4 Laziest Design Tactics on Web and Print Media

I’m all for simplicity and minimalism – just ask my clients and colleagues and they’ll tell you the same thing. However, there is an enormous difference between simplicity and just straight up laziness that in turn impacts quality of work produced.

Here are the 4 laziest design tactics you can utilize for web and print:

1. Hamburger menus on desktop sites

This translates decently on a mobile environment, but on desktop this creates more problems than solves them. First and foremost, it adds an extra step to the process of users tracking down the content they want to see. I stress to everyone to have a well thought out site map and navigation menu that users can see directly upon visiting your site. This can also affect loading times depending on how the menu is built.

2. Dropshadows

Dropshadows might be cool if you’re still in the 90s, or having your 14 year old nephew make nightclub flyers but in a serious context these are a no-go. They do not offer any real value to design principles and especially with flat assets, just look very odd.

3. Bad Kerning

Kerning is a term used for the spacing in between letters. Bad kerning is a serious crime in the graphic design world. If you are not careful you could have some offensive content without knowing it!

4. Non-Responsive Websites

This is a serious one – mobile digital media time clocks in at 51% compared to desktop at 42%. This translates to people spending more time online on mobile devices than desktop. Every client I work with I stress the importance of having a mobile friendly website. Without this, google will lower your search ranking score negatively affecting your visibility on search results.

Sources: Smart Insights / Google Web Master Central