斯蒂芬·布莱德利网页设计建议.doc

10件事让你成为一个更好的网页设计师on Thursday, February 24th, 20112011年2月24日 星期四Like a lot of web designers I didnt go to school to learn design or development. My degrees are in completely unrelated fields. As a web designer and developer Im close to 100% self-taught. That self-teaching isnt random though.像众多的网页设计师一样我没有去学校学习设计和开发。我的学位是完全不相关的领域。作为一名网页设计开发员我几乎是百分之百的自学成才。不过可不是胡乱自学的。Since the beginning Ive set a course for self-study that I continue to adapt to this day. I thought Id share some of the things I do to continue to improve my design and development skills.打从一开始为了能够走到今天，我为自己制定了自学课程。我想我要分享一些我继续提高我的设计开发能力的First I want to offer a few thoughts on learning in general.第一我要提一点通常人们的学习理念。Two Types of Learning两种学习类型One of the frequent topics of conversation on small business forums is how important a college education is. The argument ultimately boils down to the importance of theory (school) vs. experience (working).小型商业论坛最长谈论的一个话题之一就是大学教育有多重要。争论最终归结为理论（学校）vs.经验（工作）Most people typically fall on one side or the other and Ive usually found that side depends on their own career path.大多数人会典型的支持一边或另一边，我通常发现这取决于他们的职业道路。There are good arguments for both sides, but I think the best way to learn is through a combination of theory and practice.对双方论点都有优势，但是我认为学习最好的办法是理论和经验相结合。Theory理论Learning through theory is about learning from the experience of others. Design has a long history and there are many years of thought about design from which you can learn.学习理论就是学习他人的经验。设计有着很长的历史，对设计的研究有很多年了，你可以从中学习。Theory:理论 * Builds a solid foundation奠定坚实的基础 * Shows you how others have solved problems* 向你展示其他人是如何解决问题的 * Teaches you why things work as they do* 教你他们为什么要这样作 * Gives you a roadmap for further study* 为你深入学习指明方向Mostly I pick up theory through books and through time spent thinking and analyzing my work and the work of others.大多数时候我从书中学习理论，再花时间思考分析我的作品和其他人的作品。Sadly I think far to many design blogs focus on the how without offering the why. You get recipes instead of learning how to cook. Recipes certainly have value, but if you understand how to cook you can create your own recipes instead of relying on the recipes of others.可悲的是我众多的设计博客都关注于如何设计而不解释为什么这么设计。你用食谱来代替烹饪学习。食谱当然有价值，但是如果你知道如何烹饪你可以自己创造食谱，而不是要依赖别人的食谱。One of the reasons I focus on theory and principles here is because I think design theory is under served on the web for the most part.我关注理论和规则的原因之一就是我认为设计理论在很大程度上是为网页服务的。Practice实践Where theory is learning from the experience of others, practice is learning from your own experience. Theory is often taught under ideal conditions. The real world is seldom ideal. Its also one thing to know something intellectually and another to know it by experiencing it.既然理论是从别人的经验中学习，那么实践就是从你自己的经验中学习。理论通常是在理想条件下教学。而现实世界往往不很理想。Practice:实践 * Gives you a deeper understanding through real world experience*从现实世界的经验中你会获得更深层次的理解 * Allows you to solve problems under less than ideal conditions*允许你在不那么理想的条件下解决问题 * Trains you to physically do something*训练你身体力行的做事 * With theory it combines the experience of others with your own experience, leading to something uniquely you*拥有结合他人经验和你自己经验的理论，会为你带来很多意想不到的东西。You cant do something until you can actually do it. You need practice to improve your skills. Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers suggests you need 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert so start putting in that time now.有些事直到你真正能做到的时候才能做。你需要实践来提高你的技巧。马尔科姆格拉德维尔在异类中建议你需要一万小时的练习才能成为你正在做的事情的专家。However practice without theory is undirected. Without theory, without a solid foundation, you may need 15,000 or 20,000 hours to reach that same level of expertise.尽管如此没有理论的实践是毫无方向的。没有理论没有坚实的基础，你需要花费一万五到两万小时才能达到机能的同等水平。