- Almost 20 years ago, I began design for the
Adams Morioka website, where I was a partner.
These were the early days of the internet
and the options were slim.
I found quickly that I had no idea what I was doing.
I might as well have been taking over
for a brain surgeon.
I turned to my team of designers
who worked with an outside developer
to design the site.
The end product was impossible to update
and incredibly expensive to code.
I never understood how it worked
and didn't particularly like the navigation.
It was only after we received hate mail about the navigation
that anyone listened to me.
Today, making a website is infinitely easier.
If you're a web or interactive designer,
you'll probably design and code a custom site.
This should present your work and demonstrate your skills.
But remember, you're showing that you understand
visuals, hierarchy, and web capabilities.
Even the designers at Google
hand over the coding and development
to people specializing in that.
If your focus is not only web, there are several options.
First, find a good developer and work closely
with him or her.
You'll need to map out the site architecture,
design the look and feel in Photoshop,
and have image assets ready.
The developer can work with you and put the site together,
perhaps offering good suggestions.
If you take this path, it's critical that you can easily
and quickly modify the site yourself.
If you need to go back to the developer
every time you want to add something,
the site will soon become an immovable stone.
Some designers work with templates in WordPress
or Squarespace.
Five years ago, this would be considered lazy.
But I see it as a useful tool.
The goal is to get the site up and running smoothly.
Both of these sources have templates that work well
and can be customized to represent your brand.
These also allow for easy changes, updates,
and are responsive, meaning they translate
to mobile devices.
There are several courses that can help with this process.
WordPress Essential Training with Morten Rand-Hendriksen
and Squarespace 7 Essential Training with Brian Wood.
And then the in-between solution.
You might begin with a WordPress or Squarespace template
and work with a developer to refine
and customize it further.
If you take this path, I suggest taking time
to understand how they modified the code.
I might not get it right away,
but it's good opportunity for a learning experience.
The biggest mistake that designers make
when designing and creating their own site
is procrastination.
Most of us will work on something as long as we can
until it's perfect.
Since there is no set deadline, this leads to websites
that have a homepage with a note,
under construction, for years.
Your site will never be perfect.
Like you, it's a work in progress.
If it works and the assets represent you well,
release it to the world.
You can update it and change it
for the rest of your life.