Appears to be a space; I think it's an intentional mistake to add to the message. (Which might also be the reason for "vision" to be a light color on a light color background)
That is actually intentional. "Obsesing" is also misspelled intentionally. It's supposed to grate at the perfection centers of a designer's brain; which reinforces the message.
There is a thin line between intentional mistakes and actual mistakes. It doesn't take much for one to screw up the psychological affect.
There's something to be said for taking your time. No, you probably won't ever find the "perfect" typeface, but spending hours looking isn't worth agonizing over either. Don't master painters sometimes make dozens of versions of the same painting before they are satisfied?
If there's anything we can learn from the links like these and the startups which get linked on HN never to be heard from again, it's that the mad dash to constantly be visibly "making crap" is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy which leads to making, well, forgettable crap. I prefer to make things that I care about, that way I can get engrossed in the process and let it take as long as I need.
I think most in our industry are perfectionists and seek to create something amazing.
Sometimes it doesn't seem like that, because as you said, there is a lot of "forgettable crap" out there.
When we see something terrible, our brains scream "I could do so much better! How did these guys release this crap! How did they get so much success and attention!".
What I've learned is that most of the people that release crap aren't unaware of the flaws. They are often more aware, they just chose to put it out there anyway.
We forget that it takes a lot of skill to just put something out there and to iterate upon it. Don't undervalue that quality in others and don't forget to cultivate it in yourself.
We all should seek to find a balance between perfection and just getting it out there.
Perfection is a driver but sometimes it drives us down endless roads and dead ends.
An important life lesson is that no matter how awesome and perfect you think something is, its creator(s) see all the flaws and things they wish they'd done differently.
The people who actually make crap are saying to themselves "Yes, absolutely. I am making crap." The people who think they're making crap (but spinning in circles trying to find the perfect font, color palette, etc) are also saying to themselves "Yes, absolutely. I am making crap." Sadly, those circles are the illusion of progress. Something is changing, must be making progress, and getting stuff done, right?
Jape apart, I don't fully agree with the message. It's never going to be perfect, but you should try to make it good. There is a balance to be stricken between good and done.
I like the idea of single message websites and I've thought about doing one.
My idea was more like "multiple open letters directed to a particular company, about their technology products" but then I thought - eh, first world problems, not worth the effort. Maybe it's just more fun to imagine it.
15 comments
[ 1.2 ms ] story [ 54.3 ms ] threadhttp://xkcd.com/1015/
http://imgur.com/12yT8Ez
There is a thin line between intentional mistakes and actual mistakes. It doesn't take much for one to screw up the psychological affect.
If there's anything we can learn from the links like these and the startups which get linked on HN never to be heard from again, it's that the mad dash to constantly be visibly "making crap" is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy which leads to making, well, forgettable crap. I prefer to make things that I care about, that way I can get engrossed in the process and let it take as long as I need.
Sometimes it doesn't seem like that, because as you said, there is a lot of "forgettable crap" out there.
When we see something terrible, our brains scream "I could do so much better! How did these guys release this crap! How did they get so much success and attention!".
What I've learned is that most of the people that release crap aren't unaware of the flaws. They are often more aware, they just chose to put it out there anyway.
We forget that it takes a lot of skill to just put something out there and to iterate upon it. Don't undervalue that quality in others and don't forget to cultivate it in yourself.
We all should seek to find a balance between perfection and just getting it out there.
Perfection is a driver but sometimes it drives us down endless roads and dead ends.
The people who actually make crap are saying to themselves "Yes, absolutely. I am making crap." The people who think they're making crap (but spinning in circles trying to find the perfect font, color palette, etc) are also saying to themselves "Yes, absolutely. I am making crap." Sadly, those circles are the illusion of progress. Something is changing, must be making progress, and getting stuff done, right?
Jape apart, I don't fully agree with the message. It's never going to be perfect, but you should try to make it good. There is a balance to be stricken between good and done.
My idea was more like "multiple open letters directed to a particular company, about their technology products" but then I thought - eh, first world problems, not worth the effort. Maybe it's just more fun to imagine it.