In this digital age, most businesses have started to have a website to increase their visibility so that users can choose them over other competitors. So instead of looking for designers who can build websites, companies are looking for established designers who can build websites using code. A web designer should work both in the front-end and back-end design process. Web designers need to develop skills such as User Experience (UX)/User Interface (UI) Design, Graphic Design, Coding Skills, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Communication, etc. to stand out from other designers.
1. The benefits of knowing web design theory: Knowing web design theory helps designers design websites with users in mind. Web Design Theory Fundamentals looks at architecture, color theory, and user experience, which are critical to creating web designs that allow users to spend more time on a website. Good navigation and attractive visual design help users find information and take action quickly and easily. Learning and integrating information architecture (AI) when designing a website will help build a high-quality website.
2. Do you need programming skills? Learning some programming languages can differentiate designers from other designers and give them an edge in exploring design customization opportunities. Today, most design firms are looking for designers with basic knowledge of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) as these are the most commonly used languages when designing websites. CSS handles the visual appearance (style and layout) of the website, while HTML provides structure to the website and helps put content in the right place.
3. Three things that differentiate web designers: Designers need to be familiar with the basic tools used in the web and graphic design industry today. Learning image or graphics editing software such as Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop may not seem like a big deal for web designers, but it can be useful in critical situations where graphic design corrections are required. Resizing and compression are the most common tasks web designers do, so knowing the basics is more than enough.
A content management system (CMS) allows multiple users access to modify, manage, and create web content. It helps web designers with little or no coding knowledge to create and host websites with many template and plugin options.
Prototyping is an important part of UX (User Experience) design and helps designers visualize the final version of a website. Prototyping helps clients complete their designs, and designers can now spend some time crafting the perfect website design instead of finishing the entire design and waiting for client approval.
4. It’s good to know some SEO practices: While a website design looks great, only the best SEO strategies can increase your website’s visibility. SEO is a set of processes that deal with appearance and ranking in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). It helps Google crawl thousands of other sites at the same time, making the site easy to use.
5. Improve your communication skills: In addition to web design skills, communication skills are important as they help you communicate effectively with clients and teams for better results. Teamwork is essential in any area of the industry, so effective communication among team members is essential to creating a website that meets client needs rather than your own copy.
6. Check your work to improve quality: Web designers need to check their work regularly so they can learn and improve techniques flawlessly. Frequently testing web pages helps designers evaluate page load speed and verify that a site works properly on mobile and desktop versions.
7. Showcase your talents with a portfolio: Today, companies looking for web designers need skills, experience, and knowledge. Therefore, a solid portfolio can help companies understand the potential of web designers and choose among others who only understand web design theory. With the ever-increasing number of web designers, a portfolio is a must to showcase your uniqueness and creativity. 8. Keep up with the following trends: As designs and trends continue to change, web designers need to keep up with the latest trends and technologies so they don’t become outdated. While design shows uniqueness and creativity, it needs to complement current trends to be sustainable in this design industry. Designers can access social media platforms where other designers share their work and get inspiration to create a website that matches current trends.
9. Join the web design community: Getting inspiration from other designers through social media platforms is a daily practice, but staying connected with them helps designers grow and learn more. By actively participating in the web design community, designers can learn more about upcoming trends and technologies in web design. Making connections is the most important thing a web designer should remember. Designers should try to attend local conferences to get more exposure.
10. Use feedback to improve the design: Try sharing your work with colleagues and friends and ask them to provide feedback on what they think of the design. After receiving feedback, web designers can improve their work style and web design approach. Web designers always strive for perfection in their work, but this should be avoided early in their career. Attempting to be perfect early on can cause problems for web designers due to the time involved.