Just a quick blurb that I am sure will be as much for myslef (as a reminder) as it is for other web designers out there!  Running a web / graphic design business is first, and foremost… a lot of fun!  I feel that needed to be said right off the bat so that the rest of this post doesn’t sound like I am whining!

I would dare say, more than almost any other field, with the possible exception of medicine – being a web designer requires one to be on their toes at all times in terms of learning new things (and re-learning things you have not visited in some time).  Where do you want me to start?  Well, how about W3C web standards for starters?  All in all an AWESOME thing….and no doubt, the work done by the W3C is absolutely  necessary. Standards are a good thing!  Perhaps we can get the idiots that write the Internet “ExploDer” browser to some day agree!  So, we’ll just say item 1 would be learning about web standards.  Of course we can break standards down into a million sub categories, but if you’re already a web designer you know that what I am getting at!

Okay, so what else are we as “web people” expected to know…whether those expectations come from ourselves or our clients?  Well, for starters how many different types of languages and mark-ups could we talk about?  Hmmmm.  Well, there is of course javascript, which may only be a “scripting language” but contains a world unto itself – and that doesn’t even count all of the new javascript libraries out there (jquery, motools, dojo etc) which are fricking amazing but, again, require a slight learning curve to use.  Of course a “web guy” or “web gal” should know a bit about PHP and mySql databases if only to know how to set up a custom WordPress blog (like the one being used here), not to mention the real power behind the two. Of course we could even lump learning blogging software into the mix while we’re at it couldn’t we?  Say for example your client wants a “custom blog”…, 9 times out of 10 you’ll use WordPress, AND, 9 times out of 10 none of the predefined free templates will be exactly what your client wants.  Need I say more?

What else could I mention quickly?  How about figuring out how to use Cascading Style Sheets (css) in new and creative ways? We could talk about using javascript (and its corresponding libraries) to change css on the fly too. How about if your client wants media in their web design…you’d probably need to know a little bit about editing and compressing video using the myriad of software packages out there not to mention audio. Lets see,  there is also podcasting which might require you to know a bit about syndication and xml,,,Oh Yeah, xml, I forgot about that!  How about the ever increasing use of “cool audio playing widgets ” available. I bet if I wanted to I could even remind you that we need to be fairly proficient with all of the software that comes with the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat etc) but, hey, why bring that up too?

Oh, and do I need to remind you that we are primarily DESIGNERS? So in other words you gotta make all this stuff look good too!  Of course if you work at a firm you may only need to be good at 2 or or 3 or 5 things, but I know there are many, many out there like myself who are always doing their best to stay ahead of the curve and learn it all….so, to all of you…..HATS OFF!