Taking a moment away from design, I thought I might draw my attentions to something that a friend of mine has linked me. It is a blog by a person by the name of Sanjay Ghosh, and centers around bringing to light the racism present in our world, a blog by the name of Brown Discrimination. Namely, a post concerning the terrorist attacks on Mumbai this past November.
I found it interesting how this writer points out the differences between US Senator McCain and what I feel will happen - that is, I feel that India is a much wiser country in that there will be none of this which Senator McCain has prescribed.
I feel that the lesson that can be learned from current political events is a difficult one to partake in, which all have (note, world economy) and which I hope is of the type of lesson which will run deep. Quick actions and hot heads lead to a world of trouble.
Either way, this read is certainly very thought-provoking, no matter which side of the world you may reside in or what sector of the global community you may find yourself in. It is certainly worth a read.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The real brains behind the operation...
Name: Haxx0r
Age: 5 months
Birth date:: July 3rd, 2008
Favorite food:: Mango
Oh, Haxx, you are such a great vector illustrator, HTML/CSS professional, and.. well, all right, just wanted to share this snapshot of him attempting to help out with some illustration work I'm doing.
Friday, December 12, 2008
With Hopes I have not Royally screwed up..
I quit my job.
I made a few mistakes along the way...
For one thing, I quit it very abruptly. I did put away savings, but I did not put in 2 weeks notice, as I would have preferred to. By doing this, I have most likely lost a few contacts, as well as a decent reference. Why did I not give 2 weeks notice? My management has a history of sending people home when they do so.
For two, the only real thing I have lined up is freelance design gigs. Of course, I can now expand my search and include other agency jobs, but the fact remains that with the economy the way it is, it is going to be difficult.
In the end, things tend to work out, and I hope that this decision will turn out better than it feels. If anything, I can at least work on the composites I've been meaning to...
I made a few mistakes along the way...
For one thing, I quit it very abruptly. I did put away savings, but I did not put in 2 weeks notice, as I would have preferred to. By doing this, I have most likely lost a few contacts, as well as a decent reference. Why did I not give 2 weeks notice? My management has a history of sending people home when they do so.
For two, the only real thing I have lined up is freelance design gigs. Of course, I can now expand my search and include other agency jobs, but the fact remains that with the economy the way it is, it is going to be difficult.
In the end, things tend to work out, and I hope that this decision will turn out better than it feels. If anything, I can at least work on the composites I've been meaning to...
Monday, December 8, 2008
Firefox Too Crashy? Unable to print from Firefox?
Are you one of those people who is tired of the constant crashing of Firefox? You love the great rendering engine, and the fact that it actually supports the Internet, but have issues with it taking up too much memory and crashing.
Did you know that you can install some of your same Firefox Addons on the Flock browser? Flock is based upon Firefox and uses Mozilla's rendering engine; the major difference is that Flock is tuned more toward social media whereas Firefox is tuned toward development.
Now, note that you will still need to manage your memory. After all, having 20 tabs open is the same as having 20 windows open, and eats up about the same amount of memory - so if you are crashing on Firefox with more tabs than your huge resolution could fit, therein may lie your problem!
Nevertheless, Flock is certainly rising in my eyes! Not only can I post to my multiple blogs with the click of a single button as well as to Twitter and other places, I've found that it simply has not crashed on me to date. Oh, and I can actually print with it! The security restrictions of Firefox were giving me difficulty; for unknown reasons, as soon as I installed Firefox 3.0, I was completely unable to print anything (which was a bad thing).
Exploring other browsers is a capital thing as a designer. Sticking with simply one browser is, well, sin. Why? Because then we have a one-sided view of the internet. Plus, we aren't expanding ourselves by doing the same thing over and over again! Remember, the definition of insanity is to perform the same action multiple times and expecting a different result every time!
Don't just rely on Firefox to view your Internet! There is support for seemingly all browsers for PCs; even Apple knocked their heads together and put together Safari for Windows, which, in my opinion, was a great thing, given that it allows developers and designers on Windows to see the Internet from another set of eyes. And Opera has a free download now - so check that out, too! I highly recommend it for casual browsing.
And while you are at it, refer your clients to other browsers as well! It is a wonderful Internet out there - and it is sin to have the Internet rely completely on Firefox and Internet Explorer!
Did you know that you can install some of your same Firefox Addons on the Flock browser? Flock is based upon Firefox and uses Mozilla's rendering engine; the major difference is that Flock is tuned more toward social media whereas Firefox is tuned toward development.
Now, note that you will still need to manage your memory. After all, having 20 tabs open is the same as having 20 windows open, and eats up about the same amount of memory - so if you are crashing on Firefox with more tabs than your huge resolution could fit, therein may lie your problem!
Nevertheless, Flock is certainly rising in my eyes! Not only can I post to my multiple blogs with the click of a single button as well as to Twitter and other places, I've found that it simply has not crashed on me to date. Oh, and I can actually print with it! The security restrictions of Firefox were giving me difficulty; for unknown reasons, as soon as I installed Firefox 3.0, I was completely unable to print anything (which was a bad thing).
Exploring other browsers is a capital thing as a designer. Sticking with simply one browser is, well, sin. Why? Because then we have a one-sided view of the internet. Plus, we aren't expanding ourselves by doing the same thing over and over again! Remember, the definition of insanity is to perform the same action multiple times and expecting a different result every time!
Don't just rely on Firefox to view your Internet! There is support for seemingly all browsers for PCs; even Apple knocked their heads together and put together Safari for Windows, which, in my opinion, was a great thing, given that it allows developers and designers on Windows to see the Internet from another set of eyes. And Opera has a free download now - so check that out, too! I highly recommend it for casual browsing.
And while you are at it, refer your clients to other browsers as well! It is a wonderful Internet out there - and it is sin to have the Internet rely completely on Firefox and Internet Explorer!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
It's thirteen minutes past midnight...
I'm working on a design that I've had for a few months now.. Far too long in my opinion, but the owner's had some issues concerning their franchise and ended up creating a new logo recently.
I'm trying out a CSS grid for the first time, namely, 960.gs. It's pretty good.. Very easy to set up and use. I do believe I can get the site done tomorrow afternoon, simply because the hard coding is essentially finished for me.
The main issue I'm having right now is that I forgot my tablet at work... And well, I'm realizing more and more how much that is worth to me. The issues I'm having right now with using a mouse to do this job:
It's a short list... but it is really beginning to bug me to not have my trusty Wacom 6 x 4.
