Why Should A Web Designer Study Other Disciplines?

At the moment, there is a great demand for narrow specialists in the market. If you delve into one direction and master it completely, constantly developing and deepening, then you become the most valuable shot. But even such specialists must understand other aspects of working on a project and the features of related disciplines.

The higher you move up the career ladder, the narrower the specialization becomes. At the same time, you do the work really efficiently, turning into a professional and a master of your craft. But if you always look in the same plane, the result will be worse. It is always important to be in context, to understand what is happening in related areas in order to improve your skills.

Understanding the big picture of what is happening is more often available to specialists who work in a team. When you communicate with other professionals, discuss one project and parts of the work of different departments, you understand how it works and what can be improved. In this case, the result becomes more holistic.

We have identified a number of related disciplines that we recommend that a web designer study. Many of these concepts are included in the programs of educational products, the directions are somehow affected during training. Study them in more detail than the program requires, feed on knowledge already in the process and never stop there.

1. Drawing, sketching

We have said more than once that a web designer does not need the talent of an artist. But it is worth going through basic training in this area, it will definitely help in the work. You will be able to quickly make sketches, explain the idea to colleagues normally. It is also the development of spatial thinking, the ability to correctly prioritize. A clearer understanding of composition appears - you can see more about this in the article "10 Tips for Choosing the Right Website Designer".

2. Coloring

This is a must for a web designer. Without understanding the basics of color science, you will not be able to select and create palettes, convey the message of the customer with the color scheme, position the product and make harmonious combinations of tones. This also includes a section on the psychology of color perception, which plays a very important role when creating websites.

3. Marketing psychology

Not only color can influence perception. Website development almost always has the goal of selling or advertising a product. Here you can not do without understanding the basics of marketing, the work of the human psyche, ways to form a sales funnel and ways to push the visitor to the target action. If you are not interested in marketing, then you will not be able to 100% satisfy the requests of commercial projects, no matter how good your design is from a visual point of view.

4. UX/UI

Make your site not only beautiful, but also convenient for visitors. When creating blocks and functional elements, we need to take into account the user experience, make every detail so as to lead the user to our goal in the shortest possible way. And today, the convenience of the site sometimes outweighs the importance of design. So do not ignore this topic, be sure to delve into the basics of UX / UI.

5. Layout

Many freelancers are versatile specialists and do both design and layout on their own. If you specialize exclusively in web design, then it is not at all necessary to change your profile. But you have to understand how a layout designer works and how your ideas are reflected in his tasks.

6. Prototyping

You can’t do without it if you are creating a website from scratch. But in this case, there will be many more disciplines that need to be applied. If you are responsible only for the visual, then you usually work with ready-made layouts. But you must know how they arise, because each prototype has its own purpose and idea. A designer can revive a sketchy site and make it beautiful, but if he does not understand the main message and task, then beauty will be useless.

7. Concepts of frontend and backend development

Again, you don't need to get real hands-on experience here, but it's important to have a basic understanding of how it works. It is best to look at the development process for your own design project in order to correlate what is happening with the original data.

Don't stop learning

Make yourself a monthly challenge - read one book / watch a series of videos about one of the mentioned disciplines. Learn new things and you will become better in your field.

In addition to expanding professional knowledge, it is worth highlighting another feature of the study of related disciplines - this is inspiration. Sometimes, looking at tasks that are completely atypical for you, you come up with solutions for your own projects. They will be fresh and original, because they are not associated with the usual algorithms. And the more you learn new things and get versatile knowledge, the better your brain works. This is the generation of new ideas, the absence of burnout. And also the prevention of dementia, which now seems not relevant, but in old age it will help you for sure.

We try to combine different areas of knowledge in our educational products. This gives not only a versatile concept of the subject of study, but can also help in choosing a specialization. For example, you started as a web designer, but in the process you realized that you are good at and interested in different icons and illustrations - then you can continue your journey as a graphic designer. Or maybe you just develop your skills in this direction. There will be a lot of creativity, new interesting knowledge that will allow you to take on more complex freelancing jobs and make future projects unique, which will increase the price tag and expand your opportunities as a performer.