Suppose you want a new website, you search the Internet and you find the terms Website Designer and Web Developer being used, is there any difference between these two roles or is it one in the same website design thing.
Let’s look a little deeper in the 2 roles and examine what approach to the Website Building website builder Process they take.
A Website Designers Approach
A Website Designer communicates the visual aspect of what may be required by a Client in a visually appealing way by making use his creativity and skills. In simple terms, he is able to turn words into a graphical model doing so in a creative and skilful website design manner.
To help him do this, he will make use of certain software s and tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. However he does not do this in a random haphazard way, he follows a set of Design Principles so to get the best results possible.
In principle every website design always has a header, a body and a footer. This is the underlying structure of every website. The Website Designer will design images (or obtain them) and text and arrange this in a creative manner, always keeping in mind the stated objective
He will skilfully select the right:
- Firstly he needs to – Understand The ObjectiveThis can be achieved by asking such questions as: Who will the Website be representing and who will be the target market? What is expected from the target audience in terms of engagement with the Website? What is the purpose of the Website? This point is extremely important as it sets the foundation of what follows after.
- Translate into a Graphical UserPictures are worth 1000 words those 1000 words would be gibberish if they are not well arranged. The words that the visual element speaks need to be fluent
- Colours: Colours are able to evoke emotions and can influence a person’s behaviour towards something. The website designer skilfully selects the set of colours (5 at most) that will achieve the intended purpose and compliment the design. Usually these colour are specified to him by the Client. These colours will form part of the overall theme. The choice of colours can influence the perceptions made about the overall website design. The Frontrow Design Studios Online Websitemakes use of 4 Colours.
- Graphics: Images add pleasantness to the Website look and feel and so the Website Designer takes great care in selecting and arranging images across the Website Design. Once again these images may be obtained from the client, taken formstock images or custom designed. It’s not a matter of filling up the website with a whole lot of images – co, its skill and purpose
- Typefaces: These are a set of fonts that are alike in design that the website design uses. Usually about 3). Their purpose is to communicate the message of the words in a subliminal way. In other words, they merely adorn the text without taking the glory. So in his selection of fonts the website designer does not want to take attention away from the words but rather to dress the words in a way that portrays the intended message. Once again the choice of typefaces is dependent on the overall objective
- Placement: This principle controls all the ones discussed above. The Website Designer skilfully places and arranges the images and text onto the Website Design layout, keeping in mind that spacing is also important to ensure that everything is not cramped and uneasy on the eye.
As a principle the Website Designer always keeps in mind that it’s not just about a good looking website design, but that it’s also about the functionality of the website beyond design. So right from the onset at the design phase he would make sure to optimize the website design by scaling the images to an appropriate size. This will minimise loading times when it is coded and live