There is an interesting middle ground I think a lot of new designers get stuck in. They’ve read every blog and seen every hack. They read the new A List Apart article so fast that their RSS reader doesn’t even know it’s been updated. At this point they run out of blogs to read. It’s easy to keep up with invention since all you had to do was read it. It’s the other guy (or gal) who had to invent it.

It’s at this stage where designers start to feel they’ve learned all they need to know. Masters of CSS and the internet. The problem is that CSS isn’t as easy as just reading about it. The problems you run in to are always once that no one has written an article about. No matter how many blogs you read there is no substitute for experience and meeting the problem head on.

This is the problem I have run in to. I “know it all” but I have yet to be able to apply it all. The only way to make it over that last hill is to code and code and code till magically you can fix anything. I don’t have enough focus to code new and challenging web pages 24/7 as simply coding can be tedious work.

Instead I’ve turned to new subject areas and being the dawn of 2006 JavaScript is clearly a big part of the future. So while I’m learning CSS through sweat equity I’ve found a new subject to read everything I can on. Hopefully by the time I truly am a master at CSS I will be ready to start working on my black belt in JavaScript as well.

By continually switching off  and learning about the next wave of technology before it is truly a requirement for designers hopefully I will always be ready to see what is ahead and start learning it.

css, javascript