Web Design
January 9, 2008
The web design business process is what happens between the web designer and the client they are serving.
–
The following article targets two groups of people:
- Web designers who want to get into the business of web design.
- People who are looking to higher a web designer and want to get a better idea of the process – at a high level.
When first approached by someone looking to get a web site built, the first thing you need to do is figure some details about the website. Things like:
- Features/functionality; do they need e-commerce, a blog, password protected pages etc.
- Scale: how big will the website be? How many pages?
- Purpose of the site: will it be a branding site? Will they need to be found by the search engines or will the site be more about serving an established client base?
These basic questions can have a big impact on how you build the site, the budget and the skills you will need as a web designer/consultant to complete the job.
read more
January 5, 2008
A few days ago, I got this email that is all about starting a web design business, so I thought I would answer it here because I think a lot of people might find it interesting.
I need your opinion. I was looking to quote a friend a price for a small, simple, informational website. No more then 10 pages at the most. Possibly holding scedules for his football team too (which would need to be updated).
I know he wants a deal from me. Also, design is my weak point. How would i properly word the idea of using a website template? If i go and get a template from somewhere, it would be ethically correct to tell him since he could come across the same design someday. How would i go about doing that without him thinking- well i can go get a template and i don’t need you! Then I’ve lost a job!
Let me know your ideas.
Thanks,
Tim
read more
November 13, 2007
Someone recently wrote to me where they were concerned about the future of web design as a profession. I’ve summarized the question as follows:
Given the rampant spread of website templates and point-and-click site builder tools (that more and more web hosts are offering) can web designers realistically expect to continue to make a good living building web sites for small business using traditional (from scratch) web design methods?
The answer to this question (and to find out clues on how to move forward) all we need to do is to look to web design’s past.
But before we go on, there is also something else to consider:
Web designers also have to deal with the reality that there are lots of kids out there willing to use pirated copies of Dreamweaver and Photoshop, to build a website for a fraction of what professionals have to charge.
Since (I’m guessing) most web design professionals don’t live with their parents anymore, it’s hard for them to compete with teenage nerds who just need XBox money.
How about the quality of the web design work – doesn’t that have an affect on who people will choose to build their website?
… Unfortunately, sometimes quality (for short sighted business owners) doesn’t fit into the equation. That said, there is good news for professional web designers. Read on …
read more
November 10, 2007
Every once and a while I use a question put to me, as the basis for an article. This time, we have Richard asking whether web design (as a profession,) will have bright future.
The email:
Thank you for having courses that make it easier for the average laymen to comprehend the basics which will allow the complex material to sink in. I have a question though.
I am in my fifties, have done many different things in my life, and I am looking for something as a career change to take me into my second half of life and into retirement. What do you think the opportunities are going to be in the future in this type of industry taking into consideration the advancements in technology?
In other words, where do you see a web page developer or designer 5, 10, 15 years from now. Thank you for your time and consideration in my attempts to make an educated decision about my future.
Sincerely,
Richard Sherban
Hi Richard,
I think the future is good for web design and development. That said, I would like point out a few things:
read more
November 7, 2007
Firefox is the Web browser of choice for most web designer’s, because it is fast and it sticks to the Web standards better than say IE6 or IE7.
That said, Firefox has a bunch of other features that makes it attractive to Web professionals. One of the big ones for me, is the ability for anyone to add to Firefox’s core functionality by way of plugins.
Add-ons/Extensions
My only complaint about Firefox plugins is that the Firefox nerds don’t call them ‘plugins’! Instead they use the terms ‘add-ons’ and ‘extensions’. Besides that little issue, Firefox plug-ins turn this nimble Web browser into an important tool for Web designers.
read more
November 3, 2007
Back in about 1906, Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the not so equal distribution of wealth in his country; he figured out that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth.
I’m sure Pareto thought that sucked pretty bad, needless to say, he had no idea how good they had it back then!
read more
November 2, 2007
Many of my best articles come from email questions put to me by readers.
In this case, we have someone asking what to charge for private web design training.
The email:
i’ve been a member of your newsletter for years .. BIG FAN!
i recently met a guy that owns/founded an SEO company here in New York that works from home and is VERY successful/wealthy… he asked that i teach him photoshop and flash cs3.
i have NO IDEA what to quote him.
He wants to learn basic image manipulation in photoshop and then learn buttons, headers, and small PowerPoint like presentations in flash.
So minimal actionscript, tweening, and movie clip galore!
I assume i would charge him hourly….
i have an associates degree from WEA in interactive media about 5 years web design experience, and have been a flash developer for a fortune 500 company for just over 2 years now…
Can you help me come up with a good price to quote…keep in mind he may outsource work to me in the future so i need a strong price now so i can make real money later on, but not scare him away..
PLEASE!
THANK YOU!
Tina
read more
October 31, 2007
Recently someone asked me a bunch of questions related to getting their first web design job as an independent contractor – and so I figured an article was a good idea.
Tim asked:
Stefan,
With me being a newbie in the web design business, I have some questions. Long story short, I was talking with my friends wife one day and mentioned to her that I had thought about doing some web design on the side to make some extra money.
I live in a small town, with a lot of small businesses and I figure these businesses would have a use for a simple web site to help promote their business.
… So I’m thinking this would be something I could start within the next year or so, … two days ago I receive a call from my friends wife and she asks if I’m interested in doing a web site for her brother, who is a dentist in our town.
So, I say sure and she tells me that he will probably contact me soon to set up a meeting to discuss.
Now, this is great but I haven’t got a clue where to start. Hers’s my thought:
1. Meet with the client to discuss the site. How many pages, the content, etc. Maybe show some of my work.
2. Take the info from the meeting and come up with a quote.
3. Present my idea’s and the quote.
4. If he agree’s and accepts the quote, draw up a contract for him to sign.
read more
September 20, 2007
I’ve been asked on many occasions: how can you take a Photoshop layout and turn it into a web page?
Actually, here is a snippet of an email from a reader:
“I would love to see an example of taking a psd file, which is how I usually start. And then go to Step One, Step Two, etc to turn it into a web page.”
You have a few options … let’s start with the option you should avoid: slicing images.
read more
September 19, 2007
Preamble:
I’ve mentioned several times in the past 2 years, that web designers should learn how to use/edit at least one blog or CMS. Some popular choices:
- WordPress – a blog.
- Drupal – a CMS.
- Mambo – a CMS
.. And there are many, many more.
Why should web designers be concerned?
I won’t go into all the details here, but in a nutshell, a lot of web sites can use the features/functionality provided by blogs or CMS packages. Why reinvent the wheel?
That said, what is the difference between a blog and a CMS?
read more
