1 May 2006 4 pm eastern

May Day, May Day

Every year or two a fresh crop of internet blowhards decides design doesn’t matter. Indeed, they proclaim that bad design is good. Not merely is it good, it is the secret to internet wealth and success, they tell us. Whereas, they assure us, user-friendly, brand-appropriate, professional graphic design — or even mere competence — is the royal road to Failureville.

I don’t understand the siren song of this demonstrably idiotic claim. I don’t know why it seduces a new crop of assh*les each year. I only know it does. And then, just as predictably, all the year’s hot young new media designers get in a huff defending design against the fools who attacked it.

Seems to me it might be better to let the anti-design dummies rant themselves out and roll along their happy ignorant path in search of new things to attack. Such as air. Or babies.

Maybe I am jaded. Or maybe it’s hard to get exercised over inanity you’ve seen recur so many times. The assertion that “bad design is good internet” has been made by one set of dorks after another since at least 1995. One prominent consultant aside, nobody can remember who these blowhards were. They charged full bore into obscurity, as dolts generally do.

So to this year’s hot (under the collar) web designers, remember: next year, you will still be designing beautiful websites. And the people who claim that bad design is good? If they’re lucky, they will be selling apples on the street corner.

In other news

  • It’s May Day. Immigrants protest, and rightfully so.
  • It’s May Day. And that means a reboot.
  • It’s May Day. And that means a reboot.
  • It’s May Day. A day that honors worker’s rights. So it is only fitting that May Day was also the day of the Canadian Union of Public Employees website reboot. Happy May Day! Happy workers! Happy Canadians! Happy Cog redesigned this site.

In other, other news

Registration is now open for An Event Apart NYC.

In other, other, other news

An Event Apart Chicago has sold out. Whee.

Filed under: Design, Happy Cog™, Redesigns, links, people, war, peace, and justice, work

17 Responses to “May Day, May Day”

  1. The Business of Web Innovation: Design said on August 12th, 2006 at 5:32 am:

    [...] Recent postings of note include; • http://www.zeldman.com/2006/05/01/may-day-may-day/ • http://www.cjung.info/wordpress/?p=25 [...]

  2. Martinas.info dienoraštis » Archyvas » Mįslė said on November 3rd, 2006 at 9:58 am:

    [...] Kritikos dozė apie Gegužės pirmosios "redizainus" iš pačio dievo Jeffrey Zeldman.. [...]

  3. Embiggening : Controversy Over Ugly Design Continues said on November 7th, 2006 at 4:46 pm:

    [...] And the mighty Zeldman peered down from Mount Olympus long enough to give us this: I don’t understand the siren song of this demonstrably idiotic claim. I don’t know why it seduces a new crop of assh*les each year. I only know it does. And then, just as predictably, all the year’s hot young new media designers get in a huff defending design against the fools who attacked it. Filed under: Design, ugly   [...]

  4. 2006: The Year in Review · The Watchmaker Project said on December 19th, 2006 at 3:00 pm:

    [...] Nobody was quite sure what to think about bad design – and MySpace became the bete-noir of choice for succeeding in spite of bad design [...]