This article was written in 2012. It might or it might not be outdated. And it could be that the layout breaks. If that’s the case please let me know.

The Photoshop Stack is the exact opposite of the Web Stack.

Last night I asked on app.net if grids and typography are the basis of good design. Stuart Robson answered:

content > typography > layout > paint (usability is ‘a given’)

When I saw this post I realized that this is the exact same thing as the so called Web Stack. HTML is understood by the simplest browsers, typography is seen on the smallest screens, layout is delivered to browsers that understand mediaqueries and fancy things are shown to browsers that understand the necessary CSS3. It’s a pretty logical order when you think of it, it makes perfect sense.

Later on in this same discussion Stuart wrote:

it’s funny that ‘now’ we’re only realising it rather than it being paint/layout/typography then content.

This post made me realize that this is the Photoshop Stack! This is the exact way we’ve been working all these years. The reason Photoshop is not suitable as a web design tool is not only because it forces you to think in exact formats instead of ratios. The main reason is that it forces you to think in the exact opposite way of how the web works! Now I understand why so many visual web designers don’t understand web design. And now I can explain it to them.

And I found out that Saturday night is the right moment for good discussions about web design.