Associations have spent decades designing their marketing materials for print. However, most of those marketing activities have since moved online. With the shift from print to web, many associations have hired—or at least have considered hiring—an interactive designer whose skills are web-centric.
What are the benefits of bringing an interactive designer or agency onboard? And what should executives look for if they’re considering one? A bit of insight will make the process easier and provide you with concrete reasons to move the idea forward.
Differing between interactive design and print design. It’s a common misconception that designing for the web utilizes the same set of skills as designing for print. Here’s why they’re different:
Text: Text renders differently on screens than it does on paper, and what’s readable on a screen is not necessarily the same as what’s readable on paper.
Colors: Colors also behave differently. What appears bold in print can be difficult to see on screens.
Size: Because screen sizes are not fixed, web designs must adapt to a variety of different displays and devices.
Audience:Keep in mind that someone browsing your site is a click away from leaving to visit millions of others.
Maintenance:Websites must be designed to support additional content and future enhancements.
Technology Advancements:Web technology is evolving faster than print, which means that interactive designers must keep up with the latest trends.
Finding the right person for the job. Your designer must comprehend and respond to the differences listed above. This might be the same person who’s doing your print design, which is fine as long as he or she has applicable web design experience. But if you’re starting from ground zero, you might want to consider the following:
1. Does your designer have an appreciation for both functional design and aesthetic design? The most beautiful design in the world won’t make a poorly organized site successful. An interactive designer needs to understand and utilize basic concepts of user experience and information architecture. Designs will work when they cease to be merely static images and become part of a fully-functional, interactive website.
2. Does your designer stay up-to-date with web trends and technology? Even if your association isn’t looking to have the most cutting-edge site, your designer should be aware of developing trends in the industry that will allow for more creative freedom, device compatibility, efficient development and a better experience for visitors. You don’t want your site to start out behind the curve.
3. Does your designer have an appreciation for how websites are built? Development and design are intertwined. Designers should know the capabilities and limitations of the development platform, how their designs will render in common web browsers, what design patterns are more difficult to build and other technical integration points.
Development often hits roadblocks that require a designer to rework a component in short order to keep the project moving forward; a good interactive designer will be up for that challenge.
Hiring an individual or a team of designers. A good website requires more than just good design, and even the best interactive designer will be ineffective if they’re not part of a team. If your association already has a good strategy in place with in-house development resources or a freelancer, then adding a good interactive designer can be the final piece of the puzzle that would round out your team.
However, if you’re just now starting to focus attention on your organization’s online presence (and you haven’t retained development or strategy resources), it’s worth considering a full-service digital agency. Web redesigns are complicated projects, and an experienced partner with knowledge in all aspects of the process will help you navigate that complexity and can be a less risky way to realize your project goals. Once you have a mature footprint in the online space, you can build out your team—guided by what you learned from working with a skilled partner—if you decide to bring that work in-house.