And They All Look Just the Same

Here Lies Flash » Mike Industries

Flash, from the very beginning, was a transitional technology. It was a language that compiled into a binary executable. This made it consistent and performant, but was in conflict with how most of the web works. It was designed for a desktop world which wasn’t compatible with the emerging mobile web. Perhaps most importantly, it was developed by a single company. This allowed it to evolve more quickly for awhile, but goes against the very spirit of the entire internet. Long-term, we never want single companies — no matter who they may be — controlling the very building blocks of the web.

Brutalist design is the bad influence we all need

What these brands are taking from web-brutalism — and truly, we should all be learning something here — is that User-centered design doesn’t need to be monopolized by the same colors, same buttons, same photography and even same copy you see in pretty much every single website or product.

Web Design Museum

The museum exhibits over 800 carefully selected and sorted web sites that show web design trends between the years 1995 and 2005.

The history of ‘this website is well-crafted’ hints | Holovaty.com

Adrian runs through the history of well-crafted websites:

• 1990s: Dynamic websites
• 2002: All-CSS layouts
• 2003: Nice URLs
• 2005: Ajax
• 2009: Custom web fonts
• 2010: Responsive web design

I think he’s absolutely right with his crystal ball too:

What’s a big hint that a site is crafted by forward-looking web developers? I’d say it’s service workers, the most interesting thing happening in web development.

But leaving trends aside, Adrian reminds us:

Some things never go out of style. None of the following is tied to a particular time or event, but each is a sign a website was made by people who care about their craft:

• Making sure the site works without JavaScript
• Semantic markup
• Following accessibility standards

Vitamin Features » Web Design-isms: 7 Surefire Styles that Work

A nice well-illustrated article from Larissa Meek pointing to some design trends that can be applied to the Web.