The best web designers are not the ones who use the latest tools or go after the latest trends. Looking out for the best of the client’s wishes (because you do have to be selective here, and the client is not always right when it comes to their design tastes) is what makes a good designer even if those wishes aren’t exactly what the designer would do for themselves if it was their own website they were making. So you have to make sure you know what you are doing in terms of getting everything done on time and making the most of the requirements that are discussed at the end of each project.
Making sure that you have no doubts about what they want and how you will be implementing it is very important to the project and how it will end for all parties. Just being complacent and agreeing to everything will not cut it so you have to be firm. At the same time, accept their criticism and appreciate it – by getting more detailed feedback you will do your job better. The firm you work for or the company you design for is the ultimate goal for you and you have to start thinking like them and really making sure you are on top of your game and moving in the right direction with the initial ideas that have been given to you.
Make the most of the latest tools and trends keeping design to the minimum, designing for every device and resolution out there and keeping the users happy through easy navigation, clean graphics, good text and of course eye-catching images. Pushing through difficulty and misunderstanding is also very important and you really have to dig deep and find your best communication skills to make it happen and see to it that both parties are happy at the end of the day. Get as much as you can from the design that you are incorporating and be sure to get to the right spot with the client and work from there. Everyone has their bad days but you should always push through and find that place in yourself that is peace and professionalism – that is the only way to work your way through the jungle of mutually satisfying projects that everyone want to fulfill with you.
Be sure to make the most of all they have to say and think of criticism as a way of perfecting your work and making it better. Designers out there who are looking for more out of their professions can do something on the side or start a blog about web design. But when it comes to the client you have to play their game most of the time. That is why it is very important to find common ends at the very beginning, at the preliminary stage of discussing the design for a client’s website. One might say that this is an obsolete thing and any designer knows better what kind of design suits the client but in reality everything turns out to be vice versa.
Mike Sergeev for www.designsters.com NYC web design firm
