Web Design News

Keep up to date with all of the latest news related to web design and graphic design.

How to choose a web design company

A topic of hot discussion – how do you choose a web design company for your project? Many small and medium sized companies often have this struggle. It’s actually very commonplace to find that companies cycle between several providers. In my opinion, the main reason for this is that each web design agency has a different style of working, their pricing varies wildly for different services and often agencies are under constraints from staff – usually taking on more work than they can fit in.

There are a number of ways in which most people find themselves in contact with a potential company. Given the competitive nature of the industry, it’s highly likely that the company has already made contact before you’ve even thought about having a yours re-designed! The most valuable asset you can have when choosing a company is a personal referral or recommendation. If you’ve got a friend, colleague or even someone at your local networking company who is prepared to put their neck on the line, so to speak, to suggest a particular company then go for it. Just be aware that networking groups can work on commission – if this is the case it’s likely that the recommendation has very little value.

Web Design

The Best Way To Choose a Web Design Company

  • Personal referral
  • Local reviews – check Google Reviews to see how much positive feedback there is
  • How they handle the design process
  • Previous case studies – ask to look at their work!
  • Company structure – how many members of staff are there? Less than 4 means they’re going to struggle with workload at peak times.
  • Company White Papers – often more established companies will create a report of how they’ve helped previous clients. Read this and then quiz the web designers when you speak to them.
  • Organic SEO rankings – the reality is, if you type in web design on Google and pick one of the top results, if it’s not a local result then the company has put a lot of time, money and effort into being there. If Google deems them trustworthy, in a competitive industry like this, they probably are!
  • Your gut feeling – have you gelled with the member of the team you’ve spoken to?

In conclusion, there are many different ways to choose – I wouldn’t personally advise using price as a controlling factor when making a decision on which web design company to choose. There are too many freelancers and small agencies who use price as a commodity when ultimately design is 100% time based. If you’ve paid someone only £300 to build a website, then be prepared for them to spend a maximum of 3-4 hours building it.

Latest web design trends – a quick video

Many people get the modern day, web design equivalent of writer’s block. As a web designer or graphic designer, you’re constantly challenged by the pressures of making sure that client work has been completed, your own website is up to date and most importantly, you’re staying ahead of the curve with your designs. If you’ve been in the same role for several years, it’s very easy to hit a plateau and stop being innovative. The best way is to always spent 30 minutes a day researching the latest web design trends. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can overcome the block and put ‘mouse to screen’!

Should your join the bandwagon and use WordPress too?

It’s no secret, WordPress has taken over the internet. It’s used everywhere, not just for small blog websites or for Julie down the road to sell her god-awful t-shirts she can’t get rid of at the local car boot sale. Many people have a common mis-conception that WordPress isn’t secure and is always hit by bugs, hackers and viruses. This is some ways is true, but it’s all relative. There are millions of users worldwide who now create WordPress websites for both small and large businesses. Even some big names – Sony, the BBC and various other media outlets make use of it.

There are many pros and cons to using WordPress. I’ll start with the basics below:

Pros

  • Super easy to use compared to other alternatives
  • Huge wealth of free guides and support available
  • You have a WYSIWYG editor – What You See Is What You Get editor.
  • It’s highly customisable
  • Very lightweight
  • Most popular CMS platform in the world, so there are plenty of cheap website developers

Cons

  • Being the most used for small websites, it’s the most targeted by spam, viruses and bots
  • There’s a “WordPressy look” which a lot of people hate
  • A false sense of security can often make average users complacent about security
  • It’s harder to create really unique designs as you’re restricted to the grid layouts (unless custom building)
  • Plugins, Themes, WordPress Core – they all have to be updated and sometimes doing this can cause conflicts and problems.

Ultimately, there are only a few other major contenders – Joomla, Magento and Opencart are all possible, but they are nowhere near as simple to use and if you get stuck you may struggle to get a speedy response.

Verdict? YES! Infact, the blog post you’re reading right now has been created on a WordPress install.

 

 

Which colours to use for your new website design?

Often a really tricky topic… the colours which you choose for your website determine your brand, your ethos and also in many ways, the type of industry you’re in. It wouldn’t make much sense for example, for a landscaping company to choose pink as their primary colour.

This short guide which I’ve created will help you to choose the primary and secondary colours for your brand and ultimately your website design. There’s no right or wrong answer, but make sure you get some feedback from friends, family and perhaps even current clients if you have any. It can be very costly to make a mistake on your branding, particularly for a start up, where reputation and first impressions are particularly important. I’d suggest picking traditional colours for your industry vs. trying to be too different as you otherwise run the risk of alienating potential clients.

It’s important to remember the psychology of different colours and this will help you determine the best colour for your business.

Bright colours – Reds, Oranges and Yellows

Colours such as orange, red and yellow typically create a subconscious cautionary thought. They can also present danger and are commonly used in warnings and error notifications… ie. not the best colour to be using for a dentist or surgeon where trust, calm and safety are probably the primary intents.

Softer Pastel Colours – Greens and Browns

Much more traditional colours, the choice to use a green or brown in your brand will usually instil trust and tradition. You must be careful though, normally using brown will create a dull effect and often can clash with other colours. This colour is most suitable for landscapers and companies which deliver products which are usually brown – a packaging or delivery company for example.

Green can be really effective and really “pop”, but again you must be careful because certain shades of green can look really dated and nasty – the sort of colour you’d find in an overgrown pond!

Spotify is a great recent example of a brand which has adopted a bright green. It stands out and looks super clean! Below is a colour chart for different types of green which you could use in your website:

Shades of green

Blues and Purples

These are typically major trust signals – using blue is a peaceful colour which is why the NHS use it. Purple is often seen as a good choice because it can be used in both white and black backgrounds without it clashing.

Overall there are a lot of choices to make when choosing a colour for your branding and website design. My primary advice would be to ensure that you’re able to use your colours on a variety of different background and environments. There’s nothing worse than having a blue van and your logo is blue too, so it clashes and you can’t use it. Take a look at some of my web design inspiration for ideas on how colours go together.

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