A web designer that possesses more than simply technical abilities should be a part of your team if you are a business owner. In the web designing course, you will learn competent web designer must be able to interact with clients and function well in a group setting. Additionally, they need to be creative enough to generate design concepts on their own initiative for various tasks. In order to help you identify the finest candidate for your company, we’ll go over what a web designer does, the tools of the trade, and the 18 attributes that define a successful web designer in this piece.
What Does a Web Designer Do?
A web designer is a person who develops websites. Layout, text placements, and graphics are all part of this. Code, such as HTML and CSS, is used to do this. To understand what a designer does, it helps to think of an interior designer. A web designer will take your ideas for how you want something to look and function and then construct it for you, just like an interior designer may design your home. However, they optimize a website for website visitors/customers rather than making the design feel good for guests. To develop a website page that will look beautiful on any computer, tablet, or phone, they will employ their expertise and talents.
A web designer uses coding languages like HTML and CSS to develop websites. This is what sets them apart from someone who designs graphics for websites because it takes more than just aesthetic Photoshop talent. As part of a website redesign service, web designers also collaborate closely with content producers, and UX and UI professionals to create the greatest user experience. It’s crucial for web designers to build websites that cater to their target market’s needs. For instance, a website intended for young children must be entertaining and engaging, which calls for vivid colors, huge types, concise phrases, and prominent graphics.
A target audience of lawyers, on the other hand, would require a professional style, which includes subdued colors, formal text, sophisticated content, and carefully chosen media. Some may work for themselves as freelance designers on a contract basis, while others are hired by businesses to build websites specifically for those businesses.
The Responsibilities and Skills of a Web Designer
Creating a website design, adding material to the site, and placing objects on the screen are all standard duties of the web designer (elements). Utilizing colors or other aesthetic preferences in accordance with the demands and objectives of the business is another aspect of this. Additionally, web designers will make sure that all pages are user-friendly for visitors using a variety of devices and will take the time to learn how users interact with their displays online.
1.) Proficiency in HTML
You use HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language) to write the text that will show up in a visitor’s browser window when they visit your website. HTML is a set of instructions for building web pages. The building blocks of HTML are tags, which serve as placeholders for data like text or images that other programs referred to as “viewers” insert into these areas. The final product should be computer-readable code that is then presented in a style that is simple to understand by people.
2.) Proficiency in CSS
Cascading Customize Sheets, or CSS, are used to style the text on a website using different fonts, colors, sizes, and spacing, among other things. The code that commonly contains it looks like this:
background-color: white;
font-family: Arial, Helvetica;}
p.main ht { font-size: 24px;}
form p a strong{ color:#ff0000} }
3.) Proficiency in JavaScript
JavaScript enables interesting real-time page element manipulation for programmers. JavaScript, for instance, might assist in making it so that a certain element appears when a user moves their mouse pointer over it. This is part of a web developer’s job description, however, most web designers should also be familiar with JavaScript. Additionally, developers are in charge of ensuring that all of these scripts cooperate well and don’t clash.
4.) Proficiency in basic graphic design
Graphical components are pictures and other visuals used as decoration, to emphasize certain parts of the page’s content, or to display menus. These components contain images of people or objects as well as logos, symbols, and banners. A smart web designer will employ visuals to organize the information flow on each page as well as to make the site visually appealing. For instance, a banner at the top of your homepage can serve as both an introduction to your company (such as “We offer economical house cleaning services”) and a branding tool (to let visitors know who they have found).
Web Design vs. Web Development
There is considerable overlap, but web designers are in charge of the aesthetics of a website’s front end while web developers are in charge of its functionality and back end. The web designer and developer will collaborate closely to make sure that everything looks excellent and functions properly on all browsers and mobile devices.
Web Designer vs. Graphic Designer
A web designer concentrates on the look and feel of a website. A graphic designer will be at work producing logos, branding images, and other marketing collateral in the meanwhile. Web designers need to know HTML/CSS coding to create websites (or WordPress if that’s what they use, which is a skill level required for both vocations). However, knowledge of programming languages or how websites are created is not necessary for visual designers.
Common Traits of a Good Web Designer
1.) Great communication & team skills
Effective communication is necessary for every design project. A web designer must be able to comprehend the company’s objectives in order to create designs that support them. Lack of communication may lead to inaccurate work, which may result in delays and extra costs. Additionally, in order to achieve their goals, designers frequently need to collaborate with other experts. Designers frequently collaborate closely with programmers while a project is being developed, which enables them to plan their designs around the kinds of elements that will be employed.
