Maybe we need to answer the question “what is web design” as well.
When I first considered writing this post I knew that I’d immediately have to add that “of course this post is a client resource as those of us in ‘Web Design’ already know the answer“.
Of course that isn’t really true. The definition can be confusing . Even those of us who consider ourselves designers have trouble. Simply reading the job postings will demonstrate this. One company’s web designer is another company’s web developer. Whil one company is satisfied with layout and illustration skills another requires a solid grasp of coding, scripting and software development cycles. So venturing boldly into potentially controversial territory. I’ll make an attempt at defining, or at least narrowing down, what separates a web designer from “someone who makes web pages”. Then I’ll explore what a web designer should absolutely know and some additional (don’t you detest this term?) value added skills.
The first misconception I want to dismiss is that web design is about making a site “pretty”. Its not though it surely doesn’t hurt. The second misconception is that if a person understands Dreamweaver or even html and can use Photoshop or another graphics editing program they can call themselves a web designer.
That misconception is responsible for more built by a relative, designed by a friend and self-created sites well. . .you know. . .you’ve seen them. Frankly thats all some people need but I wouldn’t recommend that particular approach for any site that needs to attract an audience or upon which your business or reputation may depend. If your only knowledge of web design is using Dreamweaver in design view I think it safe to say at some point you will run into trouble and ask for help.
You wouldn’t expect your six year old child to create a gallery worthy painting with the paint set they received for Christmas either.
So web design is not merely graphic design or art. It is not html or software knowledge. What else is it not?
A surprising number of programmers and software engineers out on their own advertise as web designers.
Someone with any, or a combination, of the skills above has made a solid start - its simply that knowledge doesn’t stop there.
Web Design has a lot more in common with Industrial Design than it does with Graphic Design. Think about it. Remember that Buckminster Fuller quote from an earlier post?
“When I’m working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”
What this quote means is that all of the skills mentioned above, in combination, come into play as well as a number of additional skills. The site should be beautiful. It should be functional. It should be easy to navigate.
Web projects are problems that need a solution. A good web designer will know how to separate the pertinent from the immaterial and will work out a solution that addresses those specifically. Unless your project is on an extremely fast track a wireframe diagram will be created at this point. This is much more about placement and how items are weighted on the page than look and feel. The point of a wireframe is to work out a layout that solves the unique design problems of a project.
A web designer needs to be able to grasp the nature of sometimes large amounts of content and understand how to make that information easy to find and navigate. Web designers are often the professional closet organizers of web content and this part is known as information architecture. This, as well as a number of skills and or knowledge areas to follow, is critical enough to the success of a web project that there may be a dedicated team member specializing in this one aspect of the whole if the project is very large.
More to come on this post. Return for more on usability, web standards, browser compatibility, color theory, creativity, css, seo . . .
