This weeks “Design Rule to Live By” is based on understanding the direction of the web, web design, and having a vision of what is coming next and how to use it best for our clients. So the interwebs are always changing, I am sure this isn’t news to any of you reading this. We are always hearing of new mobile technology that is advancing the online experience for mobile users, HTML 5, CSS 3, and so many other areas of improvement for the common online experience. Since we are those that are creating/developing this experience it is crucial that…
We stay current with advancements in our field, and follow the trends in an effort to see what is next.
This does not mean that we all the sudden become an expert in every online platform and technology, or that we limit our our designs and creative efforts to what ever the current trend is.
What it does mean is that we have a finger on the pulse of design, progressive enhancements, and what emerging technologies (whether apps, or platforms) can help our clients to accomplish the goals, and communicate their products better than their competition.
We don’t have to master any of these other technologies, but understanding them, and knowing people who can help is huge and can increase the value of what we offer our clients. Finding the perfect solution even if we have to partner with others should be at the forefront of our out look when providing design/dev services. This is seen in today’s announcement of the Happy Cog and Airbag Industries merger.
So whether it is find that an iPhone app helps a client take their product to the next level, or providing the right content management framework to streamline a companies process. Find out what best helps learn how to do it or collaborate… and keep your clients (or company) happy and ahead of their competition.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic/concept.
~ Aaron I
This makes me even more excited for the stuff in the works!
Aaron good post mate. I agree that this for me is one of the most important professional approaches (more than design rule, but I get that it is to fit into your series
) Staying current and making sure my clients get the best solution tailormade for them rather than the same old same old solutions offered by the production line operators, churning out stuff cheap and in volume.
Any advice on how to make the client see the value of our approach and understand why it ain’t as cheap! From their perspective as long as the design looks good even if it uses out dated techniques, those techniques are not transparent to them/or understood by them and it is hard for us to outline benefits that offer them value without starting to jibber and rant about stuff they don;t understand or care too much about.
.-= ´s last blog ..The advantages and disadvantages of Content Management Systems =-.
I would like to single out the part where you talk about staying current. I think this is a very important part with not only keeping clients happy, but also keeping your head above water and having a sucessful career.
I have worked on some projects in the past with what I like to call
“old school designers” that are very stubborn and think what they learned 20 years ago is going to get them through the rest of their career without learning and keeping up with today’s technology.
It’s simple stay current and give clients what they want and deserve and you will be happier in the end as well.
May have got abit off topic but these words, ” stay current” were calling my name
.-= ´s last blog ..Overthinking Is The Enemy =-.
I agree with Josh, but the stubbornness is not only with the old school designers.
I recently reviewed some student portfolios at a local AIGA event. Not one of them showed a lick of web design. Of course I inquired, and the typical answer I got was, “I plan to take some classes, but haven’t yet.” I don’t know what these kids are thinking. I hope it was just the 6 or 7 that I saw. Even though the design skills were there, the technology and drive to learn was not.
So I encourage them, and everyone reading this, to take more classes. Read. Learn on your own. Get involved. You will be a better designer / person for it. Or not. I’ll have more job security if you don’t
This is entirely too true. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen companies stick with outdated websites and even advertisements because they refuse to change and innovate. Weather is a general fear of change, or the fact that their designers won’t stay current, may be a bit older or are just plain old out of touch, I don’t know.
What I do know is that I see a lot of this and when some people not really familiar with the industry see a large brand that is using outdated standards are practices they have asked me to imitate it, or even why my stuff doesn’t look like this.
Add to this the fact that I see amazing graphic designers all the time that don’t even know how to properly scale their images for the web, and I’m at a loss to understand what is going on here. The web is too valuable for people to remain ignorant of how to use it effectively to accomplish their ends, especially in the graphic design and advertising world!