I'm trying out a CSS grid for the first time, namely, 960.gs. It's pretty good.. Very easy to set up and use. I do believe I can get the site done tomorrow afternoon, simply because the hard coding is essentially finished for me.
The main issue I'm having right now is that I forgot my tablet at work... And well, I'm realizing more and more how much that is worth to me. The issues I'm having right now with using a mouse to do this job:
- It's not ergonomical. My wrists hurts after only a few hours of work, whereas with my tablet, I can use it all day and not feel any pain from the possible carpal tunnel that I'm developing.
- Lack of real control. My movements are jerkier, and just don't feel as natural as when I utilize the tablet for drawing.
It's a short list... but it is really beginning to bug me to not have my trusty Wacom 6 x 4.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
And Now Announcing...
Some of the changes I said I'd do.
Blog design: check.
Portfolio: check.
Still working on that order form, but otherwise things are definitely coming along concerning the check list.
Hope everyone has a great holiday season- I thought I would post a few noteworthy things today that I find I am especially thankful for.
There are countless other things... But these are a few that are especially hitting me at the moment.
Blog design: check.
Portfolio: check.
Still working on that order form, but otherwise things are definitely coming along concerning the check list.
Hope everyone has a great holiday season- I thought I would post a few noteworthy things today that I find I am especially thankful for.
- This blog.
In essence, this blog has been my sanity. It has taken me up and down, and given me a real project that I can sink my teeth into. With it, I am experimenting with SEO tips and tricks, and experimenting to see what works and what does not work. It is the fruit of my labor, and while it may only be a small voice in the large realm of the Internet, I hope that it is one that is worth something to someone. - The clients who made this happen.
While my work with BDI has taken up much of my time as of late, I would like to thank the people who have asked me to do sites for them. I have had some great freelance clients, many of which return for their half-price site redesign (and sometimes, the occasional free redesign I give under certain circumstances). I put a great amount of thought and research into each design, and with a little bit of care, something that surpasses the expectations of the client always seems to come out. :) - The directories.
When it comes to SEO, one of the most important things is link building. As a web designer, this can be difficult to do, unless you are listed in a few directories. I would like to extend a note of applause to web designer directories which connect clients to web designers, and especially ones which do it for a minimal fee. - GNU and Open Source
I love NeoOffice and everything Open Source, as I feel that this is a field which allows us to advance and develop technology further and in ways that it may not have been allowed to go. - iTunes
Music keeps me sane among a world filled with insanity. BT is a current favorite in this area.
There are countless other things... But these are a few that are especially hitting me at the moment.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Photoshop/Illustrator Tutorial: Cool Golden Globe
A few people have asked me how I created the globe in the logo for Charles Rich Accounting. I decided to take a moment, and go ahead and write a tutorial of it. This tutorial utilizes Photoshop and Illustrator; I will try to explain each step as best as I can with the aim that even a person beginning with these two programs will understand it. I link to images (which will open in a new window) in order to save page load time. :)
Created with Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator CS3, so I am not 100% sure how this will degrade for older versions.
1. Open Illustrator, and create a new document. Make a large circle using the Ellipses Tool while holding shift, and put a Radial Gradient in it. It should look like this (please note that size is not important at this point, but a medium-ish size is best).
2. Open Photoshop and take an image of the Earth as seen from space. This NASA image should work well. Remove the dark area; this can easily be done by applying a mask, selecting a small part of the dark part, and going to Select > Grow, then hitting delete (please note that black will need to be your secondary color, otherwise this will not work). It should look like this.
3. Now copy and paste your circle from Illustrator into Photoshop. Paste as a Smart Object, as it will be resized later on.
4. From the Layers panel, set the Smart Object's to color. The image will look like this now.
5. Now go to your Filters > Distort and spherize the Smart Object twice. To do this quickly, hit Cmd + F (or Ctrl + F for Windows users), like this.
6. Duplicate your Smart Object, and set it to Soft Light. It should look like this now.
7. Now reize the globe with Cmd + T (or Ctrl + T) and hold shift while shrinking it inward. It can now be cleaned up; this can be done easily by placing the layers in a group from the Layers panel and applying a Layer Mask in order to remove any strange boarders. Tip: if the golden part of the globe shrinks differently from the rest of the Earth, Rasterize the Smart Objects from the Layers Panel by right-clicking and selecting Rasterize. Please note, however, that if you were to now resize the image some of its quality will be lost.
8. Return to Illustrator, and draw two lines with the Pen Tool (P) and make them curve (Shift+C or Shift+A), like so. Make sure they are both different lines and not one large shape; it is easier if they are drawn separately and then dragged them so that their tails touched.
9. Now select both of the lines (Cmd/Ctrl + V). Go to Object > Blend > Make; a single line will appear between the two lines. Return to the same menu, but this time click on blend options, and choose the option Specify Steps, with 20-25 lines.
10. If you copy/paste your golden globe into Illustrator, you can then tweak the lines in order to make them fit around the globe, giving it a flying effect. Now, paste them into Photoshop. Apply a mask to these, and clean up the lines again. If you are unhappy with their coloring or shape, you can double-click on the smart object to import it back to Illustrator to put some final tweaks to them.
And now you have a flying golden globe! Here is the PSD if you would like to download it!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Designing, Working, and Ethics
In the 1970s, a college psychology professor conducted an experiment with his students. They were to ask questions of a person; if the person were to get the answer wrong, an electrical shock would be applied to them. The more questions the person answered wrong, the stronger the shocks became. No answer meant a wrong answer.
The students were told that they would fail their psychology class if they did not do as they were told. They applied greater and greater shocks to the person they were asking questions, and of course, the person would eventually stop answering as the shocks became greater and greater - some of which were double the amount of electrical power needed to kill a man.
The good news is, the person being shocked was an actor, and no person was hurt during the experiment (save for the mentality of the students, I would assume). The bad news, the students show how despite ethics, a person will do as they are told without question.
Do we, as humans and creatures raised in a society filled with elders and authority, do as we are told despite our deepest morals? Give a control situation in which one partner of a relationship has somehow gained absolute domain over the other person - how does the other person break free of this domination to pursue the things which they feel are right and proper?
I believe that humans are generally ethical creatures, or at least the majority of them tend to strive to be ethical. No, I'm not stating that there aren't bad people in the world (I, of anyone, know that there are), but I believe that everyone has some sort of set of morals and beliefs.
