Phillips Head or Flat Head? Photoshop or Illustrator?
The tool you choose to use should depend solely on the screw you're trying to turn. Same goes for designing Web projects. When beginning the design phase of Web project X, final deliverables should be taken into account when deciding which application to use. Every designer I work with is equally proficient in both Illustrator and Photoshop; while I'm sure every creative has their favorite, both are tools that can be wielded with awe-inspiring deftness. Will the final project hit the Web as XHTML or rich media? Or some amalgamation of both? Making this determination prior to design kick-off can save HOURS of design translation, giving your project a much better chance of coming in on time and under budget.
The formula is absurdly simple:
Flash / rich media = vector = Illustrator
XHTML = bitmap = Photoshop
I submit the responsibility to pose the question is shared. I will try my best to remember to ask - but as long as SOMEONE asks, that's all that matters.
The formula is absurdly simple:
Flash / rich media = vector = Illustrator
XHTML = bitmap = Photoshop
I submit the responsibility to pose the question is shared. I will try my best to remember to ask - but as long as SOMEONE asks, that's all that matters.
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© 2008 Capstrat
An equally simple questions that can save hours is "what size screw?" Defining screen resolution up front prevents developers from having to resize projects.
The root of your question goes back to a part
of my world -- creating wireframes. Assuming that wireframes are useful to design and development (an argument that I have debated elsewhere [1]), does a PDF exported from Visio work?
This is something where I'd like to hear input from creative and development. From us UXDs, what would be your ideal format to receive our deliverables -- or does it really matter? I've played around with the following but keep coming back to Visio which, to extend your hardware analogy, is my hammer.
Indesign:
Pros: using multiple masters looks promising and the tight integration with creative suite is much better than Visio's paltry drawing tools.
Cons: Steep learning curve. Spotty scripting support. A print tool coerced into web work.
Illustrator & Photoshop:
Pros: Great vector and bitmap tools.
Cons: no support for multiple pages. Faking this with multiple layer groups is not a realistic option. Spotty scripting.
Adobe Thermo [2]
Pros: looks hot. Tight integration expected with photoshop and illustrator. Ability to rapidly prototype Flex apps.
Cons: an unknown quantity since it's still pre-alpha
XHTML/CSS using Blueprint, YUI, and Dreamweaver
Pros: prototype and test interactivity better than static wireframes. Well-abstracted designs (via SSIs or Dreamweaver Library items) make global changes a breeze.
Cons: Moving seamlessly between UXD, design, and development doesn't live up to the hype. Steepest learning curve. Largest investment of effort with questionable likelihood of code reuse. Designs are unnecessarily constrained by a UXD's web development abilities. Hard to share in documentation.
Adobe Fireworks
Pros: support for multiple "pages", reusable widgets, and onion-skinning. Tight integration with creative suite. Strongest competitor to Visio, in my opinion.
Cons: Not visio.
Adobe Flash
Pros: similar "pros" to fireworks. Strong animation abilities may be useful for demonstrating Ajax-y interactions.
Cons: steep learning curve beyond simple keyframe animation. Hard to share in documentation.
[1] http://blog.capstrat.com/articles/where-the-wireframes-are-or-arent/
[2] http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Thermo
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