I’m curious to see what you all think of this.
Since I have been doing seo for many years along with my design, I keep close watch on my analytics and rss feed numbers. It helps me determine what I’m doing that gets my readers fired up. How far I can push things, and what your interests truly are. Well I’m assuming (even though that makes an a out of both of us) that you’re here to see some cool design, learn something, get free swag, and get away from your annoying manager. Yea, me too. Only issue is I’m hosting this party and I need to be entertaining. Not like a clown but like a design hero.
My goodness. He’s not the designer I want to be! There’s plenty of inspiration in these bones. I got the designs to show my evolving talent.
Anyway back to my statistic stalking. Review, review and pause. Ok let’s get right to the point. My RSS readers dropped off 29%. Now why am I sharing this information with you (my readers, my friends, my family) because you’re the people whose opinion I value. You’re the people I consider to be friends and those whom I share this design community with and I love our community! Without you it would just be me sitting around in my underwear wondering why I spend so much time on a site that doesn’t earn me a living. Actually I may do that anyway but don’t we all once in a while?
I want our community to grow. We all have passion, knowledge of design, brains that want to be inspired. We’re not drones that rush off to a web site with bright colors and flashy comment boxes. No. We’re freaking pioneers of design. We’re are solution finders. We are design connoisseurs.
Together, WE ARE DESIGN!
Unite. Are you with me fellow designers?
(drones can exit left)
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@Mia – quote: “What I would like to see on a site as a user , I would have to say : Quality content followed by great visual content. Is that too much to ask for?”
“is that too much to ask for?” lol
@Kandapedia Glad you’re a part of our community here too! ;)
@Josh I do have 2 round up lists, but I am just trying to be that different design site that actually shares the knowledge opposed to following the grain. My ads don’t sell as well, my comments are less active, but I do feel like I am adding some value to the designers coming by who really want to be connected and part of a community.
Thanks to all of you for the nice comments! Bring a friend over to join us in the celebration. :)
Fantastic post Ken! It really captures the true meaning behind community interaction/engagement. I am a strong proponent of quality content, and I enjoy reading a full length article such as this because it provides intellectual stimulation and it serves as a great source of inspiration for other designers.
I do believe that more design blogs should endeavour to produce thought-provoking articles rather than the usual lists or round-ups.
Josh´s last blog ..A “Bystander’s Perspective” on the Design Community
I agree with Mia.
Reasons I go to new sites and hang there are because of the lack of “the same look” syndrome. That and the community. I love when the writer of the blog shares their creativity and their thoughts.
Ken we are all here to help this design community grow!
Well, now this is a thought provoking article I must say ! I believe that most users out there arent as stimulated by quality content as much as they are drawn to ‘ visually stimulating images’ ( which most sites seem to focus on to lure in their visitors ) ; and fancy titles . One sees the title , and although it may seem inviting , once you arrive at the site- disappointment ensues ; due to the fact that you just left 3 other sites displaying the same images w/ different titles ! It’s really tragic , what the so-called design community has become lately – its become an emulative process where there is no originality left to be had anywhere, and there are very few sites which do manage to feature great ‘ visuals’ as well as content . Therefore : if the question is ‘What I would like to see on a site as a user ‘ , I would have to say : Quality content followed by great visual content. Is that too much to ask for ? No, I believe not – for if one wants to continue running and maintaining their site as well as ( visitor ) traffic – then they are required to make an effort to give their users what they want , and yes, design is just that : Art – but so is literary content . Writing , is in fact the most sacred out of all the arts . However it has somehow been placed on the backburner and replaced with icons and every other type of image in order to convey what we are feeling- its as if we have run out of words . No, an image must carry with it a story & vice versa . If we are only left to post images – then we dont require so called ‘ Blogs ‘ ( which are meant to express thoughts/ ideas ) but rather : Galleries aligned with images . Am I clear enough ? and btw : there is also an escape route to the right – the drones can exit there as well :D
Great post Ken :)
Mia´s last blog ..Custom Fonts Without Writing Script