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RiceTaco posted:I would like some more information on this... I've been looking into web design and from what I understand is basically the web designer would actually do the design aethetics/layouts in Photoshop and probably put it together in basic html or Flash. The web developer would be the programmer who would actually put together the site properly using HTML, XHTML, DHTML, CSS, PHP, ASP, mysql, Actionscripts, etc. Same and I seem to have differing opinions on the subject of Dev vs. Designer, but I think it's mostly due to the differing experiences we've had in the design field. I'm also based in the PNW but in our city finding a job that is strictly design, with no production, is really difficult. Basically you have to move up to the level of creative director to step out of the production game altogether. Most of those job requirements you see that are (basically) looking for a Art Director with a CS degree...In my opinion that's pretty unrealistic. There are people out there who can do it all, but they're few and far between. The best way to find out what the employer is really looking for is to get in touch with them. Don't break the rules of their ad listing, but if you can manage to talk to someone there, usually they'll give you a rundown of what the job really entails. In my experience the HR people just throw in all kinds of mumbo jumbo and jargon into the ads without it really representing the kind of person an agency needs. In my current capacity I'll often provide design comps for a project, then take the approved comp and turn it into an HTML site with CSS. I'll build the Flash elements and do what scripting I can (I'm a mid-level actionscripter) but most the sites we do end up going to a developer anyways to tie in database functionality with CMS stuff, and add any high-level dynamic functionality to the flash pieces we do. I don't really know any programming other than AS, and eventually I'd like to get out of the production end of things, but around here at least it seems to be a long hard road.
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Aug 27, 2007 05:00
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magnificent7 posted:
I don't think this can be stressed enough. I work as a Designer/Developer for an agency that almost exclusively partners with other agencies (who don't have an interactive department). About 90% of the technical issues that slow us down are due to the fact that we are usually working with print designers who are throwing their hat in the web design ring and failing to consider how things will actually work. Any decent web designer is going to be able to look at site comps and pick out the technical issues within the first glance; if you're a new designer an you're throwing out comps that leave a lot of things unconsidered it's going to show. I know for our agency almost every comp given us by print designers is built in InDesign @ 300dpi, set for a 1024x768 window, and usually no consideration is given to how the design will be handled for any resolution above that. Don't show off designs that run off the page @ 1024 and just expect someone else to figure out what to do with an extra 140 pixels on each side of your design. Almost every time we kick off a new project the initial meeting consists of us sitting down with the client and explaining to them why a lot of their concept/design is going to have to change. Sometimes it's so hard to get people to just THINK or RESEARCH what they want to do before they charge headlong into it. It might look cool, it might be an awesome idea but before you promise it to a client make sure that it's actually possible and you have the resources and logistics available to do it. E: to respond to Akaikami, personally I don't have the Flash hate since that's what most of our projects involve, but he is right about applying for jobs. Oftentimes the HR dep't is responsible for job postings but they don't always understand all the technical stuff that the design department tells them they need in an applicant. Honestly the best way to find out what kind of person an agency is really looking for is to send in your portfolio and shoot for an interview. I've gone to many interviews where the interviewer would just straight up tell me the kind of person they were looking for and often it has little to do with the job posting that got me there in the first place. If you're only applying for jobs that list your specific skill set you're going to really limit yourself. Even besides that half the time the HR people are looking for someone that doesn't exist, if they're asking for someone that's going to design award winning sites but also knows XSLT, .NET, PHP, XML, MYSQL and a hundred other programming languages, well, honestly finding someone that's good at all that is next to impossible so it's up to you to get face to face with someone there and try and find out what they really need. [chavez] fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Jan 3, 2008 |
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Jan 3, 2008 19:17
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Deep Hunting, I think there are some things you could do to improve your portfolio site. First of all, I agree with mag7; making users click on your site to see navigation is bad from a usability standpoint. I can tell you that if anyone came into our shop with a portfolio that had no nav until you clicked on the site, we wouldn't discount them but it's a pretty solid clue that the designer is inexperienced. Secondly, your "back" buttons on the flip-side of each site element have a black rollover state, so if I don't move my mouse cursor after clicking "brief" I can't see the "back" button at all. Thirdly, allowing site elements to spawn below the fold on a screen with no scrollbars is also not that great for usability. If I position the main menu right below the logo, even on my 1440x900 laptop screen, clicking one of the bottom menu items generates a new box halfway off the screen. Also you should disable the ability to generate multiple identical site elements - there's really no need for the user to have 7 identical project elements floating around. The other thing that seems kind of strange to me is that the entire box for each site element is a hotspot, so whenever they are rolled over, the hand cursor appears but there's no clear indication that you should click and drag, and simply clicking doesn't do anything. One other thing I might suggest changing is the fact that I have to click to get any info on each project. The idea of the site elements flipping over is cool but I prefer sites that leave no mystery as to where I'm going by clicking on a link - it just seems odd to me that it's an extra step to find out about a project before viewing it; personally I think it'd be better to pair the site thumbnail and the information on the same screen instead of requiring the user to only see one or the other.