When I first began designing, I had a head full of hope and thought that I was going to change the world in some way by creating sites for people and organizations that I could post in my portfolio, and that this way I would be able to watch myself grow and progress.
The first design I was awarded was to build an adult site on a CMS for $2000.
I say awarded because I did not do the site. The $2000 looked great and everything - but for what? I was a budding artist, and admittedly, images of women doing that sort of thing with goats and various other farm animals did not seem like something I would want to spend hours upon hours with. I am not saying that adult sites are against my morals, but honestly thoughts of horror immediately sprang up - what if that was all the work I received? How was I supposed to build up my portfolio on a site that I would never want a large CEO to see that I did?
Do we as designers have to accept adult sites? Especially young, budding designers who are fresh from the mill and just learning to crank out code. And say the designer finished the site, and it is one of the best sites the designer has created - would they then display it in their portfolio?
An old coworker of mine once said to me that while it is great having morals, there are times and jobs in which a person has to set them aside in order to survive. While this person's night job was not the most honorable thing a woman could do, it allowed her to survive in a terribly difficult world. It brings me to the question of designers who work in an agency - what if your employer sets aside his or her own morals for what you perceive as immoral sites (whether sites pertaining to various activities with farm animals, or even sites pertaining to subjects which borderline criminal activity)? With the world economy where it is now, a person cannot simply quit their job on a given whim, no matter what sort of decisions their employment makes. A person does what they can to survive - those were the words that a person I admire and respect once told me. A good friend of mine is currently in the situation of a crossroads behind quitting and staying on at his job because of the decisions of his management; while I assume he is going to try better prospects, it is understandable why he is having a difficult decision.
So, what do we do? Ethics or design?
The students were told that they would fail their psychology class if they did not do as they were told. They applied greater and greater shocks to the person they were asking questions, and of course, the person would eventually stop answering as the shocks became greater and greater - some of which were double the amount of electrical power needed to kill a man.
The good news is, the person being shocked was an actor, and no person was hurt during the experiment (save for the mentality of the students, I would assume). The bad news, the students show how despite ethics, a person will do as they are told without question.
Do we, as humans and creatures raised in a society filled with elders and authority, do as we are told despite our deepest morals? Give a control situation in which one partner of a relationship has somehow gained absolute domain over the other person - how does the other person break free of this domination to pursue the things which they feel are right and proper?
I believe that humans are generally ethical creatures, or at least the majority of them tend to strive to be ethical. No, I'm not stating that there aren't bad people in the world (I, of anyone, know that there are), but I believe that everyone has some sort of set of morals and beliefs.
When I first began designing, I had a head full of hope and thought that I was going to change the world in some way by creating sites for people and organizations that I could post in my portfolio, and that this way I would be able to watch myself grow and progress.
The first design I was awarded was to build an adult site on a CMS for $2000.
I say awarded because I did not do the site. The $2000 looked great and everything - but for what? I was a budding artist, and admittedly, images of women doing that sort of thing with goats and various other farm animals did not seem like something I would want to spend hours upon hours with. I am not saying that adult sites are against my morals, but honestly thoughts of horror immediately sprang up - what if that was all the work I received? How was I supposed to build up my portfolio on a site that I would never want a large CEO to see that I did?
Do we as designers have to accept adult sites? Especially young, budding designers who are fresh from the mill and just learning to crank out code. And say the designer finished the site, and it is one of the best sites the designer has created - would they then display it in their portfolio?
An old coworker of mine once said to me that while it is great having morals, there are times and jobs in which a person has to set them aside in order to survive. While this person's night job was not the most honorable thing a woman could do, it allowed her to survive in a terribly difficult world. It brings me to the question of designers who work in an agency - what if your employer sets aside his or her own morals for what you perceive as immoral sites (whether sites pertaining to various activities with farm animals, or even sites pertaining to subjects which borderline criminal activity)? With the world economy where it is now, a person cannot simply quit their job on a given whim, no matter what sort of decisions their employment makes. A person does what they can to survive - those were the words that a person I admire and respect once told me. A good friend of mine is currently in the situation of a crossroads behind quitting and staying on at his job because of the decisions of his management; while I assume he is going to try better prospects, it is understandable why he is having a difficult decision.
So, what do we do? Ethics or design?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Planned Changes
A few planned changes.
I certainly do not think I missed anything.
- Update blog interface.
To be honest with you, I simply selected the first blog design because this blog was hatched before I sent my site's redesign live. I've been planning to make it mirror the site itself, and honestly, have been working on other things instead. - Update the portfolio.
Currently none of my print work is showing at all because I have not yet posted it - and it does make up a decent portion of my portfolio. I also need to begin to display my logo designs and illustrations. I plan to do this in a savvy accordion-type fashion, mostly because I hate scrolling :) - Send a pricing table live.
Dre has agreed to help me code this up (I could code it myself, but I need to attend to all of the things on this list, so working with other people certainly has its charms! - Link to my social networking sites!
I am bad about not updating Twitter as much as I should, but I do keep tidbits on DeviantArt, and my work in progresses concerning illustration. - Ideas.
I bought a note pad today to keep with me wherever I may go, so that when a new idea or concept hits me, I have something to write it down with. - Marketing
I'm bad at marketing. I need to market my own freelance as much as I help other people do.
I certainly do not think I missed anything.
Monday, November 17, 2008
My Pricing
With the world economy the way it is, it is becoming much and much harder to find work for many people.
In the world of design, I have heard views from different sides discussing the impact that the economy will have on design. Some are stating that design, as a part of the marketing sector, should be quite healthy. Others, however, are pointing out that businesses will be cutting the costs, and design will be one of those areas.
I work for an SEO company during the day, and do freelance at night in order to pay the bills. It is, admittedly, very hard to find clients in this day and age, especially ones which are willing to pay a premium for a service that they can see, but honestly cannot touch or even grab, and the fact remains that not all businesses have fully embraced the power that is the Internet.
The difficult part is pricing. There are thousands of articles about how to price freelance, and they are all correct - you do not wish to come off as unsure of your skills and so you wish to price at a premium, but at the same time, you wish to be able to "score" a client or a project, but with the third addition being that you do not want to waste your time on a project that is completely useless, takes a long time, and is steeply underpriced for the amount of effort you put into it.
