Most of his views is pretty much a repeat on the steps of designing a project on which we have learned from the Art Institute.
A design process does take multiple steps and time which he explains in his blog, however, if you are in a bind or on a deadline you do not have this quality time to plan and layout for a project. Half the time you have no time to research a project and mainly go from experience of things you have seen or read over time. Sometimes you might draw out thumbnails but usually you will just go into roughs and comps if you have a strong idea on where you are heading with it.
He was dead on about type in a web site; it is very crucial. For that you should spend time on the right type treatment since it sets the mood for the entire site. And as for images he was saying too many images will bog down and ruin a site. I sort of have a problem with that. If that is someones style and they know how to layout a site with multiple images and make it look great then go for it. He just threw in his opinion and style into his blog.
The end statement is always going to be true since a web site is usually made for the public domain. You are always going to have critiques and statements about the site on which you can improve on. Same goes with any type of project or design.
Ken,
I have built a lot of commercial sites and I would never attempt to finalize a site design with a client if I did not have my research done as to what sites in that client’s industry are the best and why. If you don’t know their competition and only rely on your “strong idea of where you are heading”, I think you will be in serious trouble in the real world of designing for clients. Perhaps this class will be an opportunity to try some new things that make sense, similar to using well-formed code which gives a designer an advantage.