This is the celebrated journal of Mr. Simon Collison A.K.A Colly

Too Many Cooks

19th May 2005

Collaboration is a buzzword we can’t ignore in web design at the moment. At a time when many web agencies are little more than an amalgamation of freelancers, it’s interesting to see this collective seizing the zeitgeist and pushing the envelope so fast it bursts into flames and singes the fingers of all who view it.

Current rating: 9.8 (1,614 votes)

Added: 18th May 2005

Designer: Too Many Cooks

Submitter: Andy Clarke

Collaborations ain’t always smooth. The recent collaboration between Jeffrey Zeldman’s Happy Cog and Doug Bowman’s Stopdesign shows just how out of touch the “pros” are. Their Capgemini redesign was a terrible concoction of well-thought out structure, clean CSS and usability. Awful.

Thankfully, the refreshingly misguided Too Many Cooks shows us the worth of dueling approaches. Why on earth should we tie ourselves to the tedium of delivering a page with purpose? And usability - overrated really, isn’t it? Do we need to think our designs through any more? Is there any need for design workshops, site plans or testing? Just get all the designers you know to do two minutes work each, scrunch each contribution up into a little ball, throw it all in a hat, and serve up the results.

I’m predicting this approach, and the look and feel of Too Many Cooks will have a great influence on web design throughout the remainder of 2005. Stupid five-year-old’s drawings of big birds, beige, italics and fish will be influencing us all from this pivotal point onwards.

CSS Zen Garden? Shea, give it up. Cederholm, you failed to teach us anything with your books. Jeffrey, pull that hat over your head. Too Many Cooks throws your teachings out of the window, and brings back the child in all of us.

This is one broth that has not been spoiled by too many cooks. Pass me some crusty bread and let me dunk.

Reviewed by Simon Collison (after drinking a pint) for Stylegala.

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