If you own a website or are thinking about building a website you may find choosing a website design a little bit intimidating. There are so many designers to choose from it’s hard to determine who will do the best job for your company. In this article I’m going to try and clear up a few things that will hopefully make your website design choices a little easier.
What is a Web Designer
Believe it or not, there are all kinds of web designers. Some only work in HTML which is a very basic web language. Others are actually graphic artists who can create beautiful PSD’s (photoshop files) but have no programming or web experience at all. And still others work with more advanced website building tools:
CSS, PHP, and CMS systems. The later group are more programmers or web developers than designers.
Which one do you choose for your project
If you have a simple website without much interaction an HTML designer may be adequate, but if you decide to start doing e commerce, or forms processing (contact forms, quotes etc.) , that same designer might not be able to help you. Most likely you will need to hire a web developer to add the new functionality to your website.
What about cost
While this is a great question, the answer is a little strange. You might think that a graphic designer or simple HTML designer would be less expensive than a full blown web developer. Recent trends actually contradict that idea, and graphic artists and HTML designers actually charge as much, or more in some cases than a full blown web developer. Here’s why: A graphic artist at the top of their industry can create some of the most beautiful template designs you have ever seen, and that talent is worth lots. The problem surfaces when your website requires more complex functionality, as noted above.
Aren’t there web developers that are great graphic designers
The simple answer; not usually. Web developers are typically logical, left brain types, and graphic artists are usually creative, right brain types.
What to do
Seems like an insurmountable obstacle doesn’t it. Fact is that the best choice is a hybrid. Many Web developers understand that they aren’t the best designers in the world, so they partner with graphic artists and template designers who can make a beautiful look for your website, while they focus on the details behind the website, like: databases, e commerce, and forms processing.
No matter who you choose, checkout their work first, and make sure the examples they give you are actually work they have done themselves. Ask for references etc.
Hope this article helps.