A new breed of web designers

Posted by Johan on May 18th, 2006.

Johan has posted 26 articles.

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Are you a real pro webdesigner?

Webdesigners from around the globe have various educational backgrounds: multi-media college, graphic design, computer sciences, communication sciences. In fact, a large portion of the pool of webdesigners is completely self-taught by means of online tutorials, books, workshops or on-the-job training. Anyone can become a truly superb skilled webdesigner through talent,skills, dedication and hard work - they have their excellent portfolios to prove that. They are the true professionals and earned the label of true renaissance webdesigner. Well done! To take it one step further: anyone can produce a completely stunning and functional website or claim to be a professional webdesigner and start a web agency or become a full-time freelancer. This is possible due to the (free) nature of the Internet: you simply can! So basically we can be happy but we cannot dismiss the feeling websites on the Internet are also a mish-mash of modified templates, amateurish flash websites with intros that last forever to load, websites with poorly crafted graphics, inaccessible and so on (the list is long). Even a lot of big corporate websites thrive on templates that are full of tag soup and validation errors. Hopefully, corporate webdevelopers/webmasters with no graphic skills at all still building web applications, websites and intranets will see this is not really their cup of tea and give the webdesign job to a real pro webdesigner. Probably, a lot of webdesign work is being out-sourced or is given to the in-house graphic designer (if there is one). The pro webdesigner has excellent graphic skills, is proficient in HTML, CSS, flash, client-side scripting (JS, DOM). The idea of having a neat and beautiful website has gained success and intrest more and more. The profession of webdesign has made its mark: the webdesigner turns a website into a visual and functional concept!

Work, work, work

A full-time employed web designer working in a design-developer team does have the benefit to be able to work together with other pros like client-side developers, flash developers, usability experts, marketeers, copy-witers. The benefit to learn a lot from other people’s expertise and foremost to concentrate on designing the website! On the contrary, a freelance webdesigner works alone and has to meet deadlines too - not having the back-up of a full supporting all-star team of developers, etc. A free-lancer needs to fall back on a larger set of skills: web development (java,php,server,remote scripting, javascript), marketing skills, organisation skills. The self-employed free-lancer has to look for clients - one can be employed by a corporation or web agency on a per project basis or make websites for small clients.The income of the free-lance webdesigner is not guaranteed - and not everyone will succeed in being in the free-lance businesss for a long time. Though it is a good start for any pro webdesigner that cannot find a full-time job at an agency or other. When applying for a full-time position as a webdesigner: a solid educational background in graphic design and/or a large set of web development skills is a big advantage to others with less to offer.This means it has hardened the competition.

Webdesign: higher level

Graphic designers with strong visual talents have injected their skills not only in the world of printing but also into the world of web design and raised the bar for professional web design in terms of functional design and visual communication.

Important skills? Identity design! Brand design! Writing skills!

Recently, these skills in particular have come on the foreground.
Just look at all these beautiful logos on numerous websites. A website with a strong identity, instantly catchy and recognizable. A new logo may well boost the popularity of a website since people associate the brand - form, colors with the website - and renewal is synonym to innovation. People love innovation and this is surely the case on the web where new technologies, trends are launched everyday. For a website there is the importance of well-written content as well. This goes for static content as well as frequently updated content. A website that is easy to read and pleasant to wade through, filled with concise and worthy content is a very important factor to achieve further success of a website. A webdesigner needs to have outspoken writing skills and needs to have a sense/understanding of typography.

Skills?? You?

What skills do you feel can be improved to be a better webdesigner personally?

And what skills do you see as mandatory?

Where did you learn your skills: training programme, academic level, self-taught?

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Yeah, and? I would not call this an article, you need to go deeper.

Tor Bollingmo
May 18th, 2006
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> Yeah, and? I would not call this an article, you need to go deeper.
This is a commentary or observation.
Sometimes you scratch the surface and you can provoke thought for others.

So how did you get into this business? Love for computers, design? Did you learn web design at school? Do you feel like you are a pro already? Do you want to make a living out of this, or is it just a hobby for you?

Does it frustrate you to see a bad ugly designed website - and you think I can do this so much better plus it hurts your esthetic feelings? Maybe your skills (design style, coding skills) are valuable or desirable to one client and none or futile for another?

Johan Van Den Rym
May 18th, 2006
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To answer your questions:

- What skills do you feel can be improved to be a better webdesigner personally?
I feel my latest designs are definitely strong cross-browser wise. Where I often slip up is getting ‘divitis.’ A common mistake.

- And what skills do you see as mandatory?
The term ‘web designer’ is often under great debate. It could be a Flash designer. It could be a standards-compliant designer. It could be a graphical designer for web. I think it’s impossible to define what a web designer is. For my job, I’d say strong tabless coding and accessibility combined with a good eye for details are essential. It is also vitally important to have real-world people skills, especially if you’re working alone.

