Why You Need a Professionally Designed Website

Why do you need a professionally designed website when it's so easy and cheap to design your own?

Let's start with why you need a website.

1.  People will search for you online. 
Let's face it, these days people will immediately pull up Google and look up everything they can about a restaurant, a dog walker, a sporting league - pretty much anything - before they decide whether or not they want to make contact.
   When they look you up, what are they going to find? If you're lucky, they'll find a good article about you, a good review by a happy customer... if you're not lucky, they'll find nothing or your competition.  Having website today, is like having your business listed in the phone book in the past.

2. A website is one of your company's best marketing tool 
    Websites are interactive, informative and easy to access.  How else is your company going to get world wide presence so easily and effectively?
    You can use interactivity to its best advantage on your website.  Well used and placed videos, flash applications and photo galleries can do wonders in marketing your products or services.

3. Websites save you time
     Potential customers and clients can learn a lot about your business, products and services before they even speak to you - saving both you and them a lot of time.  No more long telephone conversations or meetings to explain what you're selling and what you can do for them.

4. Websites make you look credible. 
    In the Information Age, if your company doesn't have a website - you don't appear to be credible. Period.


Now, this is why you need a professional designer:

1. You can't design on your own
     You may feel empowered or proud that you did your own web (or graphic) design on your own - are the results really worth the money that you saved? Are your designs going to bring in the results that you desire?
     Just because you've taken a Photoshop class or two, doesn't mean that you'll be able to create the same designs as someone who has trained in design and lives and breathes design everyday.

2. You use too many fonts. 
     Too many fonts, too many different sizes, too many colors... I have seen this mistake done far too many times.  If you use too many different fonts and sizes and colors, people will quickly give up reading the text on your site and leave.
     On a similar note, using fonts that are ugly and don't have anything to do with enhancing your brand is not helpful either.  Some horrible fonts that have been used too many times and should be banned...
     - Papyrus
     - Curlz
     - Comic Sans
     Check out this site for the Top Ten Worst Font Choices

3.  Branding
     Your website should be distinctly you.  Everything about it should be branded to enhance your company.  A well designed, customized website will create a unique, memorable and powerful web presence.

7 Things You Won't Learn in Design School

We just started working with some fabulous interns over here. And I thought that this may be a good time for me to offer some advice to other design students who are about to start working in the real world. Just some tips to help you prepare for your first internship or first job.

Design school was a great. After a couple of years of working as a flash designer and now running a design studio, I've learned a lot - some the hard way, some not... some I was lucky enough to learn while I was still in school, most I had to learn afterwards.

1. Your degree won't get you the job

Your portfolio will. When interviewing for a design job, a future employer will be much more interested in seeing what you can do. A design education is definitely important - it will teach you design processes and technical skills that you will need. But a great portfolio will be your foot in the door.

As a side note, keep in mind what position you are applying for. For example, if you're applying for a web design position, make sure that you have a great online portfolio with examples of websites that you've designed.

2. Prep yourself for the career you want

Along the same lines as #1, sometimes a design school education is very broad. I received my degree in industrial design - now I work in web design.

I discovered what I was interested in while I was still in school, I got a job during school that prepared me to enter the web/interactive design world. I learned skills that I needed to get my first job at a flash agency. But I credit that first job that I got during school with my successes in my current position.

When still in school, figure out what industry you want to pursue. Whether that be automotive design, packaging design, interactive design... and focus your work and your portfolio there.

3. It's who you know, not what you know

While you're in school, go to industry networking events whenever you can. It's important to start meeting people who are working in the industry that you want to go into. Even with an impressive portfolio, making a personal connection with someone is even more important - and will up your chances of getting that interview.

Even if industry events aren't really your thing - get out and meet people. Sports leagues, volunteer organizations, etc are great places to connect with people. You never know who you might meet. While networking with people, don't constantly try to sell yourself - make a personal connection with the person.

4. The real world moves at a faster pace

Your clients will work on their own time, and that's typically ASAP. The key to success in the design world (esp. graphic and web) is speed. Learn the shortcuts and key commands in whatever design software you're using.

Although we know good design takes time, the real world doesn't give you that time.

5. The majority of the work you'll do will not be the fun stuff

In design school all work was the fun stuff. You got to be as creative as possible. You got all of the creative control. That's not the case when you start your first job, that's not the case even when you become the head of a design studio.

At your first job, there will likely be busy work, doing the parts of projects that lead designers don't do, because they're spending time on the fun stuff. When you head up a design studio, there's the paperwork, drafting proposals and estimates, negotiating with clients, collecting payments, networking events, etc.

6. Backup your work

Not only because your computer could crash. Whenever you're working on a project and are about to make a drastic (or not so drastic) change to your work - "save as" - create another version of your project. If something goes wrong and you need to go back, it's much easier to open up a previous version than to hit the Undo button 30 times.

7. The learning process never ends

Just because you graduated from design school, doesn't mean that your design education is complete. You must keep up with design trends, industry news and software updates, etc. Otherwise, you'll be left behind.