Web Design Trends Are Changing. Is Your Designer Keeping Pace?

Web design trends change at the drop of a hat, no doubt. While solid icons were all over the place till a few months back, they have now been replaced by their hollow counterparts. In fact, hollow icons are a hot favourite among web designers right now, because it enables them to add versatility to the menu tabs, and also make it easier for them to come up with a flat web design. But the question is: does your designer use these icons? More importantly, are they aware of the other ongoing trends, or have they been following the age-old conventions, depriving you of the opportunity to compete?

Here’s how you can find out: 

• To begin with, gone are the days of 200ppi. Retina displays have taken over, forcing every web designer out there to take the resolution of their design(s) a notch higher. Unless those working on your web design are doing pretty much the same, you must hire some fresh talent ASAP.
  
  
  
  
  

• Also, mobile versions of websites have now made way for responsive design, and that’s what the users prefer, especially for its ability to provide them with a contextually optimised experience, irrespective of the gadget type.

Questions that follow:

• Have you been told that you need two different sites (and designs), one for the desktop users, and another for those with handheld devices?
• Would the second one also serve the interests of users who prefer tablets?
• Are your users comfortable with the idea of switching between sites?

      Responsiveness does seem like a better choice, right? Moving on, side bars, though not completely out of the picture, are no longer as popular as they used to be.  The users now consider these bars as mere distractions, which prevent them focusing on the content of your website. And if you don’t want them to lose focus, you must invest in a full page layout, and give the left and right side bars a miss, if possible. Can your designer do that for you? If not, it’s high time you look for a better web designer in Sydney, or wherever you are.

I Am A Website Designer. Let Me Talk You through the Design Process.

For a good web designer, it always starts with the planning. After all, not much can be done before your requirements are analysed, your ideas are heard, a project charter is put in place and the resources are determined (and more importantly, arranged for). Once the planning is taken care of, it’s more about bringing the ideas to life. It is now that your website begins to take shape. A layout is designed first, which is then turned into a mock-up or a prototype. And once you approve of the prototype, it’s coding time. However, changes, if any, are made before the code is written – that’s when it is the easiest to tweak the design as per your liking.

That being said, coding also calls for the involvement of a developer, who needs to perform some key tasks:

• Ensuring that only the most suitable framework is chosen for your website
• Working with you to zero in on the pages to be created
• Introducing special features, if possible, and testing the site for interactivity 
• Taking care of the content part; paying attention to typography and other important details

Once the developer does what he/she is supposed to do, I take over and prepare for the launch of your site. It is my responsibility to fine-tune the design and then transfer it to a live server. However, before transferring the design, I need to make sure that the site has been checked for broken links and other errors. For this, I use various tools, including code validators. And yes, I also check the site for cross-browser compatibility.

 

The Big Day 

Finally, the website is launched. But that doesn’t mean that my role is over.  In fact, being the website designer, I now have a more important role to play. After the site has been launched, you must be provided with proper documentation and the source files so that you can easily make changes later on, if the need be. I hand over these files to you and also ensure that the requirements specified in the charter have been fulfilled.