Design It For Your Customer!

As a WEB DESIGNER'S PORTFOLIO starts to mature, the influences that shape it become obvious. Those influences fall into two general camps. There are web designers who design for their customers, and there are web designers who design for other designers. Who do you design for?

There are major drawbacks to following the latest wave of web design fads . . . Rather than communicating your client's message clearly, your web design simply promotes the latest design fads. . .

Let's consider the latter first; web designers who design for fellow web designers. Getting the praise and attention of your peers has its place. Using the work of fellow designers for inspiration can be helpful to a new web designer's growth. However, that can be taken too far. For example, there is a so-called Web 2.0 'look' that is currently quite popular with many web designers. The Web 2.0 look, started as a widely adopted approach to blog design, quickly migrated to general web design. It has a distinct set of design tricks and visual cues. Web 2.0 designers have coined phrases such as spanky corners, spiffy boxes, and 2.0 badges to describe its visual fads and tricks. Its all very trendy, cute, and frankly overdone.

There are major drawbacks to following the latest wave of web design fads. Your client's product and message are forced to conform to a pre-existing "look and feel" that may not serve it well. Rather than communicating your client's message clearly, your web design simply promotes the latest design fads. The end result is a web site that looks like so many others. and does little to promote the branding and personality of your client's business.

That brings us to the web designer who designs for the customer. This approach results in web design that places the needs of the client first. The clients message, branding, and personality is clearly communicated. The focus is on web design style that appeals first to the customer, not fellow designers. This approach adds value to your client's business. It is focused on winning the hearts of customers. Because it is not tied to any faddish look, it stands out, and does not become dated and old quickly.

Designing for the customer first, takes a bit of maturity. It is less ego driven (it cares less about awards from other designers). The art of design is used to meet the client's needs, rather than forcing the client to submit to current visual fads. Savvy business owners and managers can discern when your approach to web design puts their interests first, and will send business your way if it does.