How to Get Better Clients and Better Rates

If I were to give one bit of simple advice to the web design community, it would be this:

This is not “Should designers be able to program”

My graphic above makes it look like I’m clearly of the “designers should program” crowd, but that’s not what I’m saying. Like the tides, this debate washes in and out of the blogosphere. Unfortunately discussions arguments usually turn into shouting matches for people who are convinced that there is a best way to design for the web. Clearly, as new tools and workflows emerge, the role of a web designer is being reshaped and people are trying to identify a path to excellence.

There’s a larger perspective

I grew up before there were web sites, when art and computers were just beginning to get along. My favorite professor in college laid out his Lorem Ipsum by hand and in my short lifetime, the role of designers has changed dramatically. Web designers are already far more technical than the generation of designers before them. When you look at the argument from this perspective, trying to define the boundaries of a designers skill set seems absurd.

What is a web designer?

If I were to summarize my job, I wouldn’t mention the tools I use, or how often I program since those things change all the time. Instead, I would say that being web designer means I produce visual solutions for technical problems. Given that job description, I must be willing to learn anything that helps me do a better job solving those problems. If instead, I believed my job was making beautiful websites, I would focus on a more narrow set of skills.

The web is not a place, it’s a medium

I wouldn’t be a potter if I painted glazes on bowls, but never worked with clay on a wheel. It’s the same with the web. Photoshop doesn’t make web designers. If you’re just painting on the outside, you haven’t really learned to work the medium. To be a web designer, you must be able to build a site in HTML and CSS, but that’s only the beginning.

At the start of my career, I designed mockups and put them in front of clients for iteration cycles and eventually approval. When I got the okay that everything was perfect, I would begin converting my designs to HTML and CSS and when that was over, my job was done. If I was still doing this today, I wouldn’t be working with such awesome clients and I couldn’t charge my current rates.

My secret sauce

(in progress, this is what I plan to cover)

1. Seek continual education.
2. Learn to collaborate.
3. Balance confidence and humility.
4. Attract the right clients.