Chink
Junior Member
Thought I would share an extract taken from my Blog Post here.. And would love to hear you guys thoughts or answers...
At the moment it seems every man and his dog is claiming to be a web designer. With little or no background knowledge of the web, usability, accessibility or in some cases even html or at the very worst case CSS!
As a result this is turning the web into a cesspit of either ****e websites built up of tables, poor usability and bad coding. Or even worse a clone wars of template based websites using readily downloadable free or paid html templates that look amazing giving the false impression that the provider has immense designing skills. Where the truth is a 12 year old in his bedroom could create the same result in 5 minutes and on top of this at some point you will inevitably stumble across another bunch of websites that look somewhat familiar to your own!
Does this worry anyone else? If not it should do. I devoted 2 years at college and 4 years of university then 5 years in the industry since into studying an art form, whilst all that time an undergrowth has emerged meaning now 'anyone' can create a website. The largely unknown subtle yet important difference is, not everyone can create a good website.
In the same way I could go and buy a cake.. ram some jam inside with my fingers and re-sell it as my own brand of cake.. does this make me a good baker? and would you want to buy this dirty whore of a cake off me at the same price you could of purchased it from its creator?
To make this situation worse (and also as a direct result of this) nowadays everyone wants a website for cheap or even free! meaning they will take up these cheapo cowboy offers as they will 'do the trick'.
It's time for a revolution. Im currently aware of no 'recognised' web design qualifications or board that you can become part of that recognise actual skilled and professional web designers who can do a real job? If there is a national board please correct me.
In the same way for years your grandad or uncle could come round and fit electricity or gas in your house, until one the day the gas board woke up and decided to bring in corgy registration. More recently electricians have a recognised board now too.
Given the above has a more deadly result than a badly designed website on your home, however this can have the same deadly result on your business and the future of the web. If we look at the bigger picture it ensures the web grows in an accessible and usable way, rather than more ****e thrown into an ungreatfull cesspit. The other main issue is often users can be put off a really good business due to them having a ****e website.. yet attracted to a bad business due to them having a generic 'awesome looking' template based website. Amongst other countless arguments we could go into.
Don't get me wrong im all for an 'open source' web where we all share to make it bigger and better. But im not for every dole dosser with too much time on their hands downloading templates, doing a crash course in html and taking work from the pro's.
Nowadays would you trust your grandad, uncle, dole dosser or 12 year old child who had read a 'how to guide' to come round and fit your gas cooker? Yet you would you trust the same people to create a website which is your business's gateway to the world and 'cover page' of your income.
It's time for awareness and change.
At the moment it seems every man and his dog is claiming to be a web designer. With little or no background knowledge of the web, usability, accessibility or in some cases even html or at the very worst case CSS!
As a result this is turning the web into a cesspit of either ****e websites built up of tables, poor usability and bad coding. Or even worse a clone wars of template based websites using readily downloadable free or paid html templates that look amazing giving the false impression that the provider has immense designing skills. Where the truth is a 12 year old in his bedroom could create the same result in 5 minutes and on top of this at some point you will inevitably stumble across another bunch of websites that look somewhat familiar to your own!
Does this worry anyone else? If not it should do. I devoted 2 years at college and 4 years of university then 5 years in the industry since into studying an art form, whilst all that time an undergrowth has emerged meaning now 'anyone' can create a website. The largely unknown subtle yet important difference is, not everyone can create a good website.
In the same way I could go and buy a cake.. ram some jam inside with my fingers and re-sell it as my own brand of cake.. does this make me a good baker? and would you want to buy this dirty whore of a cake off me at the same price you could of purchased it from its creator?
To make this situation worse (and also as a direct result of this) nowadays everyone wants a website for cheap or even free! meaning they will take up these cheapo cowboy offers as they will 'do the trick'.
It's time for a revolution. Im currently aware of no 'recognised' web design qualifications or board that you can become part of that recognise actual skilled and professional web designers who can do a real job? If there is a national board please correct me.
In the same way for years your grandad or uncle could come round and fit electricity or gas in your house, until one the day the gas board woke up and decided to bring in corgy registration. More recently electricians have a recognised board now too.
Given the above has a more deadly result than a badly designed website on your home, however this can have the same deadly result on your business and the future of the web. If we look at the bigger picture it ensures the web grows in an accessible and usable way, rather than more ****e thrown into an ungreatfull cesspit. The other main issue is often users can be put off a really good business due to them having a ****e website.. yet attracted to a bad business due to them having a generic 'awesome looking' template based website. Amongst other countless arguments we could go into.
Don't get me wrong im all for an 'open source' web where we all share to make it bigger and better. But im not for every dole dosser with too much time on their hands downloading templates, doing a crash course in html and taking work from the pro's.
Nowadays would you trust your grandad, uncle, dole dosser or 12 year old child who had read a 'how to guide' to come round and fit your gas cooker? Yet you would you trust the same people to create a website which is your business's gateway to the world and 'cover page' of your income.
It's time for awareness and change.