molly.com
Tuesday 12 April 2005
The More Things Stay the Same . . .
THE MORE THINGS STAY THE SAME, the more they change. Or at least redefine themselves in the context of new information. In my recent article for the fantastic Design In Flight magazine, I discuss three top Web design trends that may not really be trends after all.
“What makes a design trend come and go? And why in only a little over a decade have we returned to certain techniques that we once thought were tired? Perhaps the fact that we can finally design with CSS is one reason we’re returning to certain visual trends – we’re searching for ideas that convey a sense of the familiar, yet are new in some way, too.” – – excerpt from “The More Things Stay the Same”
If you haven’t seen Design in Flight, I really hope you’ll check it out. It’s done in PDF format, so you can read it on screen or print it out. The magazine is a quarterly, and very affordable at a price of only $13.00 USD per year. I have to admit I’d not heard of the publication until the editor approached me to do an article. I looked over the magazine and was stunned to find material from many colleagues as well as folks I’d never read – spanning all aspects of graphic design and Web development. Design in Flight is beautifully laid out, too, and I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to write this article for the publication. That said, this is a resource contemporary Web designers and developers should not be without.
Filed under: general
Posted by: Molly | 16:37 | Comments (18)
Comments (18)
Looks like a good publication, but I’m a little confused about the subscription price. I can buy 4 issues for $3 each ($12) or I can buy a subscription for $13. What’s the advantage of paying the extra dollar for the subscription?
To Tony’s point,
The issues of volume 1 are $3 each. Volume 2: July 05 – April 06 ($13), single issues will be $4.
@Editor,
Thanks for your response. I thought I might be missing something, which is why I asked. I was going to email the subscriptions department, but I thought perhaps others would wonder the same thing.
I wish there was a print publication like Design in Flight. I’m not fond of electronic magazines at all. While I realise that they’re cheaper to run and such, I can’t see myself every paying for a subscription. I pay for magazines so that I can have them with me to read when I can’t be at my computer. Also I enjoy spending some of my day not in front of screen. The last simiar magazine I had subscribed to was Web Techniques. I guess it didn’t sell well though, because it soon changed formats.
Actually, Mike, the point of a PDF publication is to be able to download it and print it if you want to. You pay for the content, not the printing 🙂
I wrote for and was contributing editor for Web Techniques for 3 1/2 years. I was also the Executive Editor of sister publication (online) Web Review, and advisor to the related conferences so I have very personal insight into what happened to Web Techniques and why.
The magazine was given away to all qualified readers in the U.S. No “subscriber”paid. The death of Web Techniques was due to several reasons, but clearly one of those reasons was that despite the fact it was available to you in print, it couldn’t turn a profit because the cost of printing is so high. The model was originally intended to be ad-supported. Now we have no more WT. And no more Web Review. And no more WEB shows.
An electronic magazine is to everyone’s advantage. We only use paper and ink if we choose, we can read on screen or off depending upon our desire. The publication is able to be produced and distributed for very little money, and for the record – Design in Flight is a labor of love. I think you’d be very pleased with the content, visuals, attention to detail.
Oh yeah, and no ads.
I’m a DIF subscriber and have enjoyed it greatly. I do wish it was a print publication, but I understand the economics that make that difficult.
I guess I’ll print the latest issue and read Molly’s article.
BTW, I loved Web Techniques. I used to read it back when I had a “real job” and dream of working on web stuff full time…
I always print out DIF, and it’s just as good as any “print” publication.
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One thing you could also do with an electronic publication like this I suppose is offer it in different formats such as Letter for North American subscribers and A4 for European ones.
Sorry for the post above with the cryptic ‘Editor’ name, fell into my bad habits. Obviously, I’m not the editor of *this* publication, molly.com 😉
Felt the need to clarify one bit from Molly’s comments above. We do plan to introduce a few ads into subsequent issues of DIF if there is interest. There is *one* ad in the April issue.
However, the ads, if they run will be highly specific to graphic and web designers and only offer services that DIF can endorse. They will also never reach the inundanity (is that a word?) of other mags. You’ll never see more than 4 in an issue.
Thanks for all the positive comments, and Molly for such a wonderful article. My apologies for posting on the blog with *business* related stuff!
Thanks for the heads up on this – I wasn’t familiar with DIF, and it looks fabulous. With the Molly-stamp-of-approval confirmed, subscribing was a no-brainer.
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I know you from a book that you wrote ,i major in software development
in a local university in our country .i am CHINAIESE .I like your book very much and i want to learn more things about wet .I will go abroad some day.so maybe i can find you .haha:)you see???
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HI MOLLY, my darling….my beloved….my hope….my adorable….I need that special help.
Ohhh….that dream….THANKX!
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