Website Design & Development Articles

Graphic Designers & Website Designers are Different

I myself am both a graphic designer and a website designer. I am a design geek and a code geek. This is rarer than you think. It is usually thought that all graphic designers are web designers and vise versa. Incorrect! And to add even more to that, not all website coders are website designers!

The requirements and specs for a graphic design to be printed are extremely different than those for a web designer. Unfortunately a lot of designers don't realize the differences and they think they can do both. What ends up happening is a graphic designer creates a design that is not search engine friendly and is difficult to build because they didn't keep in mind that the web world works in boxes, and a web designer creates print materials lacking the correct much higher resolutions, doesn't know about bleeds and usually uses a none print friendly program for the design.

If you are in the market for both printed materials and website materials, and you want them done by the same company to keep your materials as cohesive as possible, interview your prospective company choices for both. Also, feel free to get references. A past/present client is the best way to get the dirt! If you don't want to ask directly, they should have a portfolio on their website that you can pull from.

Things you can ask a graphic designer...

Where did you get you graphic design degree?
The college they name doesn't really matter. Design talent comes from within and there are plenty of top notch designers that came from little colleges, as well as plenty of crap designers that came from high profile colleges. The main thing that matters with this question is that they have a degree IN graphic design. There are thousands of people who call themselves designers but they are not. They want to work from home, or they did a flier once and now they think their a designer. To date in my experience have never seen a good graphic designer without a degree. But I have seen tons of crap designers with no degree.

What local print shop have you worked with?
If they can't quickly tell you at least one print shop, there may be an issue of lack of experience. Only when you've worked with printers do get to know the ins and outs of what they need.

What is the standard size of a business card?
2 x 3.5 - Business cards are one of the most common designs created, any graphic designer should know the dimensions by heart.

What is a bleed?
A bleed is when you want the color of a design to go all the way to the edges, so you add color past the edges of the design. A print machine has to cut the edges of the paper to size after printing. Most print machines have a small margin of movement between cuts. In order to be sure that the color goes to the edge with no gaps due to the movement, we add extra color around the edges.

If a designer can answer these questions quickly without having to look it up, your probably on the right path!

Things you can ask a website designer...

What is the resolution for a website?
72 or 96 dpi. To date, most computer screens can only see 72 dpi (dots per inch). (Print on the other hand is 300 dpi.)

Can you code in html, css, php, or asp?
Websites can be a combo of one or multiple coding languages. The point of this question isn't which they do, there all acceptable, plus many more, it's just that they do it. Any web designer should be able to code in something. It's the only way to effectively know the ins and outs, dos and don'ts of what you can create.

What is the standard computer monitor size?
1024. Today's monitors are on average 1024 or higher. Websites can be built in any size, it's important that a web designer know what website width will fit on the majority of monitors.

What browsers do you code for?
There are 5 most common browsers and a few more minor browsers. Unfortunately for coders, they don't all interpret code the exact same. It's important that when building a website, the coder checks how it looks in the most common browsers to make sure it's coming across as it's intended. The 5 most common browsers are; Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera.

If a designer can answer these questions quickly without having to look it up, your probably on the right path!

If a designer can answer one set of questions easier than the other, they may be better suited for the one they did well in.

Why Website Banner Ads are a Good Idea!

One of the most important aspects of marketing is branding. How a company chooses to brand itself is very important. As a company you want your name to be out as many places as possible, with intention, impact, and a reputation of reliability.

This is where website banner ads can become a very strategic tool. Website Banner Ads provide two useful components to a company's marketing strategy…

The first is the empowerment of the brand. When a consumer is visiting any website that has banner ads, even though they are reading the content on the website, they are subconsciously taking in the banner ads around that content. It's very similar to how commercial jingles get stuck in your head. You might not exactly remember the commercial, but when you go to buy gum you might remember the jingle, and subsequently buy that brand of gum. Although a consumer might not remember when they saw a website banner ad, when they go to research or purchase a service or product, they might recall the name of the company that they subconsciously took in from a banner ad.

The second is click throughs to the company website. Getting people to your company's website is always a plus! For most company's, this is usually the main motivation for the Website Banner Ad. And even though it's should always be a factor, it should be thought of as an awesome bonus!

With today's major focus on digital, and the amount of time the average person spends cruising around online, Website Banner Ads should be thought of in a marketing campaign as important as a newspaper or magazine print ad. You want your company name out there where it can be seen by as many people as possible!

Photo/Video/Music Resource for your Projects

A common issue for clients when getting marketing materials or websites created is lack of pictures. Unfortunately we can't all be blessed with high end camera's and the eye of a professional! So, when you need professional photos for just about any event or thing you can think of, try iStock.com.

iStock is a place where photographers and designers from around the globe upload there photos for others to purchase. Depending on the size you need depicts the cost. You can get an image for less than $10.00. Considering the price to hire a photographer...it's a steal!

But, like all things there are strings so be prepared! iStock, like all stock image websites, has a licensing agreement that extends to all of their purchasable files. In fact, iStock has two agreements...one for regular folk using photos and files for their own personal stuff and promotions...one for designers and professionals using photos and files for reselling and in client projects. Each License Agreement has its own Terms of Service outlining what you can do and don't, so I highly recommend reading the terms at least once. The terms let you know how many times you print the image, if you can use it on brochures, websites, mugs, commercials and so on. When you purchase something from iStock, be sure to buy the appropriate License for your needed. VERY important!

Whatever your need, iStock probably has a photo, video, or audio file for it!

What you need to know about Photo Copyright

As a designer I commonly have to ask clients for images to work with. Eight times out of ten, they hand over photos that are copyrighted. When I ask them if they have a copyright release, I get a blank stare and a "what"? Unfortunately for the millions of photographers out there, not many consumers know about the copyright laws. Or worse, they don't take it seriously.

It should be taken seriously. Average people get slapped with copyright infringement lawsuits all the time, and usually loose. Even in our local community, last year, a designer and one of his clients had to split a $10,000 suit from a well known stock image repository because the designer used an image provided by the client that turned out it was taken from the repository's website and not properly purchased to obtain the copyright release. There was another case where a person went into a department store's photo department, scanned and printed copies of their kids school photo, and the store was sued from the photographer, and the store lost. People think they're not doing anything wrong, but if you get caught, be prepared to pay. The answer "I didn't know" is not going to get you out of it.

Here are some common things people do that is copyright infringement...

1. Scan & use photos of themselves that were taken by a professional.
Even though you paid to have the photo taken, and it's of yourself, the copyright is still owned by the professional who took it. *Unless they give you a written copyright release.

2. Scan & use photos of their family or their kids school photos that were taken by a professional.
Same explanation as # 1.

3. Use or print photos found online in Google (or any search engine) searches.
Images on the web are not free domain, unless the specifically state so, which is not common. You do not have the right to pull a photo off the web and reuse it in any capacity.

4. Use or print photos from a website.
Same explanation as # 3.

If you have a photo you would like to use, be sure you ask permission and get it in writing. It's worth it!