The website industry is a dynamic shifting target. A website that looked good 5 years ago doesn’t necessarily look good today, due to trends. The earliest websites, for instance, were designed on narrow screens because, of course, screen sizes were smaller and screen resolution was not as fine. The entire front page was usually above the fold, meaning that you saw the entire page on your screen. We also used very small type (font) sizes, because we thought they looked more elegant. Now, when we design, we try to use the full width of the screen. Scrolling is now a good thing and the font sizes have grown, because larger fonts are both practical and beautiful. Most people are aware when their website starts looking dated, but it is my job to help educate my clients so they pick a new design that lasts for a while.

Talking about trends…for a while websites were all custom designed. So, a web developer and graphic designer would often work together to develop a website that had the latest functionality and a swish design that really captured to your company’s personality. That is still done often; however, now, graphic designers and web developers often use customizable templates instead of designing from scratch. The templates provide the best of both worlds – built in functionality, recommended website architecture and design. Certainly, these templates can be customized by anyone to some degree, but unless you hire a professional, you won’t get the most out of them because of the more sophisticated templates require a programmer and designer to give you the unique look your company deserves.