Don’t Judge a Portfolio by Its Cover September 22, 2009
What to Look for when Reviewing Web Design Portfolios
When you decide to hire a web designer, you will want to choose the designer that is best for your business. The most important tool that you can use to find the best web designer is the web design portfolio. Every web designer has a portfolio of his or her best work which you can check out to decide if this is the person that you want to hire to work on your website. Unfortunately, most people don’t know what to look for when they review web design portfolios so they end up failing to make the right choice in a web designer.
Most people who review web design portfolios will choose their web designer based on their first impression of the portfolio. Although you shouldn’t make your final decision based solely on this, it is certainly important to consider your immediate impression. Most people who land on your website will only stay there for a few seconds unless the visual impact of your site gives them a reason to stay longer. To narrow down your choice of web designers, select a pool of those whose portfolio immediately impressed you.
The next thing that you’ll want to look at is the type of businesses that the company has done websites for. You don’t have to choose a web designer that is familiar with your specific business. However, it’s ideal to find a web designer that does have some experience with your industry. Alternatively, you can choose a web designer that has worked with many diverse types of businesses. What you don’t want to do is to choose a web designer that works solely in one area which isn’t your area. For example, if you have a fashion design business then you don’t want to choose a web designer that works specifically in designing websites for technology companies. You want to choose one that either has a diverse portfolio or has specific experience designing for the clothing industry.
After looking at this, you’ll want to look at the process that was used when designing websites. All good web design portfolios have explanations about the work that was done for each sample in the portfolio. By reading through these explanations, you will gain a really good sense of how the web design company approaches its design process. Choose a web designer that uses a process which you understand and can relate to. Finally, double-check to make sure that there are no typos or design concerns on any of the samples in the portfolio. You want to choose a web designer that submits only professional work for consideration!
