Poll: Do you meet with other designers in person?
Thursday March 29, 2007
I spent the last three days at Web Design World in San Francisco. Conventions are a great way to meet up with other designers and see what's happening in the world of Web design.
It can be very easy to get into a rut of working alone and building my Web pages in a vacuum - even when I worked in a team of Web designers and developers. So I like to get together with other Web designers periodically.
Do you meet with other designers in person?
- Every day
- At least once a week
- Once or twice a month
- Once or twice a quarter
- Twice a year
- Once a year
- No
When you meet with them, is it formal? over coffee? planned? unplanned? And what do you talk about? your current designs? problems you're having? ideas for new pages? let us know
Would you want to meet people from this site?
If you had the opportunity to get together with the readers from this site would that be interesting to you?
Comments
I meet with other designers on a daily basis. We design for a internet banking and have design specialists covering usuabiltiy, customer experience, infrastructure, internet development, security and middleware.
Therefore, for any design to work all collaboration is the key.
Often the optimum design for one specialist breaks design taboos for other members of the design team. It can make for animated design meetings.
In Greater Los Angeles I suggest:
Web Spiners
http://lawebspinners.org/
Meetings are on the first Saturday,
next is in a week, 4/7/2007; 10:00 AM.
$3.00; free parking.
Patrick
i met a man in africa who is a web designer and i even told him that ,i will be very glad for him to help me be adesigner.
he leaves in Croatia.
he is the mananging dirrector.
I live in Holland and I like to meet other webdesigners.
Hi Everyone,
I would like to become a Web Designer, but don’t know where to start.I have basic IT skills and would appreciate anyones advice as to which IT courses are best to take to become a professional Web Designer)i.e CIW; MCAD etc.
Many thanks
Gozel: I hope that other people chime in here too, but many (dare I say most?) Web designers don’t have any formal training.
Becoming a Web designer is not really an exact process. I personally do not have a degree in Computer Science or Design, I graduated in Linguistics, and went into Technical Writing. From there, I moved to writing for the Web, and then took some C programming classes and became a Webmaster.
I would suggest trying to get a job in a company that has or could use a Web site, doing something like Tech Writing or Tech Support. Once you have your foot in the door, spend as much time as you can doing Web pages and learning about how your company handles the Web. Make friends with the Web team members. Offer to do some of the more annoying jobs (like maintaining the site, fixing bad links, and so forth) in your “free” time. This is good resume fodder if nothing else. You’ll also have the chance to see what it really is like to work in a Web department. Find out from the manager of the group what you would need to be considered as an applicant, and then go out and do that.
There are a lot of jobs that state that they require a BS in Computer Science, but if you prove you can do the work, you’ll get hired even without that. Web Development is more than just programming, you need to be able to write, and design good looking Web pages. Focus on what
you’re good at and not what you don’t know.
I have put up a library of links on how to get a job in the Web field: http://webdesign.about.com/od/jobs/
I am about a year out of school and I do freelance web design/development jobs that I get through word-of-mouth or from designers I’ve met. I have an invaluable relationship with a designer that I volunteered with while I was in school. She has become a mentor, advisor, and good friend. I have learned more from her (even from just listening to her talk to clients on the phone or sitting in on meetings) than I ever did in school. Anyway, to pay her back and to keep learning from her I give her every Monday and I do whatever work she has for me to do. We talk through the problems I come across and she helps critique my designs. The rest of the week I devote to my other jobs. It really is nice not to feel like I am all by myself!
I do freelance work with a local company and also have IM and email contact with former college classmates where we discuss design. In addition, my college has set up an online forum with groups to discuss and learn from one another. My favorite part of college was getting feedback on my designs - I think it’s important to keep getting feedback so others can provide a different perspective that you can’t see when you’re too involved in the site design.
I don’t meet with other Web deisgners, but I do like Jennifer’s polls like this one because I get the feel of meeting other designers. I get to see other people’s point-of-view as well as submit my own.
I have designed several web sites, some that had their day to shine, some have slumped. I graduated from college with a major in web development and a minor in microcomputer support.
Everytime I view someone’s opinion in one of these polls, I realize there are things I know that other’s don’t and there are people out there that know a lot more than I’ve had a chance to experience. You can learn a lot from taking a look at your development from someone else’s perspective.
I’ve heard that web designing provides a good income. I have already made a few basic websites, and I would like a few more pieces of input before I start my career.
I sure wish you would have let us know about this event - live near San Francisco and would have LOVED to attend but there was absolutely no advertising about this event. Please Please provide information. I DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS AGAIN NEXT YEAR. WHO SPONSORS? HOW DOES ONE JOIN ? I AM ABSOLUTELY FLABBERGASTED BY THE COMPLETE SECRECY (???) OF THIS EVENT.
Beverly: I would love to be able to keep everyone informed about the events in their area, but frankly, I can’t. I used to attempt to do so - but I realized very quickly that I can’t even keep track of the events on the West coast of the United States, and I have readers on every continent (okay, maybe not Antarctica, but I can’t say for sure…).
I’ve been trying to figure out a way that I can set up a calendar that you (the readers) maintain, but I’ve yet to come up with a way that isn’t extremely time consuming or difficult to integrate with the About.com toolset. If I do, I’ll announce it on my homepage.
Web Design World is held three times a year, in March in San Francisco, in July in Seattle, and in November or December in Boston. Their Web site is http://www.ftponline.com/conferences/webdesignworld/
I suspect the secrecy, as you see it, was more based on the fact that the company that runs it was bought out shortly before the event - so perhaps their marketing wasn’t as comprehensive as it could have been.
And in case it’s not clear - neither I nor About.com run this event. I was attending as a audience member.
Message for Gozel who wrote, “I would like to become a Web Designer, but don’t know where to start.”
My advice is …
1.) Find a nonprofit and volunteer to create and maintain their website. (recommended to me from Paul McFedries, author of “The Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Web Page and Blog”)
2.) Learn HTML/XHTML (see book above for great fun reading and solid advice).
3.) Consider going back to school to get a degree. Mine is an online degree from Westwood College Online. Of course, I am partial to my own alma matter, but I think DeVry, The Art Institute, ITT Tech also have good programs. Depending on where you live, you might have one at a local college.
When looking at schools, consider whether or not they are using industry standard software (I use Dreamweaver and the Adobe Creative Suite - mostly Illustrator), how flexible is the schedule to fit into your current schedule, and what about retraining. WOL provides lifetime retraining in your degree program.
My degree has opened doors much faster than I could have done without it and I learned things I didn’t know I needed to learn!
I’d love to chat with anyone on this topic if you want more advice or info. We all need each other to be our best.