Evolving Web Trends: What Designers Need to Know

Some designers have a natural aptitude for taking new technologies and creating instantly beautiful interactive work. Then there's the rest of us. If you're a print designer, the multitude of new technologies can be especially overwhelming. Matthew Richmond, Executive Creative Director and Developer of The Chopping Block gave Spark members the nuts and bolts on emerging web trends and what we, as designers, should take note of:

1. HTML isn't going anywhere. If you're going to learn one thing, make it HTML.

2. Sorry Flash lovers, but HTML5 is able to accomplish interactive feats that were previously reserved for Flash. This is especially exciting when designing for mobile devices that do not support Flash.

3. Dive in and be curious. Within Safari Preferences, choose the Advanced tab and select "Show Develop menu in menu bar." Start paying to the code in your favorite websites.

4. Because of the proliferation of mobile devices, responsive web design is becoming increasingly important.

5. Building responsive websites can be frustrating and time consuming. To confront this issue, The Chopping Block begins a project with a combination of wireframes and concept boards. Once the wireframes and concept boards are approved by the client, the project may then be able to be built out immediately.

We are so thankful to have a copy of Matthew's presentation full of links, resources and samples for everyone to review: http://choppingblock.com/presentations/evolving-web-trends/