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I’m a fairly positive person, and most of the posts on this blog have been pretty positive, but today I’m feeling very negative and frustrated. I’m not going to bitch and moan, I’m going to try and give a constructive insight into the issues that I’m uncovering as I continue down the road of self employment.
How It Started
The last couple of weeks, but today in particular, I’ve just had too much to do. I’ve got accountants emailing me about late tax returns that I didn’t know were due, clients emailing me about website problems, prospective clients emailing me with enquiries, other half-done things that I’m trying to complete (such as the redesign for this blog), articles that I’ve got to write for other websites, and personal finances that I need to sort out too. All that comes before I can even think about doing any client web design work – which is the only thing that actually pays the bills.
It’s not just an issue of prioritising work either, I had a small revelation today which is this: Being the director of a business, and being a web designer are two separate full time jobs. I’m finding that I just don’t have time to do both.
In particular, I’m spending a lot of time getting my name out there, marketing the business, marketing myself as an individual, and going after magazine/podcast/blog/showcase features to bolster my reputation.
But Is This The Right Direction?
This month’s issue of .Net Mag has a feature article about “The World’s Top 20 Web Designers” – but are they really? The list, as I’ve discussed with some of you on Twitter, doesn’t really showcase the world’s top 20 web designers, but rather the world’s most famous 20 web designers. Just because you make a lot of noise in the web design industry, doesn’t mean you’re a good web designer. If anything it means that you’re a good marketer.
Think of all the web celebs around at the moment, you know, the same ones who speak at all the conferences and are in articles such as the above. Most of them don’t design websites every day, they run businesses. They understand html5 and css3, but they spend more time talking about them than they do using them.
The people who we look up to most in our industry, aren’t actually the ones at the forefront of innovation on the web. It seems that the web design companies who spend less time worrying about their level of industry recognition are the ones who doing really well. Their sole focus is web design, not marketing, not social media, just web design. The world’s best web designers (as individuals), are for the most part, totally unknown.
Case In Point
How many of you have heard of a web design studio called “WebHeads” ? I’m guessing not many, if any at all. They aren’t part of the “scene” – but let’s take a look at just a few of their clients: Intel, BBC, Daily Mirror, Mercedes, Texaco, Cisco, Planet Hollywood, and The NHS, as well as a few very successful recording artists.
Now tell me which of our beloved web celebs have a client list that’s anything like that? To my knowledge, none of them can match it.
Why is that?
Questioning Goals
To “become well known in the industry” has always been one of my goals, but today I’m questioning whether or not it’s worth anything. The studios with the big clients don’t need to constantly fight each other on blogs about whether or not IE6 should still be supported, or why CSS frameworks are “morally wrong”. They don’t need to write magazine articles proclaiming the infinite size and wisdom of their own testicles.
They simply say, “Hello Nike, yes we do work with a lot of multimillion pound enterprises and we’d be more than capable of taking on your project. Oh what’s that? You liked the work which we did on the new Adidas site? Well I’m sure that we can make the new Nike site even better.”
No pretense, no bullshit, no preaching. An impressive client list says everything; “If these highly esteemed companies can trust us with their websites, then you can too.”
In Conclusion
There’s a balance that’s being dramatically overlooked by a lot of people, including myself. Becoming well known in the web design industry does not equate to you being a good web designer. It also does not equate to you having a successful business. To prove this to you, here are the top 5 digital media companies in the UK for 2009, and their annual incomes:
- Syzygy – £12,358,000
- Conchango – £11,200,000
- Reading Room – £8,834,000
- Red Bee Media – £8,747,000
- Corporate Document Services – £4,484,000
Call me out of touch, but I hadn’t heard of a single one of them until I picked up a copy of May’s DesignWeek which contained the “Top 100 Consultancy Survey 2009″.
When was the last time you saw any of those names on Smashing Magazine, or in .Net Magazine, or on Twitter?
I’m not saying that industry publications, people, and discussions are irrelevant. I am saying that I think we give them too much credit.
[Update]
I just wanted to include a really great comment from below by Adam Reece that I think is highly relevant to this subject:
I agree that the name of the article is definitely misleading. The names on that list are not the top 20 web designers.
The question I ask is, what is the end goal for those designers on that list? Is it to become the designer with the largest list of the biggest name clients? Or is it to help the design community by providing useful tools for the everyday designers? Sure we can question the list, but we can’t take away from the designers on that list and what they have done for the community. Have we not used a “tip” or “trick” from one of the designers on that list?
What is disappointing about the .NET magazine is that they don’t define what criteria they used to define this “top 20″″ list.
You need to define what your goals are for your business, or for you personally. Like you noted, building a name in the design community doesn’t necessarily bring in big name clients, but is that the goal of these designers? If your goal is to get the big name clients and lots of them but you’re pissed your name isn’t on these lists, maybe you should stop paying attention to these lists, and go after clients.
Figure out what your business goals are, and what your personal goals are. As a freelancer, or “business owner”, it can be hard to separate personal and business. To me, being a big name in the design industry is a personal thing because your influencing other people in the community. Sure, it helps bring in some clients since your name is out there, BUT, the companies you mentioned aren’t influencing the community and they are getting the big name clients, because that’s their BUSINESS goal. Like I said, it’s hard to separate business and personal.
Loved the article and the thoughts its provoking. It’s always good to reflect on things.
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On point.
Very interesting points to contemplate. Re-evaluating your direction is, in itself, a valuable thing to do, regardless of the ultimate outcome. I think it should be done regularly :)
Its an interesting blog post and it certainly raises some interesting questions.
