title: What are your best Swing design patterns and tips?
body: <p>I'm writing a GUI for an application using Swing, and in the interests of code maintenance and readability, I want to follow a consistent pattern throughout the whole system.</p>
  
  <p>Most of the articles and books (or at least book sections) that I've read appear to provide plenty of examples on how to create and arrange various components, but ignore the bigger picture of writing a full GUI.</p>
  
  <p>What are your best tips for application GUI design, and what patterns do you follow when designing or refactoring a GUI application?</p>