Hi there! Production Assistant here…

My name is Marian. Those of you who have been reading Wild Keys for a long time may remember me from a few of the older entries, particularly ones about horseback riding and owl pellets. (Me being the subject, not the author, of course!)

In addition to being Lisa’s daughter, I was also her business gopher for the summer. I wrote about my first day of work here, but I have oodles more to say now that I’ve got a bit more experience than just re-sizing photographs.

Although my mom has been making sites for a long time now, I’m something of an outsider to the web design world. I may be an internet native (unlike generations before mine) but my focus has primarily been on the content in front of me, rather than the presentation of that information.

After all, layouts of sites such as Facebook are largely intended to be unobtrusive windows onto that oh-so-vital user-generated content (because insightful posts such as the ubiquitous “wtf lol” require crucial, careful attention.) The uproar created when this site structure changes periodically evinces the importance of the menus’ invisibility. This goes for everything from social networking sites (like fb) to some of my favorite blogs. Despite all of the work that may go into creating essential elements like menus and graphics, in many cases, they dissolve seamlessly into the fabric of the site’s content.

That is… unless the design is bad. If the designer has done her job sloppily—or worse, if the “designer” isn’t a designer at all—then the design elements stick out to me like sore thumbs. Why can’t I find the page I want? Why won’t this widget do what it’s supposed to? And why, in god’s name, are they using such an ugly typeface?

Before I started working for HTK, these were my observations on “design”—in other words, I took the “What Not to Wear” approach to web browsing.

Much of this has changed now. I can appreciate the effort that goes into even the “smallest” of updates—a new panel here, added links there—and experience a small rush of joy when using well-animated menus. (Such as those used on Nancy Werlin’s most recent site incarnation. I would be lying if I said I didn’t play with them for a good 5 minutes, watching them expand and then disappear.)

Furthermore, I’m starting to see how difficult it can be to simply create harmony. How do you create styles that are both attractive AND helpful to a reader, indicating importance with flair and clarity? And how on earth do you tie it all together?

Case in point: my mom asked me to design a small page of her site to answer some common client questions. Email set-up, performing updates, and so forth. She gave me free rein with the design choices and layout. As fun as “no rules, just design” sounded, I quickly realized that I am incapable of creating a cohesive, non-gaudy color combination. (Unfortunately, I didn’t take the lesson to heart, and now also have a rather hideous blue-green-and-purple bathroom to re-paint…)

But what happens when you practice enough, and your palette’s harmonious, and your menus put the fun in functional? Well, you get to pat yourself on the back and call yourself a pro. (Don’t worry. I’m never going to get to that point. I just get to watch from across the room, and occasionally get her some soda.) And all of your hours of painstaking, careful site-building will do one thing: set a perfect stage for the client’s content. Never mind that nobody will appreciate it except for other designers.

Editor’s Note: Marian Firke blogs with perspicacity and flair at Marian Firke: Off the Cuff.