The open web design manifesto

Web design is open by its nature, yet historically it is divided into static and dynamic phase. We believe time has come to blend these two, as the process and result of web design lives on the same screen. Being able to see how it performs early on improves decision making.
Open web design means that designers can edit the source design visually. Improve, change it, get inspired or even learn why and how it works.

  1. Design is visual, tools for web design should be too. Learning CSS/HTML help understand the possibilities of the medium, learning it visually makes it more accessible.
  2. Design in the real environment as soon as possible, process and mistakes drive new ideas.
  3. Open web design is responsive, meaning focusing on speed and accessibility on various devices and browsers.
  4. We are better designers as a community, we always were. It's time to demystify the web and share what we know.
  5. Better tools make a better designer, tools should support freedom, guide us and allow control over all screen sizes. There should be as little 'magic' as possible.
  6. Open design is human driven, automation of repetitive tasks is a yes, but automation of decision making is a no.
  7. Good design is about the content. Get inspired by layouts, type proportions, colors, but come up with your own content.
  8. Spend more time on design, less on arguing about pixel perfection. By delivering designs that are close to real life, there is less space to screw things up on the implementation side.

A designer coming from the world of print into the world of web. Co-founder of FROONT – a web tool that makes web design visual and life of a web designer nicer.