Web Designers are Not Icon Designers!
I recently got a call from someone wanting to know what I thought about various image editing programs in terms of their abilities to make buttons:
“Stef, what program do you think I should use to create buttons for my websites? One buddy tells me he likes Corel Draw and another guy is big on Adobe Fireworks. What do you use?”
My answer to this question is simple:
Web designers should not be making buttons.
Today a web designer’s job is much different from it was just say 5-6 years ago. Once upon a time, web designers were typically just graphic designers moving into web design because that’s where the money was. It still is by the way. Anyway …
These days web design as a profession and skill set has evolved into it’s own beast. Web designers have many skills that go way beyond ordinary design:
- HTML
- CSS
- Usability
- Site architecture and SEO
- And yes, some design basics
… and lots of other stuff to.
Did you notice that design, was at the bottom of the list? Yes, having good design chops is always a plus, but the fact of the matter is, is that a web designer is more like an architect that puts together the pieces, rather than being the carpenter that builds things.
Web designers (like architects) chooses the materials and puts them together properly …. but they don’t build everything from scratch.
How about the buttons?
You can buy great looking buttons / icons for $10-$15 a set. Why on earth would you want to spend HOURS making buttons that will probably not look half as good anyway? The answer is: you wouldn’t want to and you shouldn’t.
PS: web designers don’t make buttons!
Thanks,
Stefan Mischook.
August 21st, 2008 at 9:00 pm
We always outsource graphic design elements like icons, etc. We have have coders and programmers who I would classify as web designers, and we also have graphic designers who are good at web design. But icon design is an art all its own, just as print design is much different from web design. They’re not interchangeable talents!
August 27th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Logo and Icon design is a very tricky job, but Favicon design is just plain annoying! How do you get the detail in a 16×16 square! Ahhh
September 17th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Hello there, I’m a web designer, illustrator, icon artist, graphic designer, coder and email marketing specialist. I guess after working for so long, its a good idea to touch different realms and explore new paths.
Essentially I think web designer are NOT icon artists. They CAN be, such as myself but as a profession, hard to find!
Thanks!
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I couldn’t agree more. I must admit though that sometimes i get carried away and start designing the logos as well
September 28th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Lol, true, we shouldn’t be making icons. That tends to be something that should be done by other departments for a seamless transition across all mediums a company uses. However, sometimes it is needed for those clients which don’t have their own designers.