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Unwashed Village / Venting toxic brain gas
« on: December 29, 2011, 03:24:52 PM »
My brain is full of rage.
So I was gonna say this on some form of social media for the purpose of venting, like most people of ... well not my generation but the one after it. But then I remembered a lot of people from work are following my various social media methods, so instead I'll put it here.
::begin venting::
So they hired me to be a web developer and also do design. That's always a tricky mix, because they assume you're better at one than the other. And as we all know, a small portion of the world can understand complex design patterns, but everyone thinks they're a designer.
So, I had this design that was very carefully created using the most usable and conscientious readability patterns that still conformed to their branding and colors. Everything was going great, been working for months without any complaints, and all of a sudden I start getting e-mails from someone who is halfway up the chain of command, telling me to change the white/grey gradient logo (which is on a sepia-toned background and has a subtle drop-shadow) to a burnt red color.
For those of you who aren't color blind, that's incredibly hard to see. So I explain this, and give all of my most diplomatic terms. "According to design theory, blah blah" and "I'll be glad to make the change for you, but my fear is that readability will be affected," blah blah. Her response?
"I know all that design stuff. I'm doing this because my boss told me to tell you. This is what they want"
I've never heard this from her boss, who has been talking to me off and on since the project started. I thought nothing of it and made the change. Then I get another e-mail and she slips up and says "I hate that it's white, that looks bad."
Right. Your boss told you this.
The worst part? Her official job is doing print design for the company, and she makes professional catalogs for million-dollar events look like e-vites to a children's birthday party.
::end venting::
How is everyone else doing?
So I was gonna say this on some form of social media for the purpose of venting, like most people of ... well not my generation but the one after it. But then I remembered a lot of people from work are following my various social media methods, so instead I'll put it here.
::begin venting::
So they hired me to be a web developer and also do design. That's always a tricky mix, because they assume you're better at one than the other. And as we all know, a small portion of the world can understand complex design patterns, but everyone thinks they're a designer.
So, I had this design that was very carefully created using the most usable and conscientious readability patterns that still conformed to their branding and colors. Everything was going great, been working for months without any complaints, and all of a sudden I start getting e-mails from someone who is halfway up the chain of command, telling me to change the white/grey gradient logo (which is on a sepia-toned background and has a subtle drop-shadow) to a burnt red color.
For those of you who aren't color blind, that's incredibly hard to see. So I explain this, and give all of my most diplomatic terms. "According to design theory, blah blah" and "I'll be glad to make the change for you, but my fear is that readability will be affected," blah blah. Her response?
"I know all that design stuff. I'm doing this because my boss told me to tell you. This is what they want"
I've never heard this from her boss, who has been talking to me off and on since the project started. I thought nothing of it and made the change. Then I get another e-mail and she slips up and says "I hate that it's white, that looks bad."
Right. Your boss told you this.
The worst part? Her official job is doing print design for the company, and she makes professional catalogs for million-dollar events look like e-vites to a children's birthday party.
::end venting::
How is everyone else doing?