2.) Ability to think creativity
When designing for a customer, it’s critical for a skilled web designer to be creative. A lack of imagination won’t help them because their job involves either enhancing an already-existing website or building something fresh from scratch. You don’t want your website to look like the others because many web designers can only create a single sort of graphic.
3.) Ability to meet reasonable deadlines
Deadlines should be met by web designers. Working closely with the client will ensure everything is delivered on time, thus it’s crucial for a web designer to do this. A portion of the blame lies with the client as well, as the designer needs to be notified of future deadlines and milestones.
4.) Problem-solving skills and capability
Because issues usually arise while developing a website, problem-solving abilities are necessary. Before new problems emerge, these ones must be resolved effectively and rapidly.
5.) Passion for designing quality websites
Your designer will be more motivated to find novel and distinctive approaches to problems if they are passionate about web design. A lack of drive might result in creative stagnation, which makes it more difficult to attract online users’ attention.
6.) Self-discipline and time management
When working with clients or deadlines, discipline is necessary. The lack of an internal drive makes the designer less likely to meet deadlines and set goals. You should search for a web designer who respects their client’s time and money when hiring them, so keep an eye out for it.
7.) Understanding and familiarity with common web development software
The top design applications, including Adobe Illustrator, XD, Photoshop, Figma, and Webflow, must be used by web designers. Web designers should know how to edit photos and update vector-based graphics.
8.) History of successful website design projects
Designers will be better equipped to come up with solutions for issues that may not have previously occurred to them as they get more expertise. It is crucial to have a portfolio that contains a variety of various works because it showcases the designer’s range of skills. The portfolio doesn’t need to seem especially fancy. In actuality, a few links to their best work suffices. When looking for a web company for your business, having a presence in general web design listings as an established web agency is a good thing to search for.
9.) Examples of quality design skills
The essential abilities required to perform the basics must behave by web designers. In reality, they must be able to think logically and systematically. Designers should be able to produce appealing layouts and graphics that are both practical and easy to use.
10.) Basic understanding of SEO concepts
For any website, search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial. A web designer should be knowledgeable about SEO and understand how to optimize a site for search engines like Google or Yahoo so that it appears higher in the results. Every line of code has an effect on how quickly a page loads overall. Most likely, if you are interested in SEO, you run an online store. You might find our blog post on why UX matters for eCommerce to be instructive.
11.) Ability to learn without help or instruction
The most talented web designers are lifelong learners. A skilled web designer should be knowledgeable about the most recent design trends, new features and functionalities of website-building tools, and any adjustments to browser rendering.
12.) Ability to work collaboratively, or on a team
Collaboration with others is necessary for web designers. They will be able to collaborate with experts in a variety of fields, such as marketing, programming, or SEO. Other successful connecting websites are excellent sources of inspiration.
13.) Understanding of responsive web design
Not only is web design for desktop computers anymore. A designer should be able to build designs that function on every screen size because mobile devices are now an essential part of everyone’s life. For websites to function properly, the designer must possess an in-depth understanding of fluid grids and flexible imagery.
14.) Ability to present ideas and complete work
The ability to present is essential for web designers. Slides, presentations, and other visual aids that properly describe what web designers intend to achieve for the client should be able to be created.
15.) Ability to understand the importance of minor details
The greatest web designers pay close attention to detail. They provide careful consideration to every detail of a design and take their time with the little details that will matter to their clientele. Small coding errors and incorrect design decisions won’t be seen by a designer who lacks attention to detail.
16.) Basic understanding of user experience
Every successful website relies on the user experience. A web designer must be able to develop a user interface that intuitively directs site users while offering obvious signposts and direction without being overbearing or lecturing. On all devices, the navigation should be simple to use and offer an understandable structure with a distinct hierarchy of information.
17.) Ability to provide honest feedback and communication
The finest web designers are open about their knowledge and lack thereof. They can inform clients if a project will cost more or take longer than anticipated. Avoid using designers who lie at all costs! They frequently take on more than they can manage, which leads to significant mistakes over time.
18.) Ability to control emotions while communicating with others
It’s crucial that the site designer maintains emotional control when things go awry. They must be able to recover from the incident and continue working on their assignment without becoming overwhelmed or flustered.
Final Thoughts on Finding a Great Web Designer
We’ve seen that a competent web designer possesses a wide range of skills. If you want to accomplish the finest work possible, you should be honest with your clients and detail-oriented. Although web design is not a simple profession, it can also be quite lucrative for individuals who put effort into honing their skills.