This is why I have decided to price my projects depending on what is included.
I am working on setting up an order form and pricing catalogue for my own packages. It is under development currently; given that I work full time on top of freelance, progress is moving slowly, but I am looking to consult Dre to split the workload, as we do with our projects already.
I would say that this gives your client the best view of what they are getting. A base price for the design, hosting, DNS, miscellaneous things (such as Internet Explorer compatibility, E-Commerce, and other programming nitty-gritties), and price per page (or set it up based upon 3-page and 5-page sites, with a base price for additional pages) would be a good starting point. As all things involved in a web designer's site are always under construction, newer features can be added to this order form - maybe you wish to offer a CSS/HTML engineering service as well, things such as that - so, what you start with can be the bare bones for you to build up on.
And, in an economy like this, it is always good for the client to be able to see why they are paying so much for what they are getting. :)
In the world of design, I have heard views from different sides discussing the impact that the economy will have on design. Some are stating that design, as a part of the marketing sector, should be quite healthy. Others, however, are pointing out that businesses will be cutting the costs, and design will be one of those areas.
I work for an SEO company during the day, and do freelance at night in order to pay the bills. It is, admittedly, very hard to find clients in this day and age, especially ones which are willing to pay a premium for a service that they can see, but honestly cannot touch or even grab, and the fact remains that not all businesses have fully embraced the power that is the Internet.
The difficult part is pricing. There are thousands of articles about how to price freelance, and they are all correct - you do not wish to come off as unsure of your skills and so you wish to price at a premium, but at the same time, you wish to be able to "score" a client or a project, but with the third addition being that you do not want to waste your time on a project that is completely useless, takes a long time, and is steeply underpriced for the amount of effort you put into it.
This is why I have decided to price my projects depending on what is included.
I am working on setting up an order form and pricing catalogue for my own packages. It is under development currently; given that I work full time on top of freelance, progress is moving slowly, but I am looking to consult Dre to split the workload, as we do with our projects already.
I would say that this gives your client the best view of what they are getting. A base price for the design, hosting, DNS, miscellaneous things (such as Internet Explorer compatibility, E-Commerce, and other programming nitty-gritties), and price per page (or set it up based upon 3-page and 5-page sites, with a base price for additional pages) would be a good starting point. As all things involved in a web designer's site are always under construction, newer features can be added to this order form - maybe you wish to offer a CSS/HTML engineering service as well, things such as that - so, what you start with can be the bare bones for you to build up on.
And, in an economy like this, it is always good for the client to be able to see why they are paying so much for what they are getting. :)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
My Life: The Missing Manual
I have recently become a huge fan of O'Reilly's The Missing Manual series. Now, as a student of engineering and a designer, I know the bare bones of programming, and have some experience in the field. However, I am still quite enjoying my latest find, JavaScript: The Missing Manual.
Some strong points I find on this book are its in-depth review of the basics of JavaScript programming (I would imagine that this would be great for a person who is just starting out in the programming/design field), as well as its covering various topics including JQuery, Internet Explorer JavaScript (I'm sure others did not realize that even JavaScript has to be tweaked slightly for IE! -insert complaints and protests-), and its tutorials on how things work - I have to admit, the regular expression tutorial really helped me greatly (I have never been that great with ye olde regex, nor even really randomization operations - both of which were very well-covered in this book).
On a scale from one to five, with five being the best, I would give it a five in the eyes of someone beginning programming and JavaScript. For someone a little bit more advanced, it'll probably drop down to a three; the basics span for several chapters, which can be dull for a person who merely wants to expand their knowledge of JavaScript and already knows the basics.
I am looking forward to further installments into The Missing Manual series of books. Unlike O'Reilly's other books, they are more light-hearted and more tuned to the less technically experienced (or those with a little more Attention Deficit Disorder than the next person when it comes to technical manuals). I haven't seen one yet for anything other than JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and a few various Mac and Adobe products, but I'm silently hoping for a PHP/MySQL introduction to give to a family member of mine as a gift.
Some strong points I find on this book are its in-depth review of the basics of JavaScript programming (I would imagine that this would be great for a person who is just starting out in the programming/design field), as well as its covering various topics including JQuery, Internet Explorer JavaScript (I'm sure others did not realize that even JavaScript has to be tweaked slightly for IE! -insert complaints and protests-), and its tutorials on how things work - I have to admit, the regular expression tutorial really helped me greatly (I have never been that great with ye olde regex, nor even really randomization operations - both of which were very well-covered in this book).
On a scale from one to five, with five being the best, I would give it a five in the eyes of someone beginning programming and JavaScript. For someone a little bit more advanced, it'll probably drop down to a three; the basics span for several chapters, which can be dull for a person who merely wants to expand their knowledge of JavaScript and already knows the basics.
I am looking forward to further installments into The Missing Manual series of books. Unlike O'Reilly's other books, they are more light-hearted and more tuned to the less technically experienced (or those with a little more Attention Deficit Disorder than the next person when it comes to technical manuals). I haven't seen one yet for anything other than JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and a few various Mac and Adobe products, but I'm silently hoping for a PHP/MySQL introduction to give to a family member of mine as a gift.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Growing
In the web design field today, people are wanting more and more out of their web experience. As it stands, plain HTML pages are gone, replaced by dynamic, mostly aesthetically pleasing designs.
The issue is, however, that it can be hard to stay on top of the technical and design industry if a person doesn't make a conscious effort to do so. Design is one in which it is significant to do this, as the competition is especially fierce.
I am astounded when I find designers who merely work to live rather than live to work. In the design industry, living to work is crucial because it takes passion in order to stand out from the rest of the design pack, and to continue to learn and improve in design.
A few weeks ago, someone I knew was fired. I was fairly decent friends with her; we sat next to one another, and I would tease her often. I have come to realize that one of the reasons for her release was a lack of care and laziness - not caring about her designs, or looking to see how she could improve them. It is unfortunate, because she worked with a team of three other very talented designers, and all three of us loved to gather around and discuss the latest in design news, and were just a generally great team with great compatibility because of how we worked and struggled to improve our department, and look for ways to better please our clients.
The best way to improve in design is doing just that. Finding a love for what you are doing - because if you can't enjoy design, then I don't think it is ultimately possible to truly succeed as a designer (on the other hand, I do not feel that it is possible to succeed in anything unless you truly enjoy it or find some other reason to press to do your best). And once you have found that reason to delve deeper into design, exploit it - use things like Google Reader to read syndication feeds from design blogs like Smash, or just read what other designers are saying. And most importantly - don't be completely apathetic to new things.
