GRAPHIC DESIGN PLAYS A MINOR ROLE ON THE WEB
by Gerry McGovern

The best websites are highly functional. They are task-focused. Graphic design has an important, though limited role. Don't try and force the Web to be what it's not.

Have you noticed the demise of the Flash intro? A couple of years ago, they were everywhere. I have asked thousands of people in some 35 countries what they do when they see a Flash intro. "Skip intro" is the universal reply.

A Flash intro is a fourth-rate attempt at a TV ad by people who won't get a chance to design real TV ads. They were invented by graphic designers desperate to turn the Web into TV, and who wanted to look cool and win design awards.

Like the annual Communication Arts Magazine awards. One of the 2005 winners has some beautiful graphics. (Another 2005 winner is a 2003 annual report website; go figure that one.) A slight problem, however, is that this winner classifies their products as follows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ... Very intuitive. Totally deserving of an award for outstanding ecommerce design.

Of course, Nike wins an award. It always gets high marks from those who understand art and design and stuff like that. Nike is a website I have never yet managed to visit without something malfunctioning. I decided to give it another try.

Nike.com still has that radical web design innovation of moving navigation. (More on that later.) I click Europe, then English, then Football. I arrive at the Football homepage. There's a cool picture of the majestic Thierry Henry. And right beside Thierry is a classification: Europe, Latin America, North America, Asia/Pacific. I kid you not.

At least one more of the 2005 winners has a navigation that shifts as you move your cursor towards it. Imagine you're on the road. You see this road sign up ahead, but as you get closer, the sign begins to move. You'd be really impressed with that sort of signpost.

Nobody would ever be allowed design road sign navigation that moved. However, when you design moving web navigation you win design awards. Why are so many graphic design experts still clueless about the Web after all these years?

It's not like we can have the excuse anymore that the Web is new, and nobody really understands what works and what doesn't. Why doesn't Google or Skype win one of these fancy awards? Why is it that "art" and "innovation" is so locked into a cliched world view, which dictates that to win awards you must look visually stunning and jump about the page?

If the Communication Arts Magazine awards were a parody, they would definitely be deserving of some sort of prize or award. But they're not, and they do a huge disservice to a discipline they purport to promote.

There are young web designers out there being sent absolutely the wrong message. The Web is, at heart, a task-focused, functional place. If you want cutting edge web design, look at Google, Skype, EBay, Amazon. These websites make money by meeting real needs.

Your website must be useful. It must be fast and convenient, with a navigation that is familiar and simple. The Web is not a brochure, an annual report, or a TV ad. It's the Web.

Gerry McGovern is a web content management author and consultant
www.gerrymcgovern.com