Tips for Becoming a Better Web Designer成为一名更优秀的网页设计师的窍门I want to leave you with more practical tips than what Ive given you above. Below are things I do in order to further my skills and understanding. Theyre a combination of theory and practice and arent necessarily in any particular order.我想要留给你比我上文所给出的更多的实践窍门。以下是我为了提升我的技巧和理解所作的。他们都结合了理论和实践，并且不是按什么特殊顺序排列的。Read, Read, and Read Some More阅读，阅读，更多的阅读This is mainly how I learn theory. About 3 or 4 times a year I buy anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen books on different aspects of design and start reading through them.这是我获取理论的主要方法。每年大约3次或4次我从各个地方买回一堆又一堆的更方面的设计相关书籍，并且通读他们。When selecting books I tend to pick one topic of design and get several books on that one topic and then mix in a few books on other topics.在选书的时候我倾向于挑选设计的一个主题和几本其他的同主题的书，然后再混合一点其他主题的书。For example over the holidays I picked up about a dozen books, 3 of which were about typography and 2 of which were about visual language. The rest were a mix of books on a variety of design and non design topics.例如假日过后我选了大约12本书，3本是关于排印的，2本是关于视觉语言的。剩下的是各种混合的设计相关和不相关主题的书。Set Yourself a Course of Study为你自己定制一个学校课程With both what you read and what you practice be more conscious of what youre trying to learn.你阅读的和你实践的会让你对你所学习的东西更明晰。Whenever I attempt to learn a new subject I read through a few books on the basics in order to build a solid foundation. From there I dig deeper into aspects of the subject I find more interesting and those I consider most important.无论何时我打算要开始学习新科目时，我通过阅读几本基础书目的是奠定一个坚实的基础。然后我从此处入手深入学习，发现更有趣，这些就是我认为最重要的。See above for how I choose books. My next round of book purchases will feature several books on constructing grids.以上是我如何选书。我下一轮购入的图书有几本是关于网格构造。Work Through a Book Instead of Reading It通过书工作而不只是读他Its not enough to read alone. You still have to do.只阅读时不够的。你还要做。Ive typed out nearly every line of code from every book on html, css, javascript, php, etc Ive ever read. The act of typing the code will help you learn it much more than just reading it. The books where I didnt type the code out generally didnt become part of me.我几乎可以打出我所读过的每一本关于HTML,CSS,Javascript,php的每一行程式代码。打出这些代码的过程你能学到的要比只是阅读多得多。那些书里我没有打出来的部分几本都没有成我知识的一部分。In typing out code youll almost always make some mistakes or find mistakes by the author. Figuring out how to fix these mistakes is invaluable.打出代码时你几乎总会犯一点错误，或者找到作者的什么错误。找出解决这些错误的办法是非常宝贵的经验。With some books Ill also take notes as I read. Again the act of typing or writing makes the information much more a part of you.读书时我总是做笔记。再说一次打出带密码或者写下代码会让你从中掌握更多的信息。Experiment With Every New Site用每个新站点做试验As you read and learn begin applying what you learn to your work.当你阅读和学习的时候试着在工作中应用你所学的You dont have to go wild here, but add one additional constraint to a design thats above and beyond those imposed by the client. Tell yourself youre going to make a specific color or font work for example and then find a way to make it work.看到这你不必抓狂，但是在设计中加入一个额外的数据库是多余客户要求的。告诉你自己你是打算做出一个特别的颜色或字体，然后想办法让其成功。Make a conscious effort to try one new thing with a design or learn how to code one thing you didnt know how before.有意识的尝试一些新设计或者学习编写一些你从前不知道的东西。The knowledge in your head is only useful when you practice using it and apply it to real world design and development problems.你头脑里的知识只有在实践中和在显示世界中的设计开发问题中应用才有用。Find a Few Mentors找几名导师Choose a couple of designers, developers, marketers, etc and follow them a little more closely than you follow everyone else.选择一些设计师，开发者，市场营销人员等等，然后你要开始前所未有的密切的跟随他们。Listen to what they say and more importantly what they do. Study the portfolios of your favorite designers. Dig through the code of your favorite developers. Watch how your favorite marketers promote themselves.听他们说什么，更重要的是他们做什么。研究你最喜欢的设计师的档案。挖掘你最喜欢的开发者的代码。关注你最喜欢的销售人员如何推销他们自己。