I want a Website: Do i need to hire BOTH a Web Designer AND a Graphic Designer???

N

New10

macrumors newbie
hi all,

i am currently in the market for setting up a website for myself it will be in a blog format... this website is a good example http://www.terranaomi.com/

if i wanted to do a website like that ....

1.) how likely would it be that i could just do it on my own on wordpress? (have no knowledge about building a website whatsoever but heard that wordpress is pretty easy)

2.) would i have to hire both a graphic designer and a web designer? or if i do it on wordpress can i just bypass a web designer?
 
Using the WordPress site is very easy and is designed for people like yourself who don't know anything about making web sites. If you're wanting to install WordPress onto a site, it's pretty easy and you can purchase themes that you can apply to it if you don't like the free ones that are available. Some web hosts offer one-click installs for WordPress, but that usually entails some small restrictions, but you likely won't notice them.

If you hired someone, it would depend on their own skill set as to whether or not they could handle both aspects. Most can do both though.
 
A graphic or graphically orientated web designer and a Web Developer(Programmer) would be my bet. That would get both skill sets involved though if your wanting to use wordpress a developer mite not be needed as nothing custom made would be required.
 
For this, you won't need a web developer. Maybe not even a designer...

It's not just WordPress. All sorts of easy options are out there to create your site. Flavors.me might be another route, especially, if you have an active life on the web with various social networking and media links.

It's just my personal opinion, but the site that you linked is pretty easy to create. I've done much more complex ones with RapidWeaver, involving a couple of beautiful effects. This style is actually going out of fashion, it was so much abused. Hopefully, in a few years time, coffee cups will have disappeared from our screens with their brown mark and dirty background. I will not miss the fake wood. :)

The way I started designing a site was purely accidental. After seeing what was going on on the internet, I started with basic text editors. Then I moved on to templates. Then with OS X, iWeb came. I could have started with iWeb, just to understand the visuals and not caring about unnecessary technical details.


But I would never, ever got to the current level, if somebody was not commissioning me for a project. I have to say it, I am happy that I can create reasonable sites. You might find the experience enjoyable too.

In the end, contemporary sites are often about user content. Many developers and designers do not understand that and they create something that is not about you at all and you can hardly change it.



Come on, I'm sure that you can do it!
 
kernkraft said:
For this, you won't need a web developer. Maybe not even a designer...

It's not just WordPress. All sorts of easy options are out there to create your site. Flavors.me might be another route, especially, if you have an active life on the web with various social networking and media links.

It's just my personal opinion, but the site that you linked is pretty easy to create. I've done much more complex ones with RapidWeaver, involving a couple of beautiful effects. This style is actually going out of fashion, it was so much abused. Hopefully, in a few years time, coffee cups will have disappeared from our screens with their brown mark and dirty background. I will not miss the fake wood. :)

The way I started designing a site was purely accidental. After seeing what was going on on the internet, I started with basic text editors. Then I moved on to templates. Then with OS X, iWeb came. I could have started with iWeb, just to understand the visuals and not caring about unnecessary technical details.


But I would never, ever got to the current level, if somebody was not commissioning me for a project. I have to say it, I am happy that I can create reasonable sites. You might find the experience enjoyable too.

In the end, contemporary sites are often about user content. Many developers and designers do not understand that and they create something that is not about you at all and you can hardly change it.



Come on, I'm sure that you can do it!
Click to expand...


so u think i could make a website like the one i just linked you to with wordpress? or blogspot or 1 of those hosts?

could you link me to some sites that impress u from a design aesthetic?
 
New10 said:
so u think i could make a website like the one i just linked you to with wordpress? or blogspot or 1 of those hosts?
Click to expand...

Do you know Photoshop? Are you a designer?

The site that you linked to didn't just happen by accident (as you well know). There are probably many reasons why you can't make that site... even if you merely tried to duplicate it.

My question is — before you rush out to pay good money for design or development — are you planning to make money off the site? Would a less than stellar design rob you of credibility and therefore potential customers? If the answer is yes, then pay to get it done right.

If the answer is no, then have it yourself and have fun learning and improving as you go.
 
I'm sorry, it's confusing, but trying to help a bit... (I'm multitasking)

New10 said:
so u think i could make a website like the one i just linked you to with wordpress? or blogspot or 1 of those hosts?

could you link me to some sites that impress u from a design aesthetic?
Click to expand...

