I think the only way we’re going to survive the apparent slump in the world wide web design industry is to lift ourselves out of this trend [we are just talking about front-end design here right? Surely some of the ‘back-end’ heavyweights, Yahoo, Amazon etc. are thriving]. On the surface, we are seeing an over-saturation of design for it’s own sake; sites so overladen in their own self importance that they forget the importance of the customer. The last few years has seen a huge appetite for this type of approach; clients are willing throw lots of cash to agencies who can come up with the sweetest eye-candy. It’s time to move on, but until the telecoms companies get their act together and a world-wide broadband network is in place, and the internet takes its next evolutionary step, things are going to continue to stagnate around here.