The issue is, however, that it can be hard to stay on top of the technical and design industry if a person doesn't make a conscious effort to do so. Design is one in which it is significant to do this, as the competition is especially fierce.
I am astounded when I find designers who merely work to live rather than live to work. In the design industry, living to work is crucial because it takes passion in order to stand out from the rest of the design pack, and to continue to learn and improve in design.
A few weeks ago, someone I knew was fired. I was fairly decent friends with her; we sat next to one another, and I would tease her often. I have come to realize that one of the reasons for her release was a lack of care and laziness - not caring about her designs, or looking to see how she could improve them. It is unfortunate, because she worked with a team of three other very talented designers, and all three of us loved to gather around and discuss the latest in design news, and were just a generally great team with great compatibility because of how we worked and struggled to improve our department, and look for ways to better please our clients.
The best way to improve in design is doing just that. Finding a love for what you are doing - because if you can't enjoy design, then I don't think it is ultimately possible to truly succeed as a designer (on the other hand, I do not feel that it is possible to succeed in anything unless you truly enjoy it or find some other reason to press to do your best). And once you have found that reason to delve deeper into design, exploit it - use things like Google Reader to read syndication feeds from design blogs like Smash, or just read what other designers are saying. And most importantly - don't be completely apathetic to new things.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Blog Action Day - Poverty
(just pretend it is October 15th for me; I've been working on this post for a while :) )
For most of my life, I have lived at what is considered the poverty line, or at least below it, in proportion to where I live. The only time that I have ever been above it were the four years in which I lived with my aunt and uncle during our initial coming to Las Vegas. Right now I live on $12/hour in an area where the average wage is probably around $20/hour.
Yet even so, I would say that I am better off than much of the world's population. I'm not even going to kid myself and claim to be poor; times can be hard, but thanks to my current living arrangement, I have to admit I am far better off than I was in the past.
Many of my closest friends from high school (and now college) are from India. Either their parents came here from India, or my friends themselves came during high school or just before high school. The stories they told astounded me, and especially made me very thankful for the lot I was given in life (even if I can't really afford my engineering college right now).
They spoke of schools in which the corruption of the government had spread far enough that children would go there, but not learn. Of people so impoverished and desperate for money that they would break the arms of their own children, just to send them out to beg. They spoke of homes made from cow patties, of people gaunt and bent with hunger, of people who, in the end, were no longer even treated like people.
Poverty is in, and of itself, the result of corruption and, unlike the mindset of far too many people, not necessarily a thing which a person brings upon him or her self. It is dehumanization, created by suspicion and a feeling of superiority among people who do have enough, who can provide for their families - a mindset which must change.
I am brought back to when I was a young girl, and had just moved to Las Vegas. My aunt and uncle and I were going to the store in order to get some things. As we parked our car, a woman of roughly fifty years approached our car. In a thick Russian accent, she inquired whether we had any money. She wore a dress, and had a frightened look about her. Now, my uncle is one which tends to try and pretend that poverty isn't there, and that there are things which people in such situations as the woman could do. My aunt and I urged him to get some money, at least twenty dollars, to give to the woman, for both of us could see that she had quite the story. My uncle relented; I do believe that was the first, and the last, time which we saw him give anyone money, and I believe, unlike most others, that the woman had something terrible happen to her - unlike my uncle, I do not for a moment believe that she was greedy, miserly, or in any other way lacking the need of that which we gave her.
It is this mindset of fear and suspicion that will make any action created to ease or lower the amount of impoverished people extremely difficult. Where I live, there are too many homeless people. I have seen a man, half dead from starvation, attempting to walk in heat that could absolutely kill a healthy person. What is worse, I have seen people who could help him turn up their noses, and walk past him as if he never existed.
I am glad that there are people who are helping. In Africa, cell phones are being given to village women in order to allow them communication with the outside world. Not only does this empower the woman which the cell phone is given to in a highly patriarchal society, but it enriches the village and allows them to find buyers for their crops. There are also, of course, the many Christian missionaries - while I am strongly against pressing religion off onto other people and trying to destroy culture, I will admit that donating time, money, and supplies the way that these missions do can be a very pure thing.
I realize that things will never be perfect and that we cannot always give (otherwise we will become the person which we are donating to), but I hope that the rose-colored glasses worn by far too many people will be lifted - that they can see the poor living in the caves of Andalucia, and find some way to help the flood victims in Bangladesh. Even if a person only gives a little bit, it is a small step in the right direction.
For most of my life, I have lived at what is considered the poverty line, or at least below it, in proportion to where I live. The only time that I have ever been above it were the four years in which I lived with my aunt and uncle during our initial coming to Las Vegas. Right now I live on $12/hour in an area where the average wage is probably around $20/hour.
Yet even so, I would say that I am better off than much of the world's population. I'm not even going to kid myself and claim to be poor; times can be hard, but thanks to my current living arrangement, I have to admit I am far better off than I was in the past.
Many of my closest friends from high school (and now college) are from India. Either their parents came here from India, or my friends themselves came during high school or just before high school. The stories they told astounded me, and especially made me very thankful for the lot I was given in life (even if I can't really afford my engineering college right now).
They spoke of schools in which the corruption of the government had spread far enough that children would go there, but not learn. Of people so impoverished and desperate for money that they would break the arms of their own children, just to send them out to beg. They spoke of homes made from cow patties, of people gaunt and bent with hunger, of people who, in the end, were no longer even treated like people.
Poverty is in, and of itself, the result of corruption and, unlike the mindset of far too many people, not necessarily a thing which a person brings upon him or her self. It is dehumanization, created by suspicion and a feeling of superiority among people who do have enough, who can provide for their families - a mindset which must change.
I am brought back to when I was a young girl, and had just moved to Las Vegas. My aunt and uncle and I were going to the store in order to get some things. As we parked our car, a woman of roughly fifty years approached our car. In a thick Russian accent, she inquired whether we had any money. She wore a dress, and had a frightened look about her. Now, my uncle is one which tends to try and pretend that poverty isn't there, and that there are things which people in such situations as the woman could do. My aunt and I urged him to get some money, at least twenty dollars, to give to the woman, for both of us could see that she had quite the story. My uncle relented; I do believe that was the first, and the last, time which we saw him give anyone money, and I believe, unlike most others, that the woman had something terrible happen to her - unlike my uncle, I do not for a moment believe that she was greedy, miserly, or in any other way lacking the need of that which we gave her.
