A Web Designer or Graphic Designer may seem similar but in fact they are very different. A graphic artist may be extremely talented at creating digital art but not all of them make good Web Designers.
When having a website made, many people make the mistake of asking a Graphic Designer to design it for them. In theory they could make a beautiful website mockup, but how functional would it be? This is where Web Designers have the competitive edge, they understand how websites are coded, how they flow, functionality and the different restrictions.
There’s a lot more to Website Design than meets the eye. Here are a few reasons why you should hire a Web Designer and not a Graphic Designer to design your site.
User Experience
Web Designers always take into consideration how the website will be coded. They’re experienced in creating sites from scratch. They understand the languages and frameworks behind the site. They know what they can and can’t put into a web design. This allows them to design with functionality for the user in mind.
Layout and Sizes
In Graphic design, your canvas size is set and designs are static. Whether it’s a poster, calling card or a flyer, the output is always viewed in that size. It does not change. As for Web Designers, they constantly need to take into account that their designs will be viewed of different size monitors, tablets and smart phones. They have to take into account how the site will look when it resizes to fit the device it is viewed on. Web Design have to be liquid, adjusting to the size of the screen like water when it is poured into different sized containers. Understanding how to design responsive website designs also allows sites to rank better.
Navigation
Graphic Designer are used to designing for magazines, flyers, posters, etc. The navigation in their case is pretty simple, you flip a page. In Web Design it’s not as direct. You have to take into account the information architecture of the site, accessibility to the user, visibility of links and how easy it is the understand how to get around the site.
Page Loading
When you design something to be printed, there is usually no limit to how large the file size can be. This gives Graphic Artists the freedom to work with whatever quality images and sizes they need. In Web Design, you have to take into consideration the time it will take for your page to load. Images and elements that are too large will cause the page to load slower and end up frustrating the user. Web Designers have to optimize their designs to load quickly while still showing high quality, attractive images.
So, hire a Web Designer or Graphic Designer?
In the end, it really depends on what kind of work you need done for your business. Graphic Designers can make fantastic logos, posters and print ads. However, if you’re having a website made, Web Designers are your go-to guys for the job. It’s important that you get someone who is 100% sure they know what they’re doing when they create the mockup of your site so that Web Developers won’t have trouble translating the design into code.
Hiring a trained Web Designer will make the work process a lot quicker. You can easily bounce ideas off each other and your Web Designer can tell you what’s possible, what’s recommended, what’s new and what best suits your business.
Web Design at Project Assistant
At Project Assistant, we like to keep designs fresh and functional. Our Web Designers are experienced and have strong backgrounds in web development. They work closely with our Web Developers to create the most modern, functional website designs. It’s all about creating a balance between the site’s visual impact and seamless operation. Take a look at some of our work to see the wide range designs we’ve created for various clients. If you choose to work with us, we’ll take your ideas and work with you to achieve a website that proudly represents your business and delivers exactly what your clients need.
