When first starting out in the world of web design there is so much to learn in order to improve your craft that you are bound to make mistakes along the way. Even after a few years in the industry you will still make mistakes that you know you could have easily avoided but didn’t for one reason or another. I thought I would share with you some of the mistakes that can be very easily made by the inexperienced (and sometimes experienced!) web designer and why you should avoid them.

Not Designing to a Grid

There seems to be one of two reasons why newbie web designers don’t use a grid based system when designing: 1) They have read somewhere that it limits creativity; or 2) They are unaware of it.

Designing to a grid does not limit creativity; it allows you to be more creative by giving you a clear understanding of dimension and scale from the offset. Just as artists are confined to the size of their canvas, you are limited to the size of the browser. Using a grid allows you to plan the size, positioning and the flow of your elements within the page.

If you fail to use a grid you will more than likely discover (after countless hours work) that your design will have to be redone as your elements are too big, too close together or even worse – you have forced a horizontal scroll into the users browser!
There is an excellent article on Grid Based Web Design over on www.noupe.com.

Not Sketching

Sometimes it can be eagerness, other times it can be ignorance, but many newcomers fail to sketch when designing for the web. It can be too easy to get excited by the prospect of a new design project and to jump straight into Photoshop to begin designing a layout. I sketch everything, from wireframes to logo design – although I never used to. I find that sitting down with a notepad and a pencil helps me release ideas that I never knew I had and my work has got a lot better as a result.

I’m currently in the middle of redesigning my portfolio (www.leehardingonline.co.uk) and although I already have a rough idea of how I want it to look it was a nice sunny day so I decided to sit in the garden, get away from my desk and enjoy the sunshine. Being a bit of a workaholic I began sketching layout ideas and after only 20 minutes or so I had come up with some really great layouts, a few of which I will definitely use in future.

Sketching makes it easier to be creative, if you are sat in front of your computer working with Photoshop, you only have that one design idea in mind and it becomes a lot more difficult to come up with new ones – especially if you have already spent a good few hours on one design and become committed to it, even though deep down you know it could be better.

Following Trends

If I hear one more person utter the words “It’s not very Web 2.0 is it?” I think I’ll break down and cry. I heard this from a client once when showing them a mock-up of a web layout I had done for them, I asked them what they understood by the term “Web 2.0” and they didn’t really have a clue. They based their idea of Web 2.0 on the presence of gradients, gloss effects, reflection effects and big bright colours.

If you type “What is Web 2.0 Design” into Google you will find over 174 million results, each of which will have its own varying definition. Try searching on “What is Web 3.0 Design” and you will find over 69 million results, “Web 1.0” will give you 89 million results. I don’t think the term “Web 1.0” was even a term until somebody came up with the term “Web 2.0”.

My point is that trends come and go and tend to last between 3-5 years. Would you rather design a site that is “Web 2.0” but wrong for the job in hand and will probably need a complete redesign in a few years, or would you rather design a site that a timeless design, is a bit different from everything else and perfect for the job?

Following trends doesn’t really teach you anything, whilst it’s good to be aware of what everyone else is doing, it doesn’t encourage you to be creative. Don’t follow trends, set them.

Becoming a pixel pusher

Why did you become a designer? Was it to unleash your creativity and find solutions to problems, or was it to have someone stood over your shoulder telling you exactly what to do – or even worse was it because you wanted to copy www.someone-else-ssite.com. Firstly copying someone else’s site is just plain wrong, your client gains nothing unique and you learn nothing. If a prospective client wanted me to copy another site I would simply refuse. I’d ask them what aspects of that site they liked and try to incorporate those elements into my own unique design but I’d never copy.

If your client is happy to steal somebody else’s hard work, is that a client you really want to work with anyway?
Pixel pushing is different from taking constructive criticism or being open to suggestions. Accepting criticism and communication is an important part of being a designer, but pixel pushing is different. It starts with a simple, “can you make this a bit bigger, move this to left, change the colour of this, delete that” and before you know it your entire design has changed beyond recognition and 99.9% of the time it looks awful.

Pixel pushing demeans your skills as a designer. You have become no more than a tool to the client and your only usefulness to them is that you know how to use Photoshop. The countless hours you have spent studying typography, colour theory, usability and accessibility have been a waste of time.

We have all been a pixel pusher at one point, usually to keep the client happy and get the project done as quickly and painlessly as possible, fully aware that the project will not be a portfolio piece and you will deny any involvement in its design to friends and colleagues.

Try to stay away from these types of projects, they limit your own creativity, you learn nothing and eventually they will kill your love of the job.

There are many mistakes that we make when we first start out in the design industry. The most important thing is that we learn from them and try not to make the same mistakes again. I have made all of these mistakes before and continue to make different mistakes or errors in judgement now, but from each mistake I make I learn how to improve my skills and ability as a designer. What types of mistakes did you make as a newbie web designer? What types of mistakes do you make now?