It is this mindset of fear and suspicion that will make any action created to ease or lower the amount of impoverished people extremely difficult. Where I live, there are too many homeless people. I have seen a man, half dead from starvation, attempting to walk in heat that could absolutely kill a healthy person. What is worse, I have seen people who could help him turn up their noses, and walk past him as if he never existed.
I am glad that there are people who are helping. In Africa, cell phones are being given to village women in order to allow them communication with the outside world. Not only does this empower the woman which the cell phone is given to in a highly patriarchal society, but it enriches the village and allows them to find buyers for their crops. There are also, of course, the many Christian missionaries - while I am strongly against pressing religion off onto other people and trying to destroy culture, I will admit that donating time, money, and supplies the way that these missions do can be a very pure thing.
I realize that things will never be perfect and that we cannot always give (otherwise we will become the person which we are donating to), but I hope that the rose-colored glasses worn by far too many people will be lifted - that they can see the poor living in the caves of Andalucia, and find some way to help the flood victims in Bangladesh. Even if a person only gives a little bit, it is a small step in the right direction.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
When Will Web Design Be Design?
So, there has been an overhaul on my web designer site, BeLinkd. I went for a very minimalistic design with this one, one that isn't too weird, looks slightly web2.0, but isn't quite web2.0.
Frankly, I don't like gradients or all the other cliched things that web2.0 tends to indicate, so I tried to stay away from it. I think the closest I came to what is classified as Web 2.0 is the rounded corners on the navigation.
I find it sad that Web 2.0 has created the general craze it has. While it is true that it can bring some very stunning interfaces, at the same time, it becomes very cliched for every design to have a gradient, for every design to have Mac-like buttons, or even every design to have rounded corners. I like those in interesting ways - but not all together. Oh, and I absolutely loathe gradient backgrounds; I've used them for client sites, but frankly, can we please start being more intuitive?
What I want to see it go more into is concept art, minimalism, and all the other areas that web design features. I want to see more web sites that try to look like things in every day life, that take their inspiration from things around us - but not just common things, but interesting things. I want to see things looking disjointed, and yet flowing smoothly together. I want more designs that take a concept, and blow everyone out of the water with an idea that is new and unique.
I want to see design.
I want to see all of this, and yet continue to improve a user's experience with web pages, in order to better allow people access to web pages and information. Maybe not every design can be the next big thing, but I want to see new things tried out. I'm tired of seeing things that vaguely resemble an iPhone - much less designing them. Sometimes having Web 2.0-esque graphics can be good, but can't we be creative? Try something new in every design, try to improve one part in every design so that it is unlike anything you have tried before.
Maybe this can be difficult, but the more it is done, the further web pages as designs will be advanced, and the more our skill levels as designers will grow - and hopefully, the usage and enjoyment of people on the web will expand.
Frankly, I don't like gradients or all the other cliched things that web2.0 tends to indicate, so I tried to stay away from it. I think the closest I came to what is classified as Web 2.0 is the rounded corners on the navigation.
I find it sad that Web 2.0 has created the general craze it has. While it is true that it can bring some very stunning interfaces, at the same time, it becomes very cliched for every design to have a gradient, for every design to have Mac-like buttons, or even every design to have rounded corners. I like those in interesting ways - but not all together. Oh, and I absolutely loathe gradient backgrounds; I've used them for client sites, but frankly, can we please start being more intuitive?
What I want to see it go more into is concept art, minimalism, and all the other areas that web design features. I want to see more web sites that try to look like things in every day life, that take their inspiration from things around us - but not just common things, but interesting things. I want to see things looking disjointed, and yet flowing smoothly together. I want more designs that take a concept, and blow everyone out of the water with an idea that is new and unique.
I want to see design.
I want to see all of this, and yet continue to improve a user's experience with web pages, in order to better allow people access to web pages and information. Maybe not every design can be the next big thing, but I want to see new things tried out. I'm tired of seeing things that vaguely resemble an iPhone - much less designing them. Sometimes having Web 2.0-esque graphics can be good, but can't we be creative? Try something new in every design, try to improve one part in every design so that it is unlike anything you have tried before.
Maybe this can be difficult, but the more it is done, the further web pages as designs will be advanced, and the more our skill levels as designers will grow - and hopefully, the usage and enjoyment of people on the web will expand.
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Best Way to Promote Your Online Web Design Business
I have searched high and low for freelance clients over the year. Many of them come from web referrals, and many stumble upon me.
Even greater, however, are the numbers who reach me by either meeting me in person, or through word-of-mouth.
One of my current projects, a two-site deal, is absolutely to die for. I don't need to worry about Flash or animated gifs, and the client essentially loves my ideas for it. How did I score this?
I met him in person.
The site is for a smoothie shop that I attend almost every afternoon for my lunch break. The owner knew I worked for a nearby SEO company, and inquired as to how much a site costs. I gave him the numbers, and shortly after, offered to build him one myself.
I have never regretted it.
The other major points in my portfolio came through networking as well. Roy Audio came through one of my closest high school friends, and I was invited to create a template for LiveJournal by seeing a post from one of their current designers, who happens to be a friend of mine.
Going back to the topic, I would say that it is safe to assume that the best practice in promoting your design business isn't to have a fancy portfolio (hell, I am still working on updating mine with a new style and the newer works I have done), nor to post on Craigslist or other places with job postings. Rather, I find that the best way to attract clients is through meeting them face-to-face, whether in daily life, or even by chance. I'd say that this definitely means one thing - business cards! And lots of them! I lost a deal for a site simply because I did not have a decent business card.
Promote, promote, promote! Promote yourself, and let everyone know that you are, in fact, a freelance web designer! The more you do this, the more people will feel comfortable with turning to YOU for their needs, not to someone else entirely. I've lost many a site simply because one contact or another was not aware that I was a designer.
That all said and done, promote! Let everyone know who you are and what you are about!
Even greater, however, are the numbers who reach me by either meeting me in person, or through word-of-mouth.
One of my current projects, a two-site deal, is absolutely to die for. I don't need to worry about Flash or animated gifs, and the client essentially loves my ideas for it. How did I score this?
I met him in person.
