SXSW 2010: Is WordPress Killing Web Design

[Kaludify]

Interesting observation!

[christiannlamar]

This is nothing but a bunch of jealousy



[WebTechGlobal]

Wordpress is allowing amateurs to enter the market because they can target people on a low budget that professionals don't really want to spend time with. That is a good thing, students can get sites together quickly and earn a little. Problem is, too many so called professionals, the guys that say they have years of experience, are failing to come up with unique themes/designs/templates. I don't think it is CMS like Wordpress that is effecting those developers.

[AnasTangi]

What a paranoid question.

If someone wants Wordpress, he will go for it. It is just a tool, and anyone is free to use it.

Where is the problem?

Oh I see...you don't like the fact that web designers has LOST the exlusive access to the public so they can charge them a lot of money for every little effort :D

Don't worry, it's not just wordpress: there is Joomla, Elgg, etc. etc. LOL

[ZenCartEasyHelp]

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[christiannlamar]

@ZenCartEasyHelp You obviously did not even watch the video

[sixtiksix]

I'm glad they worked it out...

[inataliedesigncom]

WordPress works if it's providing your client the kind of CMS they need - however, if there's not enough or too much control available then a more personalized CMS is the way to go. As for design, it comes down to personal choice for platforms, time and end results. Building out of Sandbox is not much different than Dreamweaver, BBEdit, etc.

[internetdirect210]

I agree that WordPress/Drupal/etc are just tools. If you allow yourself to be limited by a tool, then you limit your abilities. But the great thing is that WordPress and Drupal can be customized. So if you don't like the way things work out of the box, they can always be changed. But that's where having a strong developer along side a designer comes into play.

[cssadiction]

I hate wordpress! I also hate programs like dreamweaver. When I first started learning the languages for web developing it was almost pointless, knowing that dreamweaver anyway could give me all the templates I needed, so css was a waste of time, xhtml also. Wordpress is just a way for amateurs to be able to do what I spent a lot of time studying to do.

[drewdellostritto]

@cssadiction I personally hate dreamweaver for the same reason; however, while it is true that Wordpress does make it easier for novices to do web (which is a good thing!), it also true that WP offers designers a challenge - using it to power our sites and bring our designs to life. For me it has also been a stepping stone into learning PHP and now into Ruby.

[aliencrap]

Web design is a field for lazy people in the first place. I can't believe what some of these lazy people charge for nothing. I for one, do it in my spare time because I can't justify charging people exorbitant amounts for nothing. I'd rather create something physical than a fleeting pile of pixels.

[TheSyntaxOverride]

@aliencrap Then go do that instead of trolling

[TejasM14]

Wordpress is making things easy for the end user. Managing a website without technical understanding was a challenge for years. Wordpress changed a lot of things for the better. If anything, even wordpress is not there yet. But it is way better than software based web design.

[mixwebdesign]

Using wordpress as my cms website is because my clients able to update the content by themselves. Not the reason for us to become lazy.

[kmacc390]

Agreeing with a quote I read somewhere "Wordpress puts food on my table" period.

[studionashvegas]

@mimeans it's programs like Artisteer that ARE killing web design. It's got its purpose, that's for sure, but it's the reason that so many WordPress sites look like WordPress sites.

There's a give and take on the web between nice looking and customizable - for the most part you can't have your cake and eat it too - which is why sites that all share a popular framework (at least, 99% of them) look the same - WordPressy.

it's not bad - Mediocre designers / marketers-turned-designers make it bad

[mlmeans]

The use of WordPress has allowed me to continue to find decent work in this crappy economy. My clients are thrilled with the idea that they can (somewhat) manage their own website and save themselves some serious business cash.

[jmcminn]

These guys are tools

[MisterDoctorNerd]

if this was tl;dr,: wordpress isn't bad, the way some people are using it is bad. like comic sans.

[tremwar]

I started with wordpress... then I stopped web development for about a year and went into python and java to get a better grip on programming... and then I came back to web development... shopklick.tv Let me tell you, I wrote the entire site 3,000+ lines of code from the ground up,(and yes, it's still a lil' buggy, due to rapid dev)... personel preference is for solid libraries( thank you soooo much jQuery ) CMS's are for people who want to do what's already been done

[JenJW]

I've been using WordPress for a while now, but when it comes to designing a theme, I can't seem to latch on to how to do it. I know basic web design, but I'm very confused by WordPress' language and can't seem to turn a web theme I create into a WordPress theme (let alone any of the other CMSs).

[mlmeans]

@JenJW Look for an inexpensive program called Artisteer, it's a bit like a WYSIWYG theme designer for many CMS systems. It is far from perfect, but it will get you headed in the right direction.

[ModifiedWebdotCom]

I'm just a beginner here but every site I've started, starts with a blank CS4 canvas and my cms is built around my design.

[RoughneckGraphics]

Wordpress can be very helpful sometimes. I think it actually it is actually on a per project basis if it is going to be useful.

[cherriemarie52]

Word Press has the ability to be a complete robust website with a blog included!

[cherriemarie52]

Our sites are drop dead gorgeous, intricate designs and still gave the basic user tons of ways to interact with their sites.

[cherriemarie52]

Real estate web hosting template companies have killed many of the mindsets for agents. Let's get a template that looks like everybody else for free, go find a theme and hope that it makes you money. 

[liquidplastic62]

but WP is primarily a blog engine. You get much more freedom if you use a cms like MODx or even Silverstripe. How can WP give any designer freedom? What am i missing? As an afterthought, child-themes are awesome, particularly thematic. Go see.

[TenTonBooks]

Is WordPress killing web design, or is lazy web design killing web design? WordPress is just a tool, no different than a pencil or paintbrush. Print designers imposing their preconceived idea of design onto the platform of the web hinders web design; lazy designers who don't push WP hinders web design; not WordPress.

The tool is indifferent. WP doesn't make or break design anymore than a pencil makes or breaks a drawing. It's the designer on the other end of the tool who's responsible for that.

[chilled99]

@TenTonBooks Hear hear, jolly good show! I'm a longitme web designer and I've jsut gotten into Wordpress - What I thin kit does is free a designer to focus on design without the time and cost associated with setting up or building a CMS. It lets you be a designer again with the added bonus that the site is robust and manageable for clients.

Stick THAT in your workflow pipeline and smoke it!

[jorgediro]

@chilled99

Exactly man. Well said. Drafting in Photoshop, front-end HTML/CSS coding and above all apply the proper Wordpress tags. Easy as pie and you can focus on your design, not the CMS. I would say that is killing back-end developers "creativity", and making front-end designers life easier and funnier.

[axmujica]

@chilled99 I totally agree with your comment...

[dancoulter46]

@TenTonBooks Think the saying: 'blame the workman not his tools' comes into play here!

[scarecrovv]

@TenTonBooks good fucking point.