5 handy tips for web designersDesigners are often swamped with multiple jobs that are requested in seemingly impossible timeframes. Knowing this, we’ve come up with 5 tips that will help make your life easier.

1. Use a Task Management Program to Stay on Top of Your Work

Meeting deadlines is crucial to your reputation and perceived ability to complete work on time. Keeping track of your tasks is essential when it comes to getting your work done on time, in an orderly fashion.

Using task management software such as Trello, is a great way to stay on top of your to-do list and keep you organized. Trello has helped over 10 million users organize themselves and stay on top of their tasks.

2. Choose the Right Display for Your Laptop

If you work as a designer on the go, having a laptop is invaluable. But choosing the right one is crucial. As someone in web design dealing with graphics, fonts and images, you want a screen that is larger so have the maximum amount of screen real estate to work with.

The difference between HD and Full HD screens can be massive. Full HD screens often have higher resolutions so you have more pixels to work with. IPS panels can help improve your viewing angles and color reproduction.

Screens that are 17 inches or bigger are perfect for designers. Looking at helpful guides that outline the best 17 inch laptops are handy when you are unsure which ones to get.

3. Use Style Guides for Uniformity

Having a uniform style throughout is a great way to showcase your professionalism and attention to detail to your client. Using style guides ensures that you keep the same layout the whole way through the project.

Additionally, style guides are useful if you often collaborate on projects as everyone will be clearly aware of what styles and variations to use.

4. Pick the Right Laptop for the Job

Do you often work from your desk? Are you a freelancer who works on the couch for an hour, then moves to the backyard, then goes back inside again?

Choosing the right computer for your needs is crucial to your success as a designer. Battery life, portability, looks and processing power are all considerations you need to take into account.

The best laptops for graphic design are those that suit your needs and help you to work to your full potential, thus increasing your productivity and income.

Some designing programs, such as Adobe Photoshop can be quite taxing on your PC. Make sure you do adequate research to ensure that your rig is up to the task of running your most used programs smoothly.

5. Sketch First, Create Later

Instead of jumping headfirst into a project that will have 100 iterations, why not first take the time to sketch out your design first on a pen and paper?

This approach will allow you plan out a roadmap of how you want your project to look and ensure you don’t have to revise your work repeatedly as per your client’s instructions.

Whilst it may take a bit more time and planning upfront, we guarantee that you’ll end up saving time in the long run.