The site is for a smoothie shop that I attend almost every afternoon for my lunch break. The owner knew I worked for a nearby SEO company, and inquired as to how much a site costs. I gave him the numbers, and shortly after, offered to build him one myself.
I have never regretted it.
The other major points in my portfolio came through networking as well. Roy Audio came through one of my closest high school friends, and I was invited to create a template for LiveJournal by seeing a post from one of their current designers, who happens to be a friend of mine.
Going back to the topic, I would say that it is safe to assume that the best practice in promoting your design business isn't to have a fancy portfolio (hell, I am still working on updating mine with a new style and the newer works I have done), nor to post on Craigslist or other places with job postings. Rather, I find that the best way to attract clients is through meeting them face-to-face, whether in daily life, or even by chance. I'd say that this definitely means one thing - business cards! And lots of them! I lost a deal for a site simply because I did not have a decent business card.
Promote, promote, promote! Promote yourself, and let everyone know that you are, in fact, a freelance web designer! The more you do this, the more people will feel comfortable with turning to YOU for their needs, not to someone else entirely. I've lost many a site simply because one contact or another was not aware that I was a designer.
That all said and done, promote! Let everyone know who you are and what you are about!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Why Do We Design
Why do web designers design the web.
Without a computer, it is impossible to see our creations. The market is difficult; hard to break into, hard to stay in.
The work can at times be frustrating.
The competition is fierce, and plays as hard as it can.
So why do we design?
Because we like it.
There's that satisfaction at the end of a great design, the knowledge that we did that. We made those sprite images work, we made that sliding jQuery effect. We thought up that color scheme, we reached our goal of either disjointed and energetic, or clean, simple, and smooth.
There's that feeling of relief as everything melds together into one thing, like we just created this great piece of art for people to enjoy.
And during the design, there's that feeling of hey... I can do something different. I can move this industry forward. I can really do something good.
We do it because it is our passion.
Without a computer, it is impossible to see our creations. The market is difficult; hard to break into, hard to stay in.
The work can at times be frustrating.
The competition is fierce, and plays as hard as it can.
So why do we design?
Because we like it.
There's that satisfaction at the end of a great design, the knowledge that we did that. We made those sprite images work, we made that sliding jQuery effect. We thought up that color scheme, we reached our goal of either disjointed and energetic, or clean, simple, and smooth.
There's that feeling of relief as everything melds together into one thing, like we just created this great piece of art for people to enjoy.
And during the design, there's that feeling of hey... I can do something different. I can move this industry forward. I can really do something good.
We do it because it is our passion.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Difference Resolution Makes for Web Design
I typically design for 1024 x 768 screen resolutions. I work from a 1920 x 1200 screen resolution at home, and a smaller 1280 x 800 resolution at work.
The difference in resolution at home and at work is remarkable. At work, I end up having to make my mockups 600 x 800 so I can see more of the borders, and can check my widths, etcetera. Personally, I am considering purchasing a new monitor with a larger resolution to use at work simply because I find that bigger is better.
In addition, I like to use Adobe Illustrator in order to plan my designs, and I like to draw parts of the graphics off of the canvas. This means that I have to be able to see the entire canvas with plenty of area on the side bar - so I get a bird's eye view of what the final design will be like in 1024 x 768.
Of course, it means that I do, in fact, use a window resizer so that I can see what the average user would see. But I find that it benefits my designs in that I can see if there are flaws between different resolutions, and I can see how to make the different aspects of the design work in greater harmony.
Often I am asked why I wanted such a large iMac when I ordered it (I splurged and got a full 24"). Part was vanity, part was because I was using a smaller G4 Macbook and a Gateway laptop and it felt absolutely cramped.
Truth be told, I feel that larger resolutions should be given out everywhere, but I know that a person who just needs to use Word and casually surf the web won't be hurting for a monster resolution like mine, and, well, maybe it is a good thing, otherwise I would have to double my resolution to design for 1920 x 1200, which would be, well.. Very difficult :P
The difference in resolution at home and at work is remarkable. At work, I end up having to make my mockups 600 x 800 so I can see more of the borders, and can check my widths, etcetera. Personally, I am considering purchasing a new monitor with a larger resolution to use at work simply because I find that bigger is better.
In addition, I like to use Adobe Illustrator in order to plan my designs, and I like to draw parts of the graphics off of the canvas. This means that I have to be able to see the entire canvas with plenty of area on the side bar - so I get a bird's eye view of what the final design will be like in 1024 x 768.
Of course, it means that I do, in fact, use a window resizer so that I can see what the average user would see. But I find that it benefits my designs in that I can see if there are flaws between different resolutions, and I can see how to make the different aspects of the design work in greater harmony.
Often I am asked why I wanted such a large iMac when I ordered it (I splurged and got a full 24"). Part was vanity, part was because I was using a smaller G4 Macbook and a Gateway laptop and it felt absolutely cramped.
Truth be told, I feel that larger resolutions should be given out everywhere, but I know that a person who just needs to use Word and casually surf the web won't be hurting for a monster resolution like mine, and, well, maybe it is a good thing, otherwise I would have to double my resolution to design for 1920 x 1200, which would be, well.. Very difficult :P
Monday, September 22, 2008
Why Web Designers Should Drop IE 6
In fact, my new policy has become to drop Internet Explorer entirely.
The large amounts of hacks and having to take several extra hours of time just to make a site look good for a ten-year-old browser that came out before September 11, 2001, are just not worth it. Log the time you spend on Internet Explorer hacks - you'll be amazed. To code for IE6 is like coding two websites at once, only one is frustrating and slowly becomes your red-headed stepchild. (I have nothing against red heads, by the way - several of my nieces and nephews happen to be 'gingers' as they call themselves).
Why do people still use IE6?
Well, back in its time, it was pretty cutting-edge. It worked, and it didn't have much of anything to call competition because other browsers just hadn't been as developed at the time.
However, that was before the major failures of the Bush administration.
So for this presidential election, let's completely do away with the Bush administration and do away with all of its straggling remnants - make clients download at least Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox (my disclaimer that shows up to IE browsers directs them toward Opera, Safari, Firefox, Flock, and Chrome) or SOMETHING other than outdated software that is very insecure and very offensive.
