The Web’s Grain by Frank Chimero

One of the best pieces of writing I’ve ever read on the challenges of creating for the web in the 21st century.

I’m still processing it, but I can say this: he eloquently captures all of the frustrations I’ve felt during my career when working with “web” designers (really print designers in disguise) when they design for the web.

Sometime in the 1990’s, the design target changed from a piece of paper to a desktop monitor without a corresponding shift in thinking about the new target’s strengths and limitations. It still hasn’t really happened yet: in many ways, I think that we still treat screens like pieces of paper.

Chimero has nailed it: the web is edgeless in both construction and content. Writing, photography, design, and development all combine to form a complete whole. In his words:

Simply put, the edgelessness of the web tears down the constructed edges in the company. Everything is so interconnected that nobody has a clear domain of work any longer—the walls are gone, so we’re left to learn how to collaborate in the spaces where things connect.

So much to think about here.