- Where did you learn your skills: training programme, academic level, self-taught?
All self taught. Took about 3 years to get this far. Learning by example always seems to help. Keeping in touch with the industry is essential. Before you decide what skills to learn you need to know how the industry operates.

Andrew Faulkner
May 18th, 2006
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> I feel my latest designs are definitely strong cross-browser wise.

Inherently this is due to using web standards: you check in browser x: ok and browser y it fails. You make it work cross-browser to reach up to that standard.

> Where I often slip up is getting ‘divitis.

Semantically spoken: you have tag-itis. Divs are *normally* to seperate content into blocks they are containers. Like spans can be overused or misused too. Eg if you would use two classes or an id and class on that one div instead of using ids alone/just one class on every div (just an example) you would eliviate the extra divs. Div-itis is more dividing again and again where there is no need to. Eg you can use h1, p, span without a wrapper div since they are all block elements by nature. However sometimes you need the extra div to prevent the lay-out from breaking in the browser: eg paddings, margins when using floats. For example I needed to use an extra wrapper div for IE to keep a float from dropping.

Johan Van Den Rym
May 18th, 2006
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(Your comment tool, while novel, is in a horrible location - took me waaaaay too long to find it)

Interesting read.

The web design/development team at the company that employs me breaks down like this:

Project Manager
The PM creates and monitors the schedule, staff & budget. It is their responsibility to schedule regular meetings, and make sure the client’s needs are being met.

IA/User Experience Designer (yours truly)
The IA lead works with our strategy team to determine site structure and user interface design. Content, functionality and usability testing are also part of the UXD’s role.

Web Graphic Designer
The designers are responsible only for the visual design based on wireframes created by the UXD. They have no coding responsibility, most had zero coding experience until I taught a CSS/HTML development course. They also create designs in Flash, but do no ActionScripting.

Front End Developer
The Front End or UI Developer’s job is to take the visual design from a PhotoShop file to a functional HTML/CSS template. Most have design skills, but they are not trained designers.

Back End/Database Developer
These are the C#, ASP, .NET and Java developers who take the static HTML templates coded by the UI Developer and convert them into dynamic documents and websites.

I think that the Web Designer who has no ability to code HTML, CSS, and even JavaScript is a dying breed. I see the industry breaking into two distinctive skill sets: front end (UI, graphic design, Flash and HTML/CSS/JS coding) and back end (server-side scripting languages, databases). There are some people who are phenominal at the design and front/back end development aspects, but these people are few and far between (and most live in their parents’ basements).

Scott
May 18th, 2006
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“Are you a real pro webdesigner?” The problem is, everyone thinks they are. I bet it wouldn’t be too hard to find a reason why any of us should not be considered pro. That is what makes the whole subject so difficult and subjective.

Very interesting topic to bring up.

P.J. Onori
May 18th, 2006
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> “Are you a real pro webdesigner?”
I guess we have to define what the word “PRO” means in this context. If it’s pro as a shortcut of “professional”, then anyone who does webdesigner for a living is a pro. But it will exclude all “amateurs” no matter how good they are. However if “PRO” is meant for excellent habilities and knowledge, which results in a superior quality product, then many “amateurs” are way ahead of a lot of so called “professionals”. When it comes to this point a lot of people think they are pro’s, but are they really?

Tiago Rio
May 20th, 2006
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‘There are some people who are phenominal at the design and front/back end development aspects, but these people are few and far between (and most live in their parents’ basements).’

I’ll leave such descriptions as ‘phenom’ to others to bestow, but this is what i continually strive for, and i think anyone who considers themselves a ‘pro’ should strive for, if for no other reason they have a better understanding of how the entire system works. I dont think i would have made it this far if i had not picked up php and continue to become better at its uses.

p.s. i live in my own ‘basement’ ;)

david
May 20th, 2006
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I wish to add that I feel that a pro is not just someone who has exceptional web design skills but also understands (and perhaps contributes to) the industry/community. It is not entirely skills based, as in any job really.

Andrew Faulkner
May 20th, 2006
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Web design is simply interface design. And it should be treated as such. Interface design is simply building a shell for the functionality that resides underneath it. If design is as a means to live and pay bills, then I have no problems with one calling themselves a professional. It takes talent, drive and devotion to do this is as a full-time gig.

Arik
May 22nd, 2006
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Arik I disagree - Web design is not SIMPLY interface design. I think web design is such a complex area of design that, in my opinion, the best and possibly the only way to get a successful design is to have a TEAM. Personally I would have a art director / designer. This guy deals with all the graphics, typography, branding, look and feel - he needs to know and understand how the web works but not necessarily actually be able to code. Then I would have what I call the web developer - the guy who pulls all the designs into accessible html. You may also want a bit of flash so you have a multimedia designer in and maybe you want programing - get in a programmer. I often think that too many people try to be a Jack of all trades and master of none.

