Blog
What skills to look for in a web designer
There's still a lot of confusion as to what skills a professional web designer needs. Most people think they're the same skills as a graphic designer or similar skills to a programmer. A web designer actually has to know a lot more. Here's why.Commercial Design
A graphic designer and a web designer both need to be trained in commercial design. Unlike Art where the user can come up with their own interpretation of the Art; in commercial design the goal is to encourage the user to think a certain way or take a desired action such as purchase a product. To achieve this goal the designer not only has to know how to use professional design software but more importantly they need to understand how the audience will react. This is very difficult to do without professional training because there are a number of expert skills needed such as media theory, typography, marketing, psychology, etc.
User Interface Design
Unlike a normal programmer a web designer needs to take into account things like how fast the page will load, how to make the website get found by Google, how to get the website visitor to the information they need to as quickly a possible or how to improve the user's experience of the site with animation and better navigation using advanced web development such as JavaScript CSS3, HTML5, etc. Now that most businesses update their own websites using content management systems a web designer also has to understand how to integrate by coding in server side languages such as PHP or ASP. Now that sites are getting accessed from mobile devices such as iPhones and tablets the designer has to know Responsive and Adaptive design. A web designer has to continually be improving their coding skills to keep with technology development.
Communication
The third most important skill of a good web designer is communication. Frequently a web designer has to translate complex information such as how a website gets found by Google or how a design encourages a user to take a desired action. This takes practice and requires things like metaphor, patience, empathy, courtesy and a professional attitude geared toward helping others.
Anyhow, that's what I'm thinking about this week.
About
Brynn- Like this post? Share with your friends:
