Dribbble Rules

Awhile ago, I liked a shot of Naz Hamid’s on Dribbble and, while I don’t typically read comments, for some reason I noticed this gem from Naz under the shot:

People use Dribbble in different ways. For me, it's showing true snippets — hints of things in progress. For a lot of work, it's all very hush-hush/NDA, so I only show things that are unidentifiable. And always things that are works-in-progress. Rarely complete. Additionally, I crop at full-size — so no squishing and whatnot. I have my arbitrary internal rules for Dribbble. :)

I don’t think I would have solidified my Dribbble behavior into rules, but upon second thought, the notion really fits. A lot of people lament over the 400 x 300 masterpieces that make it to the popular page, but I don’t have a huge problem with that. I do, however, truly enjoy seeing snippets of what people are actually doing. I love following people who post what they’re up to, even though the designs may never see the light of day. Design is a process and I appreciate those that have respect for that.

Here’s my Dribbble rules:

• Logos/limited cute announcements are the only things that are fine to pre-format in a 400 x 300 frame.
• Everything else should be an unzoomed crop of something that I’m actually in the process of refining (use “done“ work very sparingly).
• Always tag type.
• Use attachments prudently and only in instances of context, with the occasional pride post.

That’s it. Follow me on Dribbble here. Post responsibly.