It comes in many forms—the annoying priority “exclamation point” in your inbox, the flustered voice on the other end of the phone, or the quick meeting that makes use of terms like “rush,” “urgent” or my personal favorite, “as soon as possible.” Regardless of the manner in which they present themselves, the reality is that rush projects sometimes pop up, and you aren’t always in the position to turn them down. What’s a designer to do in a situation that goes against the time-intensive creative process needed to put out quality designs? Here are some of the strategies I’ve used to pull together a good design when time is not on my side:
Clarify your objective
It may seem that the focus of this project is a short deadline, but you have to remember that ultimately, you’re aiming for two targets. First, your goal is to stay in business, so you do not want any sub-par designs getting linked to your name. Second, at the end of the day, your client requires an effective design; if you completely miss the mark and your paying client isn’t satisfied, guess who will be spending more time redesigning the website? There are ways to cut time when you’re in a time crunch, but substantially reducing quality could just cost you more time (and clients). Continue reading
The availability of e-commerce facility has gained significant popularity in the last decade. What has attracted the user of online shopping is the convenience of shopping their favorite products from their home as well. Moreover, the user also has an advantage of more information on the desired product and an option to choose from a wide range, when buying online. A large number of software companies have come up with e- commerce software, which is primarily aimed to enhance the user experience on the e-commerce website as well as to provide a better platform to business entities to showcase their products.
There are a number of points; the companies must keep in mind while deciding the overall structure of their e-commerce website. One of the most important aspects of the same is the shopping cart. More often it has been observed that due to issues related to the shopping cart and check out glitches, the user is not able to buy the product. Following are some of the points an e-commerce web designer can introduce while designing the shopping cart.
As a designer, you need to remember that you are a brand. Your experience in the field itself and whether you have a degree from an online school or a traditional school are all important pieces in promoting and creating a market for yourself. The following is an article that helps designers prepare a perfect portfolio in order to do that.
Students will have an advantage when it comes to creating a portfolio because often their schools will walk them through the process and some classes will even make it a part of their curriculum. If it’s not, professors from online colleges or traditional universities are usually pleased enough that a student is going the extra mile that they’re willing to help them outside of normal class hours.
The first thing that designers need realize is the intention of the portfolio. Is the intention to find a steady job? Is it to create traffic for freelance jobs? Is it simply a site to show your work from school and to help fellow designers in their designs? This question must be answered first; only then will you be able to create the perfect design for your portfolio.
Millions of websites already exist and thousands more are started each day around the world. But not everyone succeeds. The most likely reason is that the website owner didn’t properly establish a sound business plan. A strong plan incorporates all the essential and helpful tips, techniques, tricks, and goals that every business needs to focus on and carry out effectively in order to succeed.
If you are a designer you surely have come across one the many websites which are now crowdsourcing the efforts of designers to buyers needing design work. You know the sites I’m referring to, the ones where you read a creative brief provided by a company looking to have design work produced for a new website, logo, or graphic work. You have the option of competing against other designers and submitting your work. Your goal is to create the chosen design. If your design wins, you get paid. Great, right? Maybe. If your design doesn’t win, you’ve created designs, and don’t receive any payment.
From the designer’s perspective, sites hosting design contests certainly have their pros and cons. Continue reading
