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So, designers are little understood, our work unappreciated and customers think we charge too much? Maybe. Maybe it’s a PR problem? Anyway, here’s a few thoughts on what it is to be a web designer.
We share a realism with programmers, coders and project managers and that’s the 80:20 rule (see About Design for more on this). OK, now for a reality check:
- You have some idea of what you’re getting yourself into (you poor, doomed soul!)
…check! - You have some aptitude for administration, accounts, client management, marketing ..and well, all that business stuff!
…check! - You’re reasonably creative, can listen to what a client wants (but discern their needs), work to a timeline (slave hehe) and deliver the goods (straight up, first time, no problemo!)
…check! - And of course, you have a business plan, marketing plan, budget, insurance, a registered business? Of course you do…
…check!
Well, I guess if you’re still reading you must be really interested (or giggling your head off). You do so want to be a Web Designer? OK. So now that you know there’s some hard yakka in being a Web Designer, let’s get on with it!
Get a Solid backgrounding
WordPress?
Hah, a bone of contention, this! WordPress is the go-to, right?
Allegedly anyway… Well it’s very convenient, has massive support in terms of plugin’s and is good for generating a quick site design. The downside is that it’s a subscription model for hosting and plugins. Business hosting with plugins is $33 a month and $59 a month for an eCommerce setup. You could get away with the Freelancer package for $10 a month, but you don’t get to play with the plugins unless login in under a client access, and that’s just tacky. Then there are the plugins which can scale up into thousands of dollars a year.
Outside of WordPress you can often bulk buy plugin packages and license them out to clients for profit on your side and savings on theirs – but you need enough contracts to make that feasible and it can turn in to a mess of subscription administration. If you’re an in-house web designer this can be a major consideration in outsourcing the work.
You could kick off with free WordPress if you are a rookie and want to get used to WordPress before committing yourself to growing costs that can easily get out of hand. If nothing else – if you do bail – you will have an appreciation for what’s involved and be better able to seek hosting and a good designer. But with a free account CSS linking and <HEAD> access is blocked so you will need some HTML and CSS skills to tweak code for each and every damned instance rather than setting up a rules.
You will soon run into problems with things that you want to do but that aren’t possible with the plan that you’re on or the plugins you have. So you search for plugins to fit your need and try to work out just which plugin will work for you – this is where an experienced designer or mentor can be of great help. Otherwise you’re down the rabbit hole like Alice, wondering why things just got weird!
It’s also a problem if you just jump right in and don’t do the tutorials or read up and learn the do’s and not-to-do’s like say, swap a theme out without preparation and suddenly lose customisations across the board.
Some considerations:
Be Mobile-friendly
[17 Sep 18] Source: Getflyout | Layout, by Morgan Smith
- Understand why responsive web design is important
- Take the Google Mobile-Friendly Test
- Use a responsive WordPress theme (or create your own)
- Consider mobile-friendly WordPress plugins
- Use mobile-friendly opt-ins
- Think in terms of responsive media
User Experience (UX)
[30 Jan 19] Source: The Daily Egg | User Experience Design: 6 Simple Steps for Developing Your UX Design Process, by Jason Little
- Every aspect of your web design should be tailored for your buyer personas, their needs, challenges, and desires.
- Know what your audience wants so you may reflect those objectives on your website.
- Layout should be based on visitor preferences and conversion routes be clearly paved and easy for visitors to figure out.
- Customized UX only comes from extensive research; of competitors and market.
The full article is UX in a nutshell and is well worth reading.
the online customer journey and implementing WordPress
[6 Mar 19] Source: Themeisle | How to Use the Online Customer Journey on Your WordPress Site, by John Hughes
Introduction to the five basic stages of the online customer journey and implementation on your WordPress website.
So now that you know a bit about being a Web Designer, so get on already!
‘Nuff said…
Other Sections
- About Design
Create - Manage - Produce 