Actions speak louder than words so pay close attention to what your mentors do over time. If you can make connections with these people and get their ear so much the better. However you dont have to make the connection as long as you continue to observe what they do.事实胜于雄辩，所以要密切关注你的导师都在做些什么。如果你可以和他们保持联系那就和他们多相处就更好了。然而你不需要观察他们多久联系他们多久。Create Problems for Yourself to Solve创造一些你自己解决的问题You cant always experiment on client sites, nor should you.你不能总是在你客户的网站上做实验，也不应该。Do this on your own site or as an exercise. If you want to understand more about color theory start placing shapes of color on a page. If you want to be better at coding navigation bars, open a new file and start coding one.可以在你自己的网站上作为练习。如果你想要了解更多颜色理论，开始在一页上放上有颜色的图形。如果你想到更好的编写导航栏，打开一个新文件，开始编写一个。Think of these as exercises you do to practice new skills. Some of these will remain as exercises and some will eventually find their way in to your work.考虑到这些你实践你新技能的练习。有些可能还是练习，而有些会马上应用到你的工作中。Study Websites研究网站Whenever you land on a website you like stop for a moment and ask yourself why you like it. Is it the design? One aspect of the design? Does the site do something you didnt know was possible with html and css?无论何时登陆一个你喜欢的网站都要停一下，问问自己你为什么喜欢他。是设计的原因吗？哪方面的设计？这个网站在html和css上是不是用了一些你不知道的东西。Bookmark some for later and more in-depth study and explore every aspect of the design and the code behind the site.给一些标注上书签以备后用，然后深入研究和探索设计的各个方面和网站背后的代码。When I was first learning css I constantly viewed source code to find out how a site achieved some effect I liked. Lately whenever I like the type on a site I take a look at what typefaces are being used, how the type is sized, what leading is used, etc.当我第一次学习css的时候我不停的查看源代码，找出网站是如何做出我喜欢的效果的。之后无论何时我遇到我喜欢的网站风格我要看一下他们使用的是什么字体，字体大小，使用行距等等。Dont Try to Learn Everything at Once不要试着马上学习每件事In the beginning what you dont know can seem overwhelming. Take a little time to learn the basics to build the solid foundation you need. Then start exploring one thing at a time.起初你不了解的东西看起来简直要将你淹没了。用一点时间学习基础知识，为你需要的打好基础。然后逐一开始探索。Never dwell on what you dont know. Make the best use of your time today and in 6 months or a year youll be able to look back and see how much youve learned.永远不要纠结在你不知道的事情上。充分利用你今天的时间，半年或一年后你可以回头卡哪款呢你学习了多少。Remember to develop a course of study. A typical undergraduate degree lasts 4 years. A graduate degree another 2 or 3 years. Post graduate degrees continue forever. Theres no reason to expect yourself to know everything in a month or two. Study 1 or 2 things at a time instead.记得发展一个学习进程。典型的学士学位要学习4年。硕士学位要在学2到3年。后学士学位要持续更久。没理由期望你自己在一到两个月内知道每件事。试着在一段时间内研究一件或两件事。Seek Inspiration寻找灵感 Good designers copy, great designers steal好的设计师靠模仿，伟大色设计师靠剽窃 Pablo Picasso sort of, maybe 巴勃罗毕加索，大概是这么说的Vincent Van Gogh thought of himself as a link in a chain. He took from the work of the masters before him, added something of himself, and passed his work on to those after to do the same.文森特梵高认为他自己是条连接链。他从他之前的大师作品中减少一点东西，再添加一些他自己的东西，然后在把他的作品传递给他之后也这么做的人。You dont need to be wholly original or reinvent the wheel. Instead seek inspiration from those before you and the world around you. Use that inspiration as a starting point from which to learn and build on.你不需要没有的必要的重复创造。用前人的创造和你身边的东西取代苦苦探寻灵感。用那些灵感作为你学习的出发点。Develop your powers of observation and learn to see design in everything you encounter. Be impressed and amazed by the magic of new technology. Sesign开发你的观察力，学习你偶然看到的的设计中的每样东西。要让自己被新技术的魔力吸引。Rinse and Repeat重复以上步骤Learning never stops. No matter what your current skills, you can always improve.学习没有终点。不管你现在的技能是什么，你永远都能提高。Keep doing all of the above. Revisit the basics now that you have a greater understanding of what lies beyond the basics. Keep digging into your favorite aspects of design and development.坚持做以上的事情。现在重新回到基础部分，你就对自己学到了多少基础以外的东西有明确的了解了。对你设计开发中你最喜欢的方面持续深入挖掘。Never stop practicing and doing.永远不要停止练习和实践。Summary总结No matter what level of skill yo