I charge extra for compatibility with Internet Explorer. How much? That's the only part of my service that I charge by-the-hour. And it's only added on after a design is done - so if a design doesn't need any hacks, then I'm not going to charge the client extra. And how much more? That is in proportion to the project :P One of the sites I'm working on would be complete overhaul in order to make it work with IE - it's just not possible without weeks and weeks of extra work that's only going to appeal to probably 25% of the browser market - at most.
Internet Explorer is simply a designer's nightmare. It was great ten years ago - but why don't we start living in the twenty-first century and make modern sites for modern browsers?
The large amounts of hacks and having to take several extra hours of time just to make a site look good for a ten-year-old browser that came out before September 11, 2001, are just not worth it. Log the time you spend on Internet Explorer hacks - you'll be amazed. To code for IE6 is like coding two websites at once, only one is frustrating and slowly becomes your red-headed stepchild. (I have nothing against red heads, by the way - several of my nieces and nephews happen to be 'gingers' as they call themselves).
Why do people still use IE6?
Well, back in its time, it was pretty cutting-edge. It worked, and it didn't have much of anything to call competition because other browsers just hadn't been as developed at the time.
However, that was before the major failures of the Bush administration.
So for this presidential election, let's completely do away with the Bush administration and do away with all of its straggling remnants - make clients download at least Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox (my disclaimer that shows up to IE browsers directs them toward Opera, Safari, Firefox, Flock, and Chrome) or SOMETHING other than outdated software that is very insecure and very offensive.
I charge extra for compatibility with Internet Explorer. How much? That's the only part of my service that I charge by-the-hour. And it's only added on after a design is done - so if a design doesn't need any hacks, then I'm not going to charge the client extra. And how much more? That is in proportion to the project :P One of the sites I'm working on would be complete overhaul in order to make it work with IE - it's just not possible without weeks and weeks of extra work that's only going to appeal to probably 25% of the browser market - at most.
Internet Explorer is simply a designer's nightmare. It was great ten years ago - but why don't we start living in the twenty-first century and make modern sites for modern browsers?
Freelance Designer vs. Design Agency
Now, there are many posts, a dime a dozen, about the pros and cons of working in a design agency as opposed to being a freelance designer.
I, of course, have worked in the design department of an SEO company as well as working as freelance, and policies toward clients are certainly different.
At the agency, clients get something similar. There are basic templates for each level of design, so there isn't as much of that personal touch added to the designs. They are much cheaper because of this, and there is an imposed timeline, so obviously the design is delivered probably much faster. The main issue with this is that (at least where I design), designs have to pass through management - who are, by all means, not always the most artistic people on the block! Now, I never really had issues with management concerning my designs, but some design agencies impose guidelines on their designs - there's no real 'breaking the grid'.
With freelance, however, I think there is more of that personal touch. Of course, it varies from designer to designer. Some add in more personal touch, others still do the template system. I feel, however, that since there is a level of independence of the designer from management, that they are able to show the client their best.
In the end, though, I don't think that the differences between hiring an agency and hiring a freelance professional are always too different. In the end, it's just a matter of who delivers what the client is looking for price-wise and design-wise.
Of course, if anyone has feedback to offer, that would be great :P Comment here if you've got any other ideas about what's similar or different about working with a freelance web designer or a web design agency.
I, of course, have worked in the design department of an SEO company as well as working as freelance, and policies toward clients are certainly different.
At the agency, clients get something similar. There are basic templates for each level of design, so there isn't as much of that personal touch added to the designs. They are much cheaper because of this, and there is an imposed timeline, so obviously the design is delivered probably much faster. The main issue with this is that (at least where I design), designs have to pass through management - who are, by all means, not always the most artistic people on the block! Now, I never really had issues with management concerning my designs, but some design agencies impose guidelines on their designs - there's no real 'breaking the grid'.
With freelance, however, I think there is more of that personal touch. Of course, it varies from designer to designer. Some add in more personal touch, others still do the template system. I feel, however, that since there is a level of independence of the designer from management, that they are able to show the client their best.
In the end, though, I don't think that the differences between hiring an agency and hiring a freelance professional are always too different. In the end, it's just a matter of who delivers what the client is looking for price-wise and design-wise.
Of course, if anyone has feedback to offer, that would be great :P Comment here if you've got any other ideas about what's similar or different about working with a freelance web designer or a web design agency.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Why You need a Professional Website
So, you want to make a website.
You're probably thinking that it'd be cheaper just to do it yourself. After all, you know how you want it, and you figure that it can't be all that hard. You pop up a trial version of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, and get to work.
Things are going okay. You give up on many of your design ideas, forfeiting them just because you simply do not know how to implement them. Who knew that these programs were so hard to use?
The truth is, any true designer tends to hand-code their designs - the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get - think the design pane of Dreamweaver) editor is rarely used by most professional designers. Why? Because it's just easier to hand code it? Yeah, mostly that. On top of, WYSIWYG editors have their limitations :P
When I browse the Internet, I don't always look at it from a web designer's point of view. I also view it as a client (probably about 90% of my purchases are done online). Several times, I almost did not make purchases because I could tell that the person had not had it done professionally, and worried that, perhaps, I was looking at a scam site. If your images aren't well done, and your site simply does not look professional, then truth be told, the chances are that you are losing quite a few potential clients and have a bounce rate out the wall.
It's not that hard to find a professional design. Many designers will sell you a decent, functional 3-page site for probably less than you can buy Photoshop or Dreamweaver with.
You're probably thinking that it'd be cheaper just to do it yourself. After all, you know how you want it, and you figure that it can't be all that hard. You pop up a trial version of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, and get to work.
Things are going okay. You give up on many of your design ideas, forfeiting them just because you simply do not know how to implement them. Who knew that these programs were so hard to use?
The truth is, any true designer tends to hand-code their designs - the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get - think the design pane of Dreamweaver) editor is rarely used by most professional designers. Why? Because it's just easier to hand code it? Yeah, mostly that. On top of, WYSIWYG editors have their limitations :P
When I browse the Internet, I don't always look at it from a web designer's point of view. I also view it as a client (probably about 90% of my purchases are done online). Several times, I almost did not make purchases because I could tell that the person had not had it done professionally, and worried that, perhaps, I was looking at a scam site. If your images aren't well done, and your site simply does not look professional, then truth be told, the chances are that you are losing quite a few potential clients and have a bounce rate out the wall.
It's not that hard to find a professional design. Many designers will sell you a decent, functional 3-page site for probably less than you can buy Photoshop or Dreamweaver with.
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