design or die

hi folks,
I haven't forgotten you (I've just been ignoring you all :-)

I'm a bit worried about how much emphasis I've been putting onto the nuts-and-bolts side of the web development process. For the face to face students that's fine - you've got other teachers to take you through the tools, design and documentation elements; but for the online folks, there's been a bit of a gap in your official education.

So, it's time to change all that. To kick off, lets start looking into design elements.

I just came across a pretty reasonable article where 35 designers were each asked 5 questions about their design practice. Result: 175 professional suggestions, tips and ideas from some of the best web-developers all around the world. This has got to be better than anything I can cook up. Check it out at SmashingMagazine

Another area I've been worried about is the planning and contract side of the webdev biz.

Now, I know you're all over podcasting, since I gave you a link to the excellent Ask a Ninja explanation, and... good news, Boagworld have just finished covering client contracts in nitty, real-world detail over several podcasts (starting in week 64). Check it out at the Boagworld podcast archive

Hope you're all fired up with enthusiasm, this should be an interesting few weeks...