Thanks for coming back! We'd really like to hear what you think of this post, so don't be shy with the comments!
Don't get robbed.
I don’t know anything about rockets or surgery. If I wanted to find a good rocket surgeon, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea where to start. I’m not at all confident I could find the right person for the job; someone who won’t rip me off or do a half-baked job (hey, no disrespect to rocket surgeons, but some of you are kind of shady).
If you feel that way about finding a good web designer*, I may be able to help (yeah, some of you are shady, too).
There are key values, practices or qualifications in any profession that can help you judge its practitioners. So you might proceed in your search with greater confidence, I’ve outlined below some key things to look for in a good web designer (Surprisingly, little of it has to do with actual ‘design’ skill).
1. A good web designer listens.
It’s incredibly difficult to solve a design problem without knowing what that problem is. …Read more »
What is “good” web design? Many people don’t understand what makes websites good or bad, and some are even surprised to learn that effective web design takes time, and isn’t cheap. Let me explain…
When you look at a website, you’re looking at an end product. Like a car, there’s really no indication of what went into the creation of the product. We can break it down into its individual parts – wheels, pistons, frame, gears – but we don’t know *why* they, specifically, were used in its construction, or how to acquire and assemble the right types of parts for another car.
Who decides what’s good?
Most of us probably don’t understand how cars are designed, and have only a basic understanding of how they work. But we do know how to use them. We call them “sweet” or “clunker,” seeing distinctions in quality based on various attributes, such as age, safety, power, or utility.
Let’s dwell on that for a second. The designers and engineers who build these complex machines understand them a gazillion times better than you or I, and yet *we* are the arbiters of automotive quality? How does that work? …Read more »
No. It is not so. *sighs of relief* The advertising world is changing, though – and rightly so.
Advertising is not dead; it just needs to be less of a one-sided conversation and become a more social dialogue with the consumer. (Sorry Kyle, I’ve got to say consumer to go along with her shirt.) As long as there is such a thing as competitive business, advertising and marketing will continue to live, ever flourishing in the perpetual evolutionary dance that is society…or something like that.
As a business, you have many options for delivering your message to your target market. Be it a billboard, newspaper ad, television spot or some dude in a chicken suit standing on the corner handing out flyers – each has specific techniques for maximizing its effectiveness. When incorporating your website as part of that message delivery system, it’s important to remember the web is its own medium and must be treated as such. All media types are unique and beautiful snowflakes… or something to that effect.