There is a very good route for that. If you type the most obvious search terms in Google, you get a couple of good web design sites and they constantly feature interesting sites. You can see the trends - grunge/notebook styles have been very popular for personal sites, but I think that currently, things are getting either more typographically driven or more graphics driven with dark backgrounds and strong colours. Search for 'best minimalist web sites' or 'stylish web design' and you'll see. Florals are going out of fashion, sleek lines are coming in. Overall, I think websites are getting more focused and things that imitate another medium are losing ground. Personally, my initial thought wouldn't be "let's put down some carpet-looking graphics on that wooden floor imitation and mix sharp corners with 'cosy' elements!"

Smashing Magazine is a good start, they have a really good site with all sorts of design-related lists. There are other listings like this one:
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/minimalistic-web-design/
I have hundreds of websites bookmarked, so I'll just send a few, if I'll find them...
http://www.markboultondesign.com/
http://www.rikcatindustries.com/
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/60-beautiful-hand-drawn-web-design/
http://psdfan.com/inspiration/35-beautiful-grunge-website-designs-you-may-not-have-seen-before/
If you search for 'best grunge websites', you'll find masses of sites like the one you linked. Try 'best WordPress sites' and you'll see what that is capable of.
http://blog.fazai38.com/index.php/2009/07/14/top-25-trendy-stylish-websites-for-inspirations/
http://www.levoltz.com/2010/01/21/50-most-beautiful-wordpress-websites-of-2009/
http://www.sitesketch101.com/beautiful-websites



There is another reason, why at least attempting to create your own might not be a bad idea. During the process, you get ideas, inspiration, you might learn basic principles and get familiar with dilemmas. My worst customers in web design were people, who knew nothing about web design and didn't really knew what they wanted or what they could ask for. As I might have mentioned, it is a hobby for me and I make a living in management, where people tend to outsource. But that is not about personal sites. In the end, bad customers get a website that might be miles off their true potential. How would I know that they've had a photo shoot some years back where they look stunning, or that they draw beautifully, which can be incorporated into the design?

Collecting ideas, collecting visual material and content is essential and try to question, whether would reflect your image the most or would be able to accommodate your requirements the best.


(Sorry, in the meantime I'm multitasking...)


Anyway, if you are certain about that style, you might have a go at with iWeb. Have you got a Mac and iLife? iWeb is not a very efficient way of designing sites, but it's probably the best way for beginners. It's super easy and you can at least experiment, so even if you seek a professional, you have a basic idea of what to expect and what to look for. Of course, you should also try WordPress. have a go, if you don't enjoy it, a designer will create something for a couple of hundreds (USD). You can try to find a site-builder website too, but then I think templates might be just as useful. There are some nice premium templates and for a low cost, you can experiment with uploading your own material.

The site that you linked use Flash for some elements - ask the guys, what they think about it. Otherwise, it is something that I think should not be copied and can be improved.
 
About the site...

Cons:
- sharp edges mixed with rounded edges (graphically modified for IE6 users, I suppose)
- Flash element is not necessary
- there are broken links, that's never a good sign
- what is that gradient image doing on a website that is based on the idea of a wooden floor and shag pile?
- sorry, I realised that it imitates paper - of course, the resolution is not very good.
- shadow effects don't mix with hand writing. Some fonts don't appear the same on some sites.
- all the important social network links appear to be on the side.




I get this sort of personal style for personal websites and blogs, but there are so many better examples. If you have a go at a WordPress theme creator, you'll be amazed. Get your camera and scanner out and get familiar with 'transparent pngs'! Get a basic or open source graphic app - Inkscape or Gimp are fine, I personally use Pixelmator but it's not free. Within a couple of weeks, you'll be confident and can decide, if you are ready to create something on your own that you can modify yourself easily, or ask somebody else for a user-friendly site with your content management system (CMS).


Of course, I should have started with this, but what's the purpose of the site? I assumed that it was a blog or personal page. What's the budget? Are there any features that you have in mind having? What sort of photo/video/text/blog entries are expected?

Good luck and keep us informed!
 
If it's just a personal/enthusiast blog I wouldn't hire anyone. Even if you took a while, it would be no big deal. You could work on it and learn as you go. There a ton of DIY kits out there like the aforementioned Wordpress. If this is a business, then definitely hire someone to do it.

As far as how many, well, that depends on the person/company. I have a New Media undergrad and and we did everything from web design, graphic design, programming, video, 3D, etc. But someone could focus on one or more of these areas if it interested them. Some were strong in one area more than another. So unless you hired a company that advertised what services you were looking for, you'll most likely get a mixed bag. Just make sure you see a portfolio before hiring someone.
 
I'd hire a designer and developer. Developer to make all the meaty bits work and a designer to make it fabulous.
 
thesis is a nice theme that somewhat resembles what you've mentioned in the original post. it's a premium theme and costs money: http://diythemes.com but i'm sure there are tons of alternatives (even the basic wordpress theme) that are free and can be modified to look like the site you like.
 
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