- This post only touches on visual design. Important, but just a subset of what "design" is.
- Dribbble is very "artsy" and not typically as focused on practical product design. I personally dont think its beneficial to spend time there, unless like the author states, you're interested in emerging visual trends.
- The author doesnt mention the foundations of design, which is disappointing. Spacing, alignment, visual hierarchy. affordances, etc. If you're building an app without a designer its far more important to understand those concepts than how to design a logo.
My advice, depending on how much time you're willing to invest:
- Read "Dont Make me Think" by Steve Krug (2.5~ hour read)
- Read the first half-ish of "The design of everyday things" (4 hours?)
- You may balk at the length of those reads, but I promise you, spending one day to learn design fundamentals is an extremely valuable use of your time.
Common mistakes I see developers making:
- No attention to spacing consistency
- Not creating enough space between unrelated elements
- Not aligning enough things
- Weak visual hierarchy
- Misusing radios vs. checkboxes vs. dropdowns, etc