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Jan 7, 2008 08:45
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Two of the shops I worked in were 99% Apple, but I freelanced on a PC at both, and worked at the first shop on a PC (when I was hired I just worked off an extra PC laying around for the first year or so) and I was actually the only designer that didn't have an Apple, I wasn't obstinate about it or anything I just didn't really care one way or another. The only drawbacks I really encountered is cross-platform font issues and designer snobbery.
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Feb 28, 2008 08:24
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pikacheney posted:Second, I'm a front end designer. I'm learning jQuery and Rails but I'm wondering if Flash and ActionScript would be a better focus. Any opinions? Have you considered freelancing for agencies? Especially in the bay area, there are a lot of agencies you can probably get on with as a freelancer. Personally I've found it pretty disappointing trying to work with non-agency clients, I've had a few good clients but working with agencies is better, you'll get a lot of variety, it's probably better for your portfolio, and they know how much things cost, and are less likely to balk at your prices. At least that's been my experience.
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Jun 25, 2008 23:16
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Honestly, your portfolio needs work. Every single one of your HTML sites is a standard top-nav/big header layout. No offense but there are a ton of designers out there with big-name client portfolios looking for work, and your design skills don't give you enough of an edge to compete. Can you afford to intern anywhere? Looking at what you've provided so far, I can tell you probably have the aptitude, but you need some professional guidance, and most agencies right now aren't in the position of paying someone to learn, they can get people who already know. You might also consider just taking on a pro bono client to give yourself more experience just working on branding and creating an entire look & feel - a lot of your work is standard layout with stock imagery, so try to come up with your own new layouts & graphics instead.
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May 4, 2010 04:08
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Zurich posted:Hey gang, it's been a while. I dunno. I have old work on my portfolio, but it's because the client names are pretty big (nintendo mostly) so even though it's a bit dated I'd rather show it just to get the client list out there.
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May 8, 2010 01:53
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qirex posted:It doesn't matter where it's hosted but I'd expect a design candidate to develop their own design for their personal site. If I saw someone using a premade blogspot template and then they had a bunch of kick-rear end work hosted on it I'd wonder how much of it they really did. We've been interviewing a lot of people lately for a Senior Interactive Designer position, and I kept running into the issue of getting portfolio links to great looking Flash portfolios, which none of the applicants built themselves. I specifically had to ask each time - it's pretty frustrating.
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Sep 5, 2010 03:03
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Kne.Li. posted:Another question related to job hunting - what are peoples experiences with Aquent? I don't have any experience dealing with recruiters of any kind, so I don't really know what to expect. I'm guess the placements will mostly be for in-house temp stuff? I worked with 'em in Boston and they were fine...they sent me on interviews to Arnold, Puma (who has a pretty crazy in-house design firm), Molecular, and a few others. I had one guy in particular who was really good at getting me to interviews, (and most of these were FT gigs), the only downside is they push hard for you to take a job. I was very selective in my job hunt, and they push pretty hard after each interview, even though some jobs have bad locations or aren't right for you. YMMV though, since each recruiter is different.
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Sep 21, 2010 02:48
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