Why big?
January 2, 2008
Welcome to Mindscape Creative, one of the illustrious blogs from Mindscape. As we close out the year, it seems appropriate to look at one of the big trends in web design: making stuff big. From Basecamp to Mindmeister, sites all over the web are simplifying and cranking up the point size (even though we’re talking pixels and ems). I have a couple ideas on why this is taking place. Sure, usability plays a major role, but I think there other factors at work.
Steve Jobs did it.
Well, actually it’s that pesky iPhone. By making web sites accessible (easy to get AT, as opposed to easy to USE) to a tiny (C’mon, 480×320 is tiny. Even the first Macs had a larger screen.) display, we need to strip down to the essentials.
Clients second the motion.
Frankly, I don’t much hear, “Gee, that type looks a bit horsey. Could you bring it down a little?” So, when we design a site with 30 pixel heads and 18 pixel copy, everybody’s happy. Well, almost everybody.
