Integrating the Web

By: Peter Carroll

January 24, 2009

The Internet has become one of the greatest sources of information of our generation. Every day
millions of people search for information on products, people, or self education. Companies are
using the Internet to communicate with potential customers in a way that has not been available
before. In order for a company to successfully draw customers they have to bring together three
disciplines, graphic design, the internet, and marketing.

Web designers are creating web sites that are visually and functionally amazing. The new
technologies that have been released are driving the web to be more interactive and visually
appealing. To achieve the goal of being visually appealing a designer has to have an
understanding of graphic design. A designer needs to understand the elements to creating a well
balanced graphic that can be applied to the whole web site.

A page of a web site could also be considered as one large graphic in respect to the thought that
the entire page has to achieve a balance that promotes ease of use and understanding of the pages
message. A designer has to have an understanding of the message that the sponsor wants to
convey. With that understanding a designer can generate ideas on how to achieve that message.
A designer should always ask themselves questions such as; is the graphic balanced? , What does
this graphic say about the company or product? Using solid design principles a designer can
create graphics that are powerful.

The next discipline that a designer needs to understand is the Internet itself. Without a clear
understanding of how the Internet works and displays its data, a designer is not able to obtain the
perfect ratio of style versus function. The Internet is a great medium to show off a company but
it does have its limitations. If a designer places an image on the site that is set to high then the
load time is longer and the visitor will leave. Furthermore, the Internet is not capable of doing
the same thing as what a desktop can do, so when the designer creates the site they must
understand this and they can work around this limitation.

But the Internet is growing in its capabilities and in the future designers may be creating full-
fledged applications with no limitations. Which brings up a new point that is worth mentioning,
with the advent of new techniques such as Ajax, the tools that designers have available to them
are allowing designers to push the envelope each and every day.

The last discipline that a designer needs to master is the art of marketing. The word “art” was
chosen on purpose because marketing a web site is a type of art that can be difficult to master.
The balance of getting the word of a web site out to the public, search engine optimization and
the cost of the marketing is an act that can be both frustrating and satisfying when mastered. This
is especially true if the designer has multiple clients each with a web site that needs to be
marketed. So it goes without saying that mastering the subject of marketing, specifically e-
marketing, is an essential aspect of every web designer.
Web design can be a challenging career when you look at all a designer does. From working
around the Internet’s limitations, to marketing the site, a designer’s hands are full. But if a person
is fascinated with the thought of working with the tools to make a site that is functional and
stylish then dive on in. It is a challenge that is worth taking.