Jeffrey Zeldman
Jeffrey Zeldman
Jeffrey Zeldman is an entrepreneur, web designer, author, podcaster and speaker on web design. He is the founder of A List Apart Magazine and the design studio Happy Cog, and the co-founder of A Book Apart and the design conference An Event Apart. He also co-hosts The Big Web Show, a podcast about the web and online publishing...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth12 January 1955
CountryUnited States of America
design absence graphic-design
Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it's decoration.
jobs writing design
Whether the task is writing, design, or hanging a picture straight, it is obvious that we do our best work when healthy, rested, refreshed, alert, and eager to do the job for its own sake.
mistake love-you like-love
Usability is like love. You have to care, you have to listen, and you have to be willing to change. You’ll make mistakes along the way, but that’s where growth and forgiveness come in.
design decoration
Content informs design; design without content is decoration.
tests assumption consciousness
Test everything, including assumptions
boys white firsts
When I see Facebook, I feel like Howlin' Wolf must have felt when he first heard Elvis. 'They finally taught a white boy to do this.'
mistake views two
Many young web designers view their craft the way I used to view pop culture. It's cool or it's crap. They mistake Style for Design, when the two things are not the same at all. Design communicates on every level. It tells you where you are, cues you to what you can do, and facilitates the doing. Style is tautological; it communicates stylishness. In visual terms, style is an aspect of design; in commercial terms, style can communicate brand attributes.
hosting nobody pays work
When you die, nobody pays your hosting company, and your work disappears. Like that.
engagement figure hoped increase networks notion sell
When we launched The Deck, I hoped other networks would take inspiration from it and figure out how to increase engagement while minimizing clutter. I even tried to sell my studio's media clients on the notion of fewer, better-priced, better-targeted ads.