5 things to consider when going from graphic design to web design
Who is a graphic designer?
Graphic designers combine text and images to create designs and layouts. It is your responsibility to create interesting designs that grab the attention of your viewers and communicate your message effectively. The message can be intended for both offline and online audiences. Simply put, graphic designers are concerned with how objects look. It’s all about making static layouts as visually appealing as possible. There are many branches of graphic design, and many designers specialize in creating one category of work, such as movie poster designer Raj Khatri, while others prefer to do a little of everything.
Who is a web designer?
Web designers are broadly divided into UI and UX designers. User interface designers are responsible for the design of an application or a website, that is, the appearance of the interface for the audience. While user experience designers are more concerned with what happens when one interacts with the interface. Together, they both work on how the product feels. Their goal is to maximize the simplicity of the product. They refine and iterate to create the best possible experience for users.
As you can see, graphic designers differ from UI/UX designers in both their process and end result. There is no doubt that UI/UX designers are currently in the highest demand in India. They bridge the gap between how things look and how they work; and they are at the forefront of creating great products for people in the technological age. On the other hand, the market for graphic designers has stagnated a bit and the job market is shrinking for them compared to more technologically relevant designers.
In fact, many graphic designers are changing to become web designers. Are you wanting to make the change? Here are five tips to keep in mind when going from graphic design to web design;
1. Don’t be the expert
The best web designers are the ones who don’t have all the answers. Eh what? The key is to understand that all customers are different and that one solution will not work for everyone. You need to understand what layouts exactly they need and create it for them. Often, giving them an answer will not be enough. You will need to do your research and give customers the reasons why their answer is correct. Be prepared to be stumped every day and have to work hard for every change you make, because you’ll need to accommodate customer needs in your designs.
Good web designers always start with the basics, always plan ahead as they work and create preliminary outlines for their designs. Rough is the keyword here, as many designers often try too hard to make their wireframes look pretty and lose focus on their purpose. This is a very important point for graphic designers, as aesthetics take a backseat when it comes to creating wireframes. This does not mean that you should throw away your creativity, but rather that you should learn to focus it and use it in the right places.
2. It is both a science and an art
Being a web designer, you must embrace product thinking. Being a web designer means understanding that design overlaps with product management, as no one can design an intuitive user interface for a product they have no idea about.
User research and testing is a big part of web design. Your intuition, as well as all kinds of biases, should never get in the way of the design process. This means you’ll need to conduct interviews, studies, consultations, and tests to validate your design and make sure it’s intuitive to your users.
It’s a scientific approach, and you should understand that in web design the definition of beautiful it’s what makes users feel good while navigating through your interfaces, not what’s pretty to look at. To achieve this, you must not only be good at art, but also understand the science behind it all.
3. Design for Information
One of the most important aspects of good web design isn’t so much about pixels, colors, or typography, but about the content that sits within your designs. People use websites and apps not because of their beautiful designs, but because they want easy access to content. When going from graphic design to web design, you should keep this aspect in mind and make sure that your designs are as simple as possible. It is very important to make it as easy as possible for users to find the content they need. The entire interface must be logical in its layout and easily accessible to the end user.
4. Follow the guidelines, don’t make up your own
“Wait, you want me to follow the convention!” Although this sounds like cyanide for graphic designers, it makes a lot of sense when it comes to web design. Like programming, UI/UX design has guidelines, such as Google’s Material Design for Android or Apple’s iOS Human Interface Guidelines. And following them is essential to ensure that your design does not cause any confusion in the minds of users.
If you completely break out of already established patterns, you may experience a steeper learning curve for new users. Many of them won’t bother to figure out your design patterns and will move on to another website or app that fits what they already know.
However, this does not mean that you do not have room for customization and unconventional design solutions. To some extent, it does, but unless you work at Apple or Google, it’s not recommended to reinvent entire design patterns that your users have already grown accustomed to. It is not creativity but ease of use that is important in this field.
5. Play
While it is obvious that you will need to research and read as much as possible about the world of web design, one thing that is often overlooked is that as a web designer you need to visit as many websites as possible. Many graphic designers feel that using a reference kills their intrinsic creativity and therefore they avoid using references for what they create.
Write down what you like about them and what you don’t. What makes them different from their competitors? What makes it easy for you to access the content? Do you like that extra menu bar? How many clicks or actions does it take to get from one section of the website to another? All of this will help you a lot when designing your own websites, as you can learn from what others have done and avoid the mistakes they have made.
Conclusion
If you are thinking of moving to web design, be aware that there will be radical changes in your work process and mindset. The hardest part of this transition might be changing your perception of the design and your goal.
So before sketching your first interface, try to put yourself in the user’s shoes to understand what they are looking for in the product and what their goals are. Then think about the design as a way to help them achieve them. From now on, that’s your goal!