Jump to content

Bashed By The Professionals


Recommended Posts

Well basically, I have my own web design blog (I will not post the link here). But anyway, for some reason, I'm always getting bashed by the "professionals" because I use Wordpress themes, and because I'm "terrible designer". For example

 

Just wondering how much experience and what kind of education you have as a graphic designer? By the look of your work you have no education and very little experience (that or you’re just not artistic). I’d recommend getting your game up to par if you want to keep up to experienced professionals like myself. IMO you need better examples on your website to draw business.

 

Seems like the professional graphic designers either have forgotten that they were at my level at one point, don't know what constructive criticism is, or both.

 

Has anyone else have any similar experiences?

 

Sidenote: My blog used to be my portfolio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just keep learning, and commit yourself to be kind to those below you when you become utterly awesome, unlike this guy. You are your own limit, not them, no? So keep chugging if this is what you like to do and delete that guy's account/comment from your blog. Pride is foolishness

 

I'm not a big fan of Wordpress although I am practically obliged to learn it..

 

 

What is 'professional' anyways? Who cares? If you can get the job done, and done well, that is all that matters, and everyone knows it. So learn to get the job done, and done well, and you will be valued for it.

Edited by khanahk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL - I was wondering if this was about me, I have been accused of that often enough... but usually by so called professionals or college grads who are not as good as they think. I would go after this person in a heart beat and really have a look at their site.

 

As for you:

Just wondering how much experience and what kind of education you have as a graphic designer? - Nothing wrong there.

 

By the look of your work you have no education and very little experience (that or you’re just not artistic). - Bet his code really sucks. Pretty web sites fail if they are not well made.

 

I’d recommend getting your game up to par if you want to keep up to experienced professionals like myself. - Yup. that gets my hackles up too, sounds like a script kiddie or something.

 

IMO you need better examples on your website to draw business. - He has a point I suppose, I do not know your web site, but good examples, aka a portfolio is important looking for jobs and customers.

There is nothing wrong with WordPress or any other CMS, it makes maintenance and updating easier on your customer. They offer many improvements over a traditional static web site. I would shy away from using out of the box templates, modify them for an original design for your customers.

 

This sounds more like the "Keep my customers bound to me" & "re-invent the wheel to be professional" thinking to me rather than creating the best possible service for your customer and their customer. Everyone can have an opinion, but it is the customer's that counts. That is why this forum is directed to beginners to avoid such comments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's definitely true that those who consider themselves professionals need to remember what it was like to be a beginner. Hopefully most "real" professionals won't put down beginners but rather encourage them to get better. That's really what KillerSites is all about -- helping beginners get started. I started out watching KillerSites tutorials myself, and several years later I'm still heavily involved in web technologies, turning something that started as a hobby into a full time career. It's unfortunate that you ran into someone who was condescending rather than supportive.

 

If you can ignore exactly how the commenter phrased things, which yes, was unnecessarily harsh, he was basically saying "So why can you write about this topic? What sort of experience do you have that would make me trust that you know what you are talking about?" In short, I believe he was basically saying that while your content in the article may have been good, the way the website is presented and the content in your portfolio may clash with that, causing people to distrust your knowledge in the field. So I would definitely suggest you take a look at what you can do to improve your professional image online. If you have websites that look old or outdated in your portfolio, it may be better to remove them than to present a questionable image to the world. If you are a beginner/don't have that much experience, then don't try to present yourself as a professional -- present yourself as someone who is constantly learning, and share what you are learning as you go. Presenting yourself as a professional but not actually having the skills to back it up may backfire on you.

 

In regards to the Wordpress comments... As a general rule, if you claim to have web expertise and sell your services as a freelancer, it looks bad to be using someone else's website template. If I needed to hire a freelancer, that sort of thing might discourage me from hiring them if their website wasn't actually made by them. If they sell their web design services, but can't build their own website, how do I know they know what they claim they do? Using Wordpress itself isn't bad -- it's a CMS that I use regularly, and that I will be using when I go to redesign my portfolio later this year. It looks like your website is currently running a generic free theme, so that's one area I'd definitely suggest you take a look at in time.

 

If you're interested, I'd be happy to provide some constructive criticism via private message... but I won't post it here without you asking for it, since you haven't explicitly posted your website or asked for feedback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like LSW said a cms is much easier to teach a client to use. But remember to make a child theme. You do not have to, but if you update the theme you will loose all of your customization's. Even though you tell your client not to update anything that you will take care of it for them for free, they may not listen and do it anyway. I found this out the heard way. If you just make them an editor they want to know way they are not an admin.

One thing I do in making my proposal if offer six months of free training and a life time of free site maintenance like updates. Then put in so much an hour after that if they need you to come and show them how to do something again. This little bit in your contract will save you some headaches later on.

Do not worry about not being the best designer, I do not. A fellow web designer gave me some good advice on learning to design and here it is. 1-Just keep working at it it will come. 2-Go and look at the fortune 500 company's web sites and do what they did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...