Things that are bizarrely out of proportion give me the weebie-jeebies1. As a kid, weird images would pop into my head as I was drifting off to sleep, like a massively over-sized tire, and I’d go all weebie-jeebie. Usually I could counteract this by shifting position - laying with my face on the pillow and my butt in the air - which generally normalized size and stopped the spin. I’m drawn to Salvador Dali’s ‘The Elephants’ because it induces a very similar effect, and also euphoria, making me secretly want to own a copy so I can careen by it in bliss.
But I digress.
I am writing this not out of a need to validate my phobias, but in an attempt to derail a current web trend in the form of OBNOXIOUSLY LARGE feed buttons. I’m talking the 128 x 128 sized behemoths, stuck on the page like a discarded dinosaur lozenge. Please stop doing this; your pages make me sick and I can’t surf the ‘net with my butt in the air. This isn’t McDonalds, we aren’t supersizing our feeds, and I don’t care what Fitt’s law2 states, you should keep your rss feed buttons to a reasonable size. Please.
{ fin }
- Weebie-jeebies is, as it sounds, a slight variation on ‘heebie jeebies’ but with the nuance of wobbliness and vertigo. [↩]
- If we want to carry that one to it’s logical conclusion, just start throwing this bad boy on your site. [↩]
i wholeheartedly agree. i’ve been shopping around for wp themes, and saw a couple with that massive rss button. wtf?!
I think WP themes might be the main source of the trend atm. I’ve seen an inordinate number sporting the things when perusing galleries…
There are only two images on my sidebar. A duck and a rss button. I felt being proportional would be out of sync because my other image isn’t really serving a purpose. I know its big. And it is following a trend, but not being in a trend is a trend in itself; especially when it comes to WordPress. Everyone wants to be different.
Perhaps in my next tweak, I’ll change it. If I’m drunk enough to remember, but I stand by my single serving image.
Chris-
I wasn’t trying to pick on you specifically… I didn’t even realize you had the 128 x 128 image on your site. I get your updates by RSS, ironically enough. Good for you though, stand by your image (starts humming the tune to ‘Stand By Your Man’). I’ll keep reading through NetNewsWire…
If you take a look at the article “45 More Excellent Blog Designs” on SmashingMagazine.com (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/20/45-more-excellent-blog-designs/) you will see an image of my old blog design.
The icon was 200px x 231px.
My icon was part of the design (albeit not very well integrated into the design). I think the idea of constraining the RSS icon (or any design feature) to a certain size should be dictated by the design, not by trends or by a set standard.
I agree, however, that designers need to stop sticking them “on the page like a discarded dinosaur lozenge.”
Pat
Pat, that’s a good point. The RSS button from your old design is huge, but next the very large text, it doesn’t feel wrong or out of balance. However, many of the buttons I see are swimming in the middle of 12px fonts and it just tips the balance too far. And then the weebie jeebies start.
I love your typographic touch. Thanks!
Your definitely right .
If someone will want to use rss in your site , he will do it without press “big” button .
P.S. : Please press my name and help me [ENTER the WEBSITE]