My point was exactly that good design does not depend on the timeframe. It can be quick, or it can be slow. So you shouldn't be afraid of going fast sometimes.

[deepkut]

Gorgeous design, nice work. Your call to action, the big red "Start learning!", is well done and placed effectively. I like it.

[metra]

I must be missing something, where's the CSS discussion? Isn't that what takes up most of the time?

[metra]

This is a serious question. I'm not a front-end guy. Instead of downvoting, can someone enlighten me?

[ddw]

Has Code Year started yet?