Be a Smart Web Designer(Not a Good One)

There are two types of Web Designers. A Good web designer and a Smart web designer. I will keep the topic Good web designer for a later day if I decide to become one but for now I am going to talk about a Smart Web Designer.

I am a Smart web designer. I have no clue how to start programming afresh in PHP nor do I know anything in database commands. I just have the minimum programming logic skills and I probably can do any kind of programming that a web designer who has taken formal classes can do. I think differently and I want to share the tips on this blog.


1. Don’t re-invent the wheel
This is the most important thing. I have friends who are so good in PHP that they sit all day and night and come up with their own version of CMS. It might be a prideful moment but also not a very profitable one. We have so many CMS’s that are out there where tons of people are working day and night and its FREE. Use it. There are millions of plugins for each CMS, it gives you all the features that you can ask for. Use what is already there instead of coding from the scratch. I personally use Wordpress as I have used and worked on plenty of CMS’s and I find Wordpress is very easy to customize. Wordpress has plenty of plugins which would do anything that you want it to do.

2. CSS examples
One of the things a web designer uses 99% of the time is a Cascade Style Sheet. Try to collect different CSS files that do different things and make sure they work both on Firefox and IE. Document each and every line between a /* and */. If you have any questions, visit this website and type the command that you have a problem with, it has a plethora of functions listed.

I use this website to choose color combinations for my website but usually I prefer a website that has more white on it. I personally like websites that have two colors. White and some other color that fits the scheme of things.

3. Communicate with your Client
This is not a designing tip but a very important feature for a successful web designer. Communicate with your client as much as possible. Ask your client all the questions pertaining to their website. Make sure there isn’t anything that you are not sure of. Constant communication will keep your client in the loop and hence he will have more confidence in you as a designer. At the same time, you will not be duplicating things when your client and you are not on the same page.

4. Break It Down
Planning is the key to success just not for web designing but for any kind of project you attempt. Try to plan things very carefully and the best thing to plan things is to breakdown the project into different sections. Treat each section as a different project initially and make sure they work as you want them to work individually. By doing this, you know for sure they work good and when you put different sections together, if you see a mistake, you know exactly where to look at. Good documentation practices are encouraged.

5. Reverse Engineering
I may be an engineer but I am not talking about anything engineering here. This is a process which has been proven to be very successful in any project. When you get a project, you should know exactly what you want in the end. If you want your website to do certain stuff, move backwards by breaking the sections down. It’s easier to explain with an example.

Suppose you want to design a website that does sales. At the end you want a final webpage that generates a bill for the customer. Before that there has to be a credit card authorization engine which finalizes the sale. Before that step, you need a shopping cart that would help the customer store the things he wants to buy. For the shopping cart, the items have to declared with its prices. So, my point is, you are going backwards instead of going forwards. Going backwards is much more effective and less time consuming.

6. Community Support
There is a community for every CMS you use, for CSS, for PHP and for HTML. There are several community forums which help you by giving you the answers in a jiffy. Make use of these friends who are ready to help you despite not knowing you. Be courteous and make some friends, a friend who is good in programming is always worth some money. These are some of the forums that have high member volume and higher turnaround times.

- Sitepoint Forums
- Web Developer Forums
- Webdev Forums

7. Bookmark Good Stuff
Be on a lookout for good stuff online. There is something new online everyday. Search websites like digg and delicious to find good stuff. Bookmark them. Organize your bookmarks. It’s often a good idea to rename your bookmarks that you would recognize easily. I have 3 computers that I use and I would like to use my bookmarks on all the three, so, I have yahoo bookmarks that is installed in my browsers on all my computers. So, by saving my bookmarks on one computer, I would be able to access it on any other computer.

8. Be Yourself
Originality is trivial. Be original in your ideas. I might sound like an oxy moron after I asked you not to re-invent the wheel and asking you to be original. Backend should totally remain behind the scenes but front-end should be your baby. Try to think through what would be ideal in a particular situation. Don’t use the color and design combination just because a different website used it and it looks good. Try to bring out your own ideas, you never know, they might be better than the other. At the same time, take good ideas from other websites and improve upon them.

9. Go an Extra Mile
The best way to advertise your programming skills is just not a good job but something extra that would bring a smile on the client’s face. He would surely recommend you to all his clients or friends. Word of mouth advertising is the best form of advertising and the best thing about it is that you are not spending a dime on advertising and you are getting all the people standing at your door. I even would suggest sending your client some gift after the payment is made with a thankyou card. Small things like this make such an impact. Actions speak louder than words.

10. Don’t be shy to call yourself a Web Designer
Whenever you get a chance, introduce yourself as a web designer and don’t mention to anybody that you have not had formal classes in web designing. Be confident that you could probably do anything that is out there. When you have your first meeting with your client, give a lot of suggestions and be honest about how you feel on certain things. Make sure that your client gets an impression that you know the stuff. Be a SMART WEB DESIGNER and succeed.

Related posts:

1. Top Ten Truths Regarding Web Designers
2. Chris Poteet’s 10 Greatest Web Design Taboo List
3. Determining Roles and Responsibilities in a Web Project
4. Intro to Planning and Development of a Website
5. Gigabyte Intros Intel Q57-Based Motherboard With Dynamic Energy Saver 2 and GIGABYTE Smart TPM

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