Category: Business
Business tips, ideas and techniques for a professional and efficient workflow as well as round-ups, tutorials and articles that will help you improve your personal daily routine in the web design world.
Popular tags in this category: Freelance, Tutorials, Tools, CMS.
Whether you design and code websites all by yourself or run a small business with a pool of talent, you will always face the challenge of how much to work on a design and UI before passing the mock-ups on to the developer? Moreover, how much visual work needs to be done in order to effectively present a website to a client? In this article, we’ll talk about best practices for clear communication, which tools to use and how to manage resources on both small and large projects.
As the owner of a small business, I have watched our company grow from a part-time, basement-dwelling, under-the-radar operation to a small business with an office, chairs, desks, and staplers (aren’t staplers an indication of legitimacy?). During this process of breaking out of our egg shell, we have birthed a company culture and a set of best practices, and we have gained valuable experience in the field of Web design and development. One of these nuggets of experience is acquiring the ability to save time and money by creating just the right amount of visual material to communicate clearly with both the client and website developer.
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As a designer, you will eventually have to face a couple of unfortunate truths in your career. Number one: just because you wear a bathrobe for most of your "business" hours does not actually make it business attire. Number two: at some point in your freelance career, you will encounter a client who does not respect the work you do. The most unfortunate part of this unfortunate truth is that it will all too often present itself in the form of a client who refuses to pay for your services once all of the work has been completed.
However, you can put some safeguards in place to guarantee that if this kind of client disrespects you and a dispute arises, that you are not left without any leverage to help you resolve the situation. Because whether they admit it, some loathsome characters deal with freelancers merely because they believe these smaller independent businesses would have little recourse should they not hold up their end of the bargain. They think that once we have taken the time to complete the work and deliver it, that they have all the power to control the outcome of the business transaction. But now more than ever, this is not the case.
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Professional networking is a critical component to a successful career as a designer. Whether it be for finding new clients or identifying opportunities for growth and improvement, a strong network of contacts is extremely valuable. In this article, we’ll take a detailed look at the subject of networking, the benefits it presents and tips that can be used in your own networking efforts.
Networking involves building connections and relationships with people from various backgrounds and professions, including other designers and developers. This article was written with Web designers in mind, but the principles are generally applicable to any profession ― although the specifics may vary.
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Ah, the dreaded cover letter. Boring to write, difficult to get right, and you're usually preoccupied by other things (such as the portfolio and resume, which are also really important). Unfortunately, your cover letter is a company's first exposure to you, and it determines whether your application is trashed or fast-tracked to the company's to-hire list.
The status of the cover letter is changing in the Web industry. While a well-formed cover letter still has a place, some companies believe that Web folk who rely on this archaic tool never make it to the next round. But what do I know? Let's hear instead from some great Web and design agencies to get their advice on creating a great cover letter!
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Many developers and designers want to release their work into the world as open-source projects. They want others to be able to build on and share their code. The open-source community is vibrant because of this. Open-source software is available for virtually any application you could think of. Most designers use open-source software or code on a regular basis (WordPress, Drupal and many other CMS' are open source).
But many developers and designers don't have a clear picture of what the different open-source licenses really mean. What rights are they relinquishing when they choose an open-source license? Without knowing exactly what the licenses mean and how they're best applied, developers can't make informed decisions about which is best for their work.
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So many articles explain how to design interfaces, design graphics and deal with clients. But one step in the Web development process is often skipped over or forgotten altogether: content planning. Sometimes called information architecture, or IA planning, this step doesn't find a home easily in many people's workflow. But rushing on to programming and pushing pixels makes for content that looks shoehorned rather than fully integrated and will only require late-game revisions.
On day one things are great. You've landed a new job, the client is excited, you're stoked and the project will be great. First things first: you have to collect the main materials to begin the design. You send the client an email asking for what you need.
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The term "graphics package" stands for the animated logos, text backgrounds, idents, screen bugs and lower thirds that make up the branding of a television show, television station or documentary. The are used to re-affirm what the viewer is watching. Especially with the growing number of reality and web shows these sorts of animated graphics are being used more and more frequently. Workers in the television industry may be more familar with these concepts than movie and web animators, but the concepts are the same and can be used on a number of different video projects.
This article will explain each of the most common terms, their size and color requirements and what arenas they are most frequently used in.
Most importantly, graphics packages must have a cohesive look to all their parts and be easy to use. Frequently, graphics packages are used by outside firms and videographers. This means that the designer/ animator may not always be there to make sure that their work is being used properly. Following some simple rules–and creating simple rules–will ensure that the graphics package is used to its full effects.
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The design profession is full of happy folks, and understanding why so many designers enjoy their work is not hard. But not all are so happy. If you’re not careful, the joy of getting paid to pursue your passion can be tainted by the less joyous realities of the professional world. You see, no matter how skilled you are as a designer, unless you are equally prepared in professional matters, your prospects will be limited and your circumstances compromised. This is true whether you work freelance, for an agency or in-house with a company.
Every week I hear from designers who are struggling to come to terms with these realities. Unhappy with their current circumstances, they write to ask for advice on improving their lot. Usually, they either claim not to understand how things got so bad, or they lay the blame somewhere other than at their own feet. In every case, however, the sole cause is their poor choices and lack of professional acumen. It needn’t be so.
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Web design is a relatively young field. It's youthful, growing and made up of people from all kinds of backgrounds, many of whom lack formal design training. We have learned, and still are learning, as we go. I came into my first job as a Web designer for Boeing back in the mid-1990s, with no formal design training. I was lucky to get some training on the job, and I would guess that my experience there was similar to that of many who are reading this article.
I had the opportunity to work with some very talented and highly experienced designers who all had made the jump from other design fields to the Web. It was there, as part of that training, that I learned about critiquing, both giving and receiving, through regular design reviews.
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