ask a web designer anything

I've been working professionally as a web designer and frontend developer for two years.

Ask me anything.

 

Wow, You're back! Where's your haunter though?

Alrighty, so I'm looking to develop a high-end portfolio website as a budding graphic designer, and with the help of a few friends like Ryan I'm hoping to have it finished by early next year (school takes a drain on my spare time).
I'd like to have a website very similar to this: http://www.justinmaller.com/showcase.html
How easy would it be to implement the thumbnails which can be highlighted and pop up to view the full image when clicked? Only reason I ask is because I'd rather not have something that takes many months to create, as it wouldn't be a paid job for anyone.

 

Very easy. There are plenty of open sourced scripts you can use to accomplish that.

Example: http://nivozoom.dev7studios.com/

 

I've been looking to advance in the graphics industry and i have a couple questions

1. Around how much money can you make doing it professorially.

2. Do i need to learn any coding etc.

3. Do you know any tutorials on web designing that i can read up on.

Thanks for you're time.

 

The range of incomes is very very broad. Your income will depend entirely on your skill, experience, and dedication. There are many very wealthy designers, and many of them eventually start their own business.

Yes. While you do not need to be an absolute expert programmer, you do need to understand the technologies that will power the designs you create. You will not go very far without a strong understanding of markup (HTML) and presentational enhancement such as CSS and JavaScript.

There are a ton of resources out there for those who are willing to learn. Here are some I frequently learn from:

Envato's Tuts+ network: http://tutsplus.com/
Web Designer depot: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/
the Smashing network: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
Twitter: Believe it or not this one is HUGE! If you follow the right people you can learn tons (you can check out who I follow on twitter for a list of some great designers and resources: http://twitter.com/jnsnvt/following)

 

Thanks a bunch. This is really going to help/

 

No problem

One tip: Never open photoshop before you know what you're designing. In the field of website design, your job is to present the content effectively with a goal in mind, not make something pretty with no function

"Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it's decoration." [Atr.]

 

Another brief question, are you completely self-taught? I'd like to eventually get in to web-design, but I'm unsure as of where to start - to date I've never taken a course or followed a tutorial, but that's graphic design and I'm assuming a lot easier to pick up on.

 

I am primarily self-taught. I took classes during high school, but it was the opportunity to mess around on the computer rather than the class curriculum that was valuable. I am continuing my education as something of a backup plan and something to do - now that I have a solid career I can really take advantage of college to learn what I feel like learning.

 

I am planning to start filming shortcut movies with friends for fun. I'd like to have a good looking stable web-site based on flash technology. How can I learn to do something like this http://www.jhconner.com/ (I am pretty sure it's hard).

Between, how can I attach a video background to flash, I would like something like this as background of my web-site: http://videohive.net/item/scary-logo/111556

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm not sure what I want to go to college for one of the things I was considering was being a web designer, I took a year long class last year as a junior in high school. It was easy, and I finished the web design part 8 weeks before everyone else and mine was the best in our class. What we did was very simple stuff with Dreamweaver just made buttons and a few pages with just text/pictures on it.
So, just a few questions.

What mainly do you do, like do you make edit whole websites for companys or what? (just a short description)

How much do you usually make per job? (I assume you get paid per website?)

and when working do they usually say "I want it like this.. etc" do they tell you what to make and how to make it or do they just mostly leave the design up to you?

 

I Have Just Started A Website, Without A Domain Yet Since I Can't Afford One Yet =p. What Could I Fix About It? I'm Getting A Domain Once I Sell Some Graphics.

http://www.FortifyMedia.Webs.com/

Thanks In Advance, And If Possible, PM me Your Reply?

 

www.bonechalk.com

How's that looking for it's first page? Haha
(It's my portfolio in progress by the way, completely designed by me)

 

Where was the best place to learn more advanced HMTL/css markup, and javascript?

How long does a full production of a dynamic website usually take, from the client contacting you, to completion?

 

My advice is to avoid flash websites entirely. They are difficult to create, maintain, update, and change. They are also terrible with search engines.

 

The spectrum of activities is pretty broad - working at a very small company, I have to do a large number of things.

We create full websites for companies from start to finish.

I get paid hourly at work, so there is not really a per-job pay rate there. For freelance work I charge based on how long I believe the job will take as well as what kind of services I will be providing. The most I have charged for a freelance project is $900.

Depends on a per-client basis. At my workplace we pretty much give the client as much control as they want. This is called "client-centered design", meaning, your job is to make the client happy.

When I freelance, I provide a much higher level of service. My goal is to understand the end-results that the client is trying to achieve ("what is the purpose of the site"). From there I do what I think is best for the users of the site. The client's taste is usually off the table. This is called "user-centered design". It's a more modern approach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-centered_design

 

It's hard to say what I would change without understanding the context of the site and what it is trying to achieve.

 

I like the logo and the texture.

Maybe absolutely center the whole thing?

 

At my workplace, I can't really say how long it takes since there are a billion factors outside of my control.

Freelance, however, I can. Below are some very rough averages, which change quite a bit depending on the scope and details of the project.

design: 10-30 hours

• Sketches
• Wireframes
• Color schemes
• photoshop concept
• revisions
• refinements

code: 10-100 hours

• psudocode
• markup
• css level 1
• css level 2
• slice images, create sprites from PSD
• css level 3
• compatability
• CMS integration
• ajax, javascript
• fill pages with content

Generally I can finish most projects within 2-3 weeks of starting

 

Anyways I still want some advice because flash sites look better.