Print Designer Converts to Web

I’ve been working with print design for over six years now. My design interest started way back in my high school yearbook class where I used my scrapbooking experience to teach myself seemingly foreign software like Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. In years since, I was exposed to web design but never really had a desire to get into it because I thought it seemed like a scary and confusing monster. Fast forward to the present. This past school year, I finally learned the basics of HTML in an Information Systems class. Also, this summer, I got the opportunity to intern here at TargetClick Marketing and never expected to be involved with much designing, let alone web design! I had worked at a print shop for over a year and loved being able to physically hold my designs, but I was still a little fascinated by what this whole web design thing was like. I started by helping out with some Facebook ads, other display and retargeting ads and then moving up to trying a new website template. Having a background in Adobe Creative Suite made this a relatively smooth transition, except of course that everything was significantly smaller than what I was used to working with. One day, I was asked to help with a new website that TargetClick was developing. I was intrigued because I had never helped make a complete website from start to finish, (the three page final project for the Information Systems class hardly counts!) let alone for a very successful organization rather than for my own personal use. I was excited to try some things I had seen on other websites, but still had no idea how all these Photoshop layers would come to life. After many collaborations and talking over ideas, we started hammering out the home page and then let the site grow into it’s own. The site is now live at www.muddeq.com with a bunch of help from our amazing developer Andrew! I had never worked with a developer before, so I’m sure I tested his patience a few times, but he was always very helpful in explaining problems that didn’t exist in my print world.  I’ve made a little infographic to demonstrate the advantages of both print and web design and also highlight some of the issues I ran into while designing my first website. My advice to those of you print designers that are scared to make the leap into the web world: like my good friend Nike always says, just do it!  You already have a keen eye for what looks good and just need a little coding knowledge, plus it doesn’t hurt to have a great developer like we do. The web is the future of design, so you might as well get on board!