Yesterday, the folks at 37signals posted a piece titled “Why we skip Photoshop” that detailed the main reasons their staff goes straight from UI paper sketches to HTML development.
Am I surprised that 37signals shies away from Photoshop, arguably the most widely used mockup tool in webdesign? Not at all. I love the company’s products, and I use nearly all of them. But I don’t think anyone would disagree that their photoshop-free process shows through in their interface design. These are no-frills products. Boxy edges and simple gradients abound.
The problem is that for web designers, there’s no escaping what Photoshop can bring to the table. It’s not that the points Jason raises in the above article aren’t valid. It’s because when you’re building a site for a client, the very first thing they want to know is “What’s it gonna look like?” In almost every instance, they’re going to be expecting a site that – forgive me, guys – has more depth than a 37signals product.
It should be clear where my personal tastes lie. I mean, look around. If I can get away with an image directory that clocks in at under 50kb, I’m pleased as punch. All the criticisms people aim at the 37signals design team could be applied to pretty much any design I do for myself.
The reason I really appreciate Jason’s article is because even TNF – the sparsest design I’ve ever dreamed up – started in Photoshop. For those of us that would love it if one program could be all we needed to build a website, it’s awfully nice to be reminded that even the most sacrosanct parts of our process can be reconsidered from time to time, or more importantly, from project to project.
Whaddya think?