Envato’s Kuala Lumpur Conference

Hnnnggghh! First of all I need a insta-beam/djinny/whateffs, which transports me to Kuala-Lumpur. NOW!

However…
On the webdesigntuts+ pages and tutorials…

I’m very much into written tutorials. It’s easier for me to follow those and go through the steps as with a video, where I’d have to stop, replay, switch to certain points, rewatch the whole video, whenever I seem to have been missing a point.
Written tutorials (to me) are closer to reading a book, which still is my favorite and the most efficient way to learn something or to acquire some knowledge (follow a “story”). Taking notes while watching a video always requires me to stop the video (or to write very very fast?!).

Thinking of which content I’d like to have more of… dunno. The tuts+ pages are all very informative, have great quick-tips, are easily searchable for specific tutorials, et cetera et cetera. It’s the mixture, that makes it good as it is. Sometimes it’s this tut which makes me laugh (because the author is being a smartass and humoristic god), sometimes it’s that straight, structured, strict tut in a serious tone…well, you name it.
The basics helped me as I started with webdesign/-development. The advanced tuts are now much more interesting as I want to learn more and more skills in the field.

Interface? User Experience? Really? I mean… never change a running system, right? =)
If anything: Make the nav a fixed one (reduced to the essentials) so it scrolls with the page. Some tutorials can get veeeerrrryyy long (those written) and I won’t need to scroll back to the head to go back “home”. Can’t happen with videos. Yeah, right ( >_<) gawddamnvideotuts.

P.S.: It' really not THAT bad with the videos. ;-)

Ben is absolutely spot on. While extensive, in-depth tuts about a very specific issue are important and worthwhile – most of Envato has those down pat (perhaps except for one tweak I’ll mention below). However, the big picture of how all these pieces fit together is frequently neglected and is the greatest impediment to understanding the specifics and to being productive.

I must give an alternative to MarcoKunzs opinion. I believe him when he says that is the best way for him to learn and for the reasons he states; however, it is not the method to consistently obtain complete and accurate understanding for the majority of students. It’s no accident that the nearly universal moniker in every field is: “SEE one, DO one, TEACH one.” Having read nearly every tut on every envato site for going on four years (didn’t say I understood them all), I can say that there is NO WAY that almost any author has or takes the time to write in the meticulous depth that is conveyed by a VIDEO tut. That said, unless you have well defined standards and a good editor/producer there is a huge variability in the quality/understandability/annoyance factors in videos. And not all authors can pull it off; so, a good mix is best although a good video tut is worth a great deal more.

In that same light, Envato’s “Sessions” posts are a great way to “pull it all together,” so-to-speak; however, IMHO there could be improvement. It is easy to merely force a “Session” into becoming just another name for a filtered “archive.” Instead of merely throwing any post that’s submitted into a “sesson” category; IF, a Session topic is proactively broken down into its many specific parts that make up a whole process AND tuts are specifically commissioned for those parts AFTER a well written overview (road map) is published THEN you’ve really got something unique. That kind of teaching takes much, much more effort; but is Envato merely a retail outfit or as you state: a reader-friendly educational system bent on improving the craft and commuinity.

As this post is getting quite long, perhaps as I think of other suggestions I’ll take them off line as you suggested. [Except to say, it would be a grand gesture to provide some premium time or other voucher as a "reward/incentive" for unique suggest-ors. I'd be happy to come discuss this in person with you in Kuala.]

In my opinion written is much better than videos – videos tend to be quick and difficult to follow in terms of starting, stopping, pausing, etc etc.

Also, I would like to see some designs without photoshop. There are many ways that a minimal website that looks really good can be created without photoshop – or with just a few objects like a logo being created.

You have to remember, whilst many people get really into web design, not all of them will be willing to risk the £200 for photoshop in order to slice and code a PSD.

When you can visit us in Lebanon :)

wish i was there guys….