Personally I see myself as a graphic designer / art director. My background is print. I have about 4 years experience in the web but I do not pretend to be something I am not. Team based projects are always better and with good organisation and a good art director you can get some fantastic websites.

I do agree that a designer with no experience in web would produce a limited website. Little would be understood in the way of navigation, accessibility etc. Likewise somebody who only designed for web would create a site with poor typography, poor branding, etc. Rarely do I see somebody with the talent to do both effectively. Even web designers sometimes miss out on the true basics of interface design - hot spots, navigation, calls to action.

Something I think we do not see in your average website designer is somebody who knows marketing. People do not ask themselves What is the purpose of this page, is it to advertise or to give information. Why do I use pictures of people, what type of image will I need? Who is my target audience and what will appeal to them? What is my online strategy? Learn marketing, learn branding, learn typography, learn print and learn the web - then you will be a designer!

Nice article by the way. Let me answer some of your questions:
1) What skills do you feel can be improved to be a better web-designer personally?
I think that I need to refine my CSS and DIV skills into an advanced form. I know you’ll all probably kill me here but I think that I would also like to increase my knowledge of action scripting - The future is flash.

2) And what skills do you see as mandatory?
Where do I start? Graphical awareness, branding, marketing, clean coding, flash, and it goes on…. I suppose it depends in what role you see yourself. I say focus on one aspect and become a champion for that.

3) Where did you learn your skills?
Self taught. Left college and went straight into work. Then had to learn from others in the industry. Hands on no messing about training. Living life on the edge - wooooow!

Thanks for the observations. I liked it and I think more observations like it would be a great thing.

Matt Davies
May 22nd, 2006
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Good articles like this one are meant to provoke discussion, not have all of the answers.

I have been a web/interactive designer for almost nine years now and it was only in the last couple of years did I truly realize what it means to be a professional web designer. To greatly over-simplify, it is the ability to understand business, technical, branding and user requirements and from them, design a cohesive product that solves those needs and goals.

I know this sounds like a mission statement, but it is not easy to accomplish. Web design is not creating a shell for the back end (Arik) or a “modifying” a printed piece for the web. To do it right, you need the knowledge and experience in design, usability, marketing, business, content writing, and development. You don’t necessarily need to perform all of these skills, but thoroughly understand it so you can design from it and work effectively with people who do write, market, and develop.

http://spectorbrain.com/2006/05/22/designers-know-how-to-write-but-dont/

Enough of the rant. Again, great post. I look forward to reading more of them.

Spectorbrain
May 23rd, 2006
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Whats skills do you feel can be improved to be a better webdesigner personally?
Well… Actually. I don’t really consider myself a webdesigner. I’m that freelance guy in the article that tries to be a jack of all trades. But where can I improve? Graphic design. I can make the layout… I can write the JS… I can write the backend and the SQL like nobody’s business. But Photoshop owns me everytime…

And what skills do you see as mandatory?
Well… If you work in one of those team based thing where everyone covers one of the major areas then you don’t really need that many skills. (This, imo makes for very poor developers. At least around here, every company is looking for someone who can do everything… It would be very hard to find a job if you only have a very specialized skill.) However, if you have to work on the site/app from every different angle… Everything is a required skill. If I didn’t know JS… I would lose at least one client. If I didn’t know SQL… I would lose every client. If I didn’t know Ruby… I would lose two clients.

Where did you learn your skills: training programme, academic level, self-taught?
Heh… I scored an internship at a local software company when I was 16 years old. (One of my high school teachers was a former employee of theirs. :P) I knew only basic HTML, VB, and the absolute bare minimums of CSS. I studied my butt off, and learned by example. When I left there, due to downsizing, 3 years later my skill set had grown at least 10-fold. That was the best group of developers I’ve worked with to-date. Tightly knit group… Always willing to share ideas. It was great. Anyhow… I think that every “pro” web developer/designer is self-taught to an extent, because we never stop learning. If you stop learning… Plan to not have a job for long. In the three years since I was laid off, I’ve been freelancing and considering actually opening a webdev/design shop. Oh right… So to answer the question… On-the-job and self-taught.

Tyler McMullen
May 28th, 2006
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Holy hit, it happened again

Orymy Lee
December 12th, 2006
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Thanks for your read.I’m a self taught web site designer. Every thing I do I do from home. I,m about to apply for a full time web design company , thus I landed on your site just to see how to write up a section on my CV.Thanks for yopur time and efforts.

Gary Neame
September 29th, 2007
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Being a freelance web designer is a tough job, but the rewards are worth while.

Glen L Graham
January 12th, 2008
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