Influential Web Designers – Jason Beaird In website design and development, there are several key players. More than just a designer in charge of the graphic arts, you need front-end developers (user experience developers), and programmers. A whole team works to build a website and players like Jason Beaird are essential to that. Beaird is a front-end developer, meaning he works with the pages that you actually see, rather than the code making it all possible. His job is to see the needs of potential users and meet that through simple paths and quick navigation. He’s published works are available to read and review, though we will cover basics of his book through the rest of this review of his influence in the web design world.
Brief History Understanding Jason Beaird and his work will permit us to delve into a brief biography of his life and works. He is a self-proclaimed nerd who first encountered the Internet through Lynx. This was a text based browser and as you might imagine not especially user friendly. He went on to study Graphic Design and Digital Media at the University of Central Florida. His career did not begin in web design until 2003. He currently works as a UK Designer at MailChimp. Though you can read his published works, he has made several guest speaking appearances at SXSW events, sharing his knowledge and love for the industry.
Published Works Beaird authored the book “The Principles of Beautiful Web Design”. While the book is short, it is full of case studies, pictures and examples to help you understand designing and creating clean programs. Beaird is not one to shy away from giving references to other sources that will allow you to grow and expand your knowledge of the industry and things as they work. Beaird comes from experience with HTML and CSS, which allow him as an author to explain simply but with logical explanations. His style of working is almost formulaic in showing how quality software is built. Your understanding of design and programming will grow through the study and reading of this published work. The principle that you do not need to be a website designer or have a masters degree. Website designers can be done by anyone with an aptitude for design, so long as you understand the key elements of design:
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Effectively use color Texture well with points, lines, shape, volumes Edit and choose effective imagery Master typography styles Layout Composition for varying devices and platforms Design for the future
Beaird will sway you to love design, to love clean design even. This will change the way that you and your design team look at building websites. You will be serious about creating something user friendly but cutting edge. The illustrations and reference notes will lead you to the most innovative ideas, the most compelling outlines, and trend-forward design possible. The book has two editions; so make sure to pick up the second editions to show that you are capable of the impossible.