What does it mean to be a web designer?

What does it mean to be a web designer? A good question. Shall we find out? Imagine that you’re going to build a house. Obviously, you won’t do the actual work yourself and therefore, you would need to hire a contractor. It’s a contractor who is expected to prepare a design, build and decorate the place for you. You receive the keys only when the house is completed.

Ok, now let’s take a closer look at the process of constructing a house. Would you just say to your contractor “build me a 1800 sq feet house” and stay away from the building process till the last day? I don’t think you would give it such a chance. The contractor could build a 1800 sq feet house for you, but you would run a risk of paying for the work that didn’t meet your needs, desires and requirements. That’s why you need to provide your contractor with all the details regarding design elements, textures, etc., the way your house is going to interact with the neighbourhood and things it’s going to contain. The next thing you do is conclude a contract with your contractor and afterwards the building process starts.

If you are able to do some work yourself, the costs will be reduced. If you put enough effort in the project, your house will look exactly like you wanted. No one knows better what results would make you feel happy about the house. Of course, a professional contractor could give you some educated assumptions but he would expect you to pay more for his work. Time is money. The more detailed information you provide your contractor with, the better outcome you get.

Now let’s substitute a few words. “A contractor” would be “a web designer”, “a house” is going to change to “website”, “content” replaces the words “design elements” and “textures” and the word “neighbourhood” stands for “customers”. Now, re-read the story once again using the given words and you will get an answer what it means to be a web designer. In some sense, a web designer is a contractor. You provide the building blocks that a designer can use to create a website for you. If you expect your webmaster to provide the building blocks for you, be ready to pay more for his work.

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