Web Design Skills Every Web Designer Must Have

An appealing web design enhances the overall performance of the website. A good web designer is a mix of a creative mind and technological know-how. But take it from me, the hiring managers of reputed web design companies, put a lot of stress on the emotional intelligence and personality trait of designers along with their knowledge. So, in this article we will unfurl the role designers play and what all skills they must have.

The skills that a good web designer should own can be divided into three categories technical aspect, creative aspect, and emotional intelligence. 

Technical Aspect

• Well-informed about web technologies

With growing competition in the market, the website design is also evolving rapidly. A good web design enhances the look and appeal of the site that converts traffic easily. A responsive design makes the website user-friendly and reduces loading time. To create such augmented website design, web designers need to familiarize themselves with the latest web technology. Their proficiency in different frameworks and languages, knowledge of coding, and designing tools is crucial.

• Knowledge of software

Web design includes many components, such as images, transitions, interface, content, widgets, and videos. A reputed web design company will recruit a pool of professionals having specific knowledge of photo editing, video editing, and graphic designing in the web designing team. But a mid-range web design agency will expect their web designers to have the basic knowledge of most software used to create an accurate design. Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Webflow, Motion are a few important software that is used by designers to tweak graphics, adjust the interface, to incorporate animation, and much more.  

• Knowledge of different languages and frameworks

This is very important for creating responsive designs. Responsive design allows a website to load on different devices and fit on the screen. The knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, PHP, and CSS is important for creating a web design that is consistent no matter on which device it is loaded. The knowledge of different frameworks and languages is also important for web designers to help the owner get the right digital presence. What if your business needs a mobile application instead of a website? In such a case a web designer will need knowledge of languages that are used to build mobile apps.

• Knowledge of UX/UI designs

User experience and user interface are two important traits of website design. Following the best practices associated with UX and UI design allows a web designer to create designs that make a website engaging, flawless, and consistent. It includes principles associated with

• Uncluttered layout ideas
• Understanding of negative space and content placement
• Ideas related to intuitive design that focuses on the user’s emotional response to a visual or audio
• Element integration such as placement of menu, buttons, etc. to achieve a smooth user-interface. 

Frankly, UX/UI design practices cannot be mastered only by having theoretical knowledge. It is learned and developed through years of practice and experience.

Creative Aspect

• Knowledge of design fundamentals

While technical knowledge can be achieved through observing and reading but creativity needs practice and experience. The knowledge of the fundamental of design is important for a web designer. The symmetry and aesthetic balance in every aspect, be it content placement, images, videos, or layout is essential. The basic principles of design can help designers reach this symmetry and enhance their creative aptitude. These fundamentals include criteria based on which visual elements are organized, non-essential elements are discarded, while important segments are highlighted or distinguished. 

These fundamentals are called Emergence, Reification, and Invariance.

• Knowledge of Graphic design and photo editing

Knowledge of graphic design and photo editing for web designers is very important. 

1. First, the graphic design and photo editing tools are used extensively to create the visual artifact that makes a website unique. 
2. Second, graphic design is an important domain used for branding purposes, to create impressive logos and banner for the website. 
3. Third, knowledge of graphic design and photo editing allows a web designer to tweak a simple image into an impressive visual display that is engaging. 
4. Finally, web designers can create an initial illustration of the website layout using graphic design and photo editing tools. 
5. Also, a website can be made more impactful using high-resolution images that are properly edited and color corrected. As such web designers can enhance their skills by adding the knowledge of graphic design and photo editing. 

Frankly, when all the three creative spaces are merged, web designers can create much more impressive layouts.  

Emotional Intelligence and people skill

• Flexibility and Patience

A website is not just a mechanical field where people come to collect information. It is also a visual art where content, creativity, and technical component combine to enhance user experience. Creating any sort of artform needs patience.

The client and the web designer may have a completely different idea about what end goal the website should achieve. As such it is important that a web designer demonstrates enough patience and is ready to listen to the feedback, ideas, and observations of the client. Making changes several times and trying to fix errors may get frustrating. This is when the flexibility or resilience of a person can be of help. 

Not necessarily all clients will have the technical knowledge of designing. In such a case web designers should be ready to explain things to their clients with patience until they both are on the same page. 

• Communication skills

The next important people skill that web designers must be good at is communication. It is an important skill that eases the process of sharing ideas and coordination. While designing the website may be a creative and highly technical pursuit but the stakeholders could be from a non-technical background. A good communicator will be able to explain his design and allow people to incorporate their vision. 

A sound insight of communication can also help web designers in creating consistency while laying out content. There are times when an image needs a catchphrase or a subheader needs instant editing to match the design. Communication skills help designers to wrap such urgent needs of the content without any delay.  

• Professionalism

The complete web design process can feel mundane and frustrating especially if the web designer gets stuck with errors and bugs or frequent revision requests. Also, web designers are expected to keep an eye for detail, which means even the most trivial work while designing a website needs their complete attention. These circumstances can at times look tedious and become a big hurdle during the project.

However, web designers must stick to their deadlines and finish projects within a stipulated period. This requires discipline and a commitment to productivity no matter how exasperating things get on designing end.

Conclusion

To end the article, I must add that creating a website is a cooperative effort that involves web developers, web designers, graphic designers, SEO strategists, content writers, digital marketers, and many such professionals. It must be understood that all these activities have blurred boundaries and to achieve complete synthesis it is expected that everybody involved in the project should have a basic understanding of other’s jobs. This is a reason why a web designer is also expected to know about copywriting, SEO strategy, business strategy and the list goes on.

If you are looking for a skillful web designer, I’ll suggest you choose a reputed web design company that employs in-house IT professionals dedicated to each department of web development which ensures the best quality of service.

Cyford is a reputed web development and web design company which has a team of IT professional with years of experience. You can check our web page to know more about our web design services and get a quote for your project.

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Published on: Mar 03, 2021