Are you a small business owner who is confused about the difference between web design vs graphic design? You’re not alone! Many people don’t understand the distinction, but it’s an important one to make. In short, web design refers to the layout and structure of your website, while graphic design encompasses all of the visual elements on your website – from the fonts and graphics to the images and videos. If you’re looking to create a well-designed website that looks great and functions perfectly, you’ll need both a web designer and a graphic designer on your team. At our company, we offer both services so that we can create a complete website for our clients. Contact us today to learn more!
What is Web Design?
Web design is the process of creating a website that can be viewed on a computer or mobile device. This includes the web’s structure, HTML code, web pages, and web graphics. When you type in a web address (like www.entrepreneur.com), your browser requests webpages from web servers which are made up of HTML files. These files comprise text content as well as tags around images and other elements to describe their purpose on the page.
Web designers create web pages that are aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate, load efficiently on different devices / browsers, and provide an engaging user experience. They accomplish this by using colors strategically to guide users’ eyes, arranging text into readable chunks with appropriate white space between paragraphs or graphics containing additional content, using fonts that are easy on the eyes but also appropriate for your subject matter or industry, and uploading web graphics that contain alt text (alternative text used by screen readers for the visually impaired to help them better understand webpages).
Web designers must be able to create web pages using web development languages like HTML and CSS. They use tools like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator to design web page mockups which include all of the visual elements as well as any other web pages needed for your website’s content such as a contact us page or privacy policy.
What is Graphic Design?
Graphic design is the process of creating visuals such as logos, marketing materials such as fliers and brochures, social media images / headers, and other print media to convey a brand message. It also includes designing the look and feel of your website including web graphics and web page layouts as mentioned above. Graphic designers either work on a team with web designers or as web design freelancers, depending on the size of your company.
Why do I need both?
Web design is about how your website functions from an information architecture standpoint. Visual elements such as colors, images / videos, fonts, and white space help web users absorb information more easily and engage with a web page longer – but these design decisions should compliment the layout of your webpages instead of distracting from it. Graphic design works hand in hand with web design to create a cohesive message for your brand that appeals to potential customers online and off. From logo designs to email marketing campaigns, graphic designer’s job is to create visuals that support web designers’ web page layouts and convey the right messaging.
If you’re looking for a web designer, your company will need both web design and graphic design to develop an effective web presence. If you are only interested in having your website designed, you should consider hiring a web design firm or freelancer who can work with one of your internal team members to provide the necessary graphical elements. Depending on how much content is included on your website, this could be something that you’ll need to have professionally done every few months or annually.
If it’s just need web graphics that you’re looking for help with, do not worry – there are hundreds of websites where you can buy graphics online for very little money. Many graphic designers use these sites themselves to stock their web design toolkits with web images, so they are definitely usable. The web designer you work with should be able to advise if certain web graphics are more appropriate than others for your industry or web page’s visuals.
Difference between Web Design vs Graphic Design
1) Graphic design is all about the visuals on the other hand, web design is focused on the user experience. web design web-based applications, systems, and webpages. web design web developers. web design web page design, web site design web sites web-based applications web-based application development Generally graphic design is all about the visuals on the other hand web design is focused on the user experience.
2) The process of designing a website is not much different than print media in that unique copy has to be written for each unique web page or post. However, unlike print media where the designer only needs to focus on how things look — web designers need to consider search engine optimization when constructing websites. This means they have to take into account what keywords are being targeted in the web content so it’s picked up by search engines in feeds and result pages. The best way to do this is to combine web design with copywriting or web content writing.
3) It’s best practice for web designers and web developers to work closely with each other in order to create a web page that is search engine optimized while also providing maximum user experience on the web page itself. A web designer typically has an artistic background while a web developer has more of a technical background, so they are often at odds when it comes to how things should look versus how things are supposed to function. When things are not working out between these two team members, this can lead to miscommunication which can impact your business website development.
4) Graphic designers use typography, color theory, and layout to create their designs. Web designers use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create their designs.
5) A web designer will need to know how to create web pages, web graphics, web content and other web-based items. A web developer needs to be skilled at creating web applications, web services and web databases that interact with back-end systems such as CRM or ERP. Also — a web developer needs the ability to integrate the front end design with these back end systems.
6) A graphic designer typically has a portfolio of work they can show their clients when they are approached for a job. However, a web designer typically builds sites using wireframes which illustrate the layout and functionality without any imagery or styling applied directly onto them. The client will only see the final product after it has been developed.
8) Web designers may not directly deal with clients like graphic artists do, but they will need to communicate with clients often if their web designer has not created wireframes or mockups of the site’s layout/design before beginning work on web development. This way, feedback can be given early on during site construction so there are no surprises once the website goes live.
9) Graphic designers typically work in print media such as magazines and brochures. Web designers typically work in digital media such as websites and apps.
10) A web designer will understand web technology, web browsers, web culture and web usability. A graphic designer will have a deeper understanding of print media guidelines such as color usage, image manipulation, typography and other design elements that are only used in print media. Some web designers may also have deep knowledge about color theory or how to create visual hierarchies using layout/positioning — but they don’t usually work with traditional print media techniques.
11) There are many common roads to take toward becoming a web designer or web developer. Many web developers come from backgrounds in web design or computer programming while others transition into this industry after gaining experience elsewhere in IT. Web designers can typically find the skills they need to become web designers simply by exploring web design tutorials and web design galleries online. However, graphic designers typically need formal education and training beyond their undergraduate degrees in order to be successful.
12) Web developers usually focus more on the back end of web development and web design (server-side technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, PHP and JavaScript). Web designers usually focus more on the front end of web development and web design (client-side technologies such as Flash, AJAX, JavaScript and Adobe products such as Photoshop).
13) A web designer will most likely work from a home office or co-working space that has other web professionals working there. A graphic designer can divide their time between a home office and clients’ offices where they can meet face-to-face with others.
14) A web designer may need to have start from the beginning when starting a new web design project or web redesign. However, a graphic designer typically has some existing pieces of work they can pull from as inspiration for web design projects. In other words, web designers usually have more flexibility to begin with a clean slate since their content is not confined within an existing template or layout – web design often starts fresh without any pre-made templates or standards to base website designs off of.
15)The biggest difference between web design and graphic design is that websites change as often as necessary whereas printed material doesn’t change at all unless there’s an error, mismatch or redesign needed.
Conclusion
No matter what type of assistance you need, priority number one is hiring web designers and graphic designers who understand the difference between web design and graphic design (and can help you accordingly), since both skillsets are equally important in creating an engaging web presence that communicates the right message about your brand. Analog Creative offers web design services as well as many other related marketing services . To learn more about how Rosetta Digital can help your business succeed online, email us at contact@rosettadigital.com
