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Why are designers never 100% satisfied?

8 July 2008 | Uncategorized | No Responses
Last Modified: 8 July 2008 @ 22:01


Image copyright: Becca Fatora

Ask any designer if they’re 100% satisfied with their work, and, whether openly admitted or not, there’s a very high chance of a negative response. That’s not to say their designs aren’t successful. Far from it. The statement refers more to the bane of any designers life – being overly critical – especially when designing for their own self-promotion.

In this article I share thoughts about my online appearance, feature blog designs that appeal to me, and detail the most important factors to consider for your own website design.

When working with clients, they have the final decision, so it’s easier to know when a project is complete. When a designer creates for themselves (a personal logo or website, for instance) it can be tempting to obsess about the details.

Website evolution

I’ve previously featured the 30 month evolution of my online graphic design portfolio, and it’s come to a point where once again, I’m searching for a more effective way to highlight my work.

As many of you know, I use WordPress to power my website, finding the functionality just what I need. My current design is a custom-made theme that places empahsis on the content, keeping design features to a minimum. It’s a style I enjoy, although there’s no variation in layout between the homepage, static pages, and article pages, which is something shown to great effect on a lot of my favourite blogs (a wider content area on single-post pages, for instance). WordPress Magazine style blog themes are proving increasingly popular, and I particularly like the Mimbo Pro template, created by Darren Hoyt and Ben Gillbanks.

For those not wishing to spend money on a WordPress theme, there’s the original Mimbo, which is free.

What I find appealing about magazine style themes, particuarly from a logo designers perspective, is how easily you can give prominence to recent projects, or your best logo designs. They’re right there on the homepage, as opposed to being tucked away inside a portfolio link.

Which leads me to my dilemna: much of my success with logo design is due to my blog, and the hundreds of articles I’ve written here, so it makes sense to highlight the content published. That’s where I’d appreciate your opinion.

At present, my logo design portfolio is accessed via a button in the top navigation bar (replicated at the bottom of each page), and also shown below my photograph (on the top left of each page – an attention hot spot). This is good because on every page of my site, there are at least three links pointing towards my work. From the other side of the fence, my homepage (the most visited page on davidairey.com) doesn’t show any of the logos I’ve designed for clients.

An option different from the current setup is to make use of my .co.uk domain, for showcasing my work. I bought a separate hosting account for the .co.uk when my domain name was stolen, and have been wondering what to do with it. If you take a look at www.davidairey.co.uk (through the next link), you’ll see a single page logo design portfolio, using an accordion navigation (thanks for the tip, Cat).

The simplicity is right up my street, and I think the overall style is more professional than my current offering. I’m a little reluctant, however, to separate my portfolio from my blog, and if I do, what’s the best way to tie them together? A simple htaccess redirection?

If you’re thinking of launching a single-page portfolio, Gino, at ‘You The Designer’, recently published a nice primer: The One Page Graphic Design Portfolio Guide.

Finding info about logo designer website redesigns isn’t easy, so if you know of one, or have been through the process yourself, I’d appreciate your input. It seems much easier to uncover commentary on blog redesigns, and I mention a few here.

Blog redesigns

Some of my favourite entrepreneurs (below) have been redesigning their blogs, and everytime I see a change of scenery on a site I enjoy, it prompts me to think about my own design.

I’m not in search of a major design overhaul, but rather a streamlining my website, making it as appealing as possible to potential clients. You’ve probably noticed that I favour simplicity and white space in design. Dark backgrounds, such as those featured on Vandelay and Smashing Magazine, aren’t my thing. A few of my favourite blog authors use dark web design (Veerle, Aaron and Vivien to name just three), but, mainly for legibility reasons, I’ve always preferred light backgrounds with dark text.

Important design factors to consider

A year ago I wrote a post titled 5 vital design tips for your website or blog. The 5 points are just as relevant now, and I sum them up in this list:

  1. Keep it clean
  2. Keep it focused
  3. Show images or photographs
  4. Use a colour scheme
  5. Make the text easy to read

Visit the article for a short explanation into each point.

When is a redesign called for?

This is a question that many can interpret differently. For instance, Gerry McGovern thinks web redesign is a bad strategy.

I have seen perfectly okay websites go through a redesign for all the wrong reasons. And do you know who such redesigns hurt most? Your most loyal customers. Because they use your website most.

A valid point, although in my case, many new clients visit my site for the first time before hiring me as a logo designer. I greatly value your opinion, and would appreciate your thoughts.

What do you like / dislike about my web design?

As I mentioned at the beginning, graphic designers tend to be overly-critical of their self-promotional work. What is it they say? If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it? Hmmm.

I’m a big fan of getting readers involved, and your contstructive criticism is welcomed. Is there anything you’d change about my current website design? I’ll be featuring your most appropriate suggestions and thoughts in a follow-up article, to be published soon.

Resources for website redesigns

If you’re contemplating a site redesign, here are some resources:

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