I personally just get my head down and work. I am a part time (I use this term very loosely) blogger and I roam on twitter quite a lot. This isn’t to create a profile, its just things I enjoy. I spend most of my day chasing clients, doing web dev work and looking for new leads.
I have never been convinced about the benefits of being a web design miniceleb. Take Paul Boag for example. I am sure that his podcast and talks create some leads BUT what percentage of his listeners are potential clients. I would say a tiny fraction. A large percentage of people still do not know what a podcast is and his blog is often aimed at designers thus making it difficult for potential clients to get into.
Considering the time he puts into podcasts, audioboo’s, talks and blog posts I can’t help but feel that his time could be better spent targeting clients instead of raising his profile amongst web designers.
If anything, if you want to self promote, the best place to do it would be in the local area. Become the goto web design guy. Frequent pubs, sponsor local events and talk to people. There is far more money in this than there is in online promotion amongst your peers.
Absolutely fantastic article – agree wholeheartedly.
Great article John, absolutely on point.
I was thinking the other day how being, like you say, a mini-web-celeb would increase work requests and thus income. I think there are certainly examples out there of people who start off as designers, gain notoriety, then move onto other related fields such as speaking or consultancy for example. This is fine if you actually want to go down that route but for many, I feel they just move away from what made them known in the first place.
I think trying to make yourself known for your work on the Internet is a bit of a false economy, if you do good work, blog a little and take part in social discussion through the usual means then you’ll be noticed, it’s as simple as that.
Jesus John… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDwODbl3muE
Nice! I must say that I totally agree with you on this one John. Sometimes, like you, I feel like people are getting too carried away with “discussing” about IE6 or HTML5/CSS3 or whether the rounded-corner technique matches well with the rest of the site.
And I’ve recently come to this conclusion: WHO CARES!
I personally don’t have time to muck around with HTML5 or CSS3 ’cause I’m too busy working on stuff that people want to see NOW.
Very thought-provoking post, John. It is a catch-22 in my opinion, as you have neither a multi-million dollar (or pound =D) client list nor an A-list web celeb status to rely on at this time. You’re caught striving for both and seemingly becoming fed up. Something to keep in mind regarding those big players is the resources they have and my have started with. They might not have been just one guy trying to do the work of 5-10; so I hope this revelation is not filled with too much discouragement!
Something interesting to try to dig up through research or interviews would be what these successful big name firms did when they were born. How did they get to where they are today – was it excessive self-promotion or pounding the pavement for clients?
@Kevin – Not discouraged/fed-up at all, just weighing up the different points of view :)
Brilliantly put John, this is something very close to home also running a small web design company. It can be hard to balance creating websites and promoting your services, it really is two jobs sometimes!
You always get people who become popular in a particular industry, I suppose the difference here is there is a crossover/confusion with designers, entrepreneurs and marketeers. Sometimes its hard to tell the difference.
The problem with these big voices is that some of them have lost touch with the grass roots web design and start to get preachy about things that real world web designers who build website every day have probably more hands on experience about.
If only it were as easy as getting those huge companies on your client list. As a starting web designer, I think it’s absolutely necessary to make buzz in the blogosphere surrounding the industry.
Look at Jacob Cass or David Airey, very well respected, young designers. Have they made sites for multi-million dollar corporations? Not that I’m aware of. But has their blogging and impact in the community made them better off? Absolutely. I remember seeing a list of the most profitable design blogs a few weeks ago (based on advertising), and Jacob Cass’ bundle of sites made the list – not bad for a guy that’s still in school.
I think this article is geared toward agencies rather than individual freelancers. Nike, Adidias, Intel, etc are not going to go to a freelancer for a website. They require agencies that can cater to their massive needs, so to lump that business in with small to medium size freelancers is plain silly.
All in all, it does give you something to think about and may persuade a few people out there reevaluate how to run their business.
@Carson – Getting your first big client is always going to be a challenge, and I agree that some publicity definitely helps. But I don’t see million dollar brands attending the Future of Web Design conferences in order to help them pick an agency for their next project. And yes, you’re completely right in saying that this post is about agencies more than it is about individuals – I write this blog from the point of view of a small business owner (not a freelancer) :)
Facts are that many web designers do too much talking and too little work. I have similar problems to you in that trying to market and do the work makes life difficult.
[Removed spam - save your advertising for somewhere else, and have a little respect]
Well said John… too many ‘lameass rockstar designers’ on the web… for most part, these ‘famous’ web designers don’t even put out work that is that great.
…seriously, nobody gives a fuck who built a website, all people care about is if the site works and does what they need it to do.
John, I just wanted to comment to try to present another point of view.
In many respects you are, of course, right. That list should perhaps have been called ‘20 web designers who write, or used to write, blogs, write books and speak at conferences on things they love’. That’s pretty much what it comes down to.
I started writing a blog in 2005 on a subject I love. Most of the people on the list did, or are doing, the same. It’s not about being famous at all. It’s not about celebrity. It’s about having access to a medium in which to talk about what you love. If that means you get asked to speak at local, national or international events on that subject, then what is wrong with that?
It’s also worth noting that most of the people on this list are freelancers or run very small businesses. As I do. This exposure, as I’m sure you’re aware, is vital to our continued success of these individuals. What you fail to convey in your post is that a lot of the industry’s giants don’t necessarily attract the type of designer who is eager to write and speak about design in the same way.
Going back to your original point. You’re right, this article is misrepresentative. Fame does not equal talent, but that does not mean the people on the list aren’t good at what they do.
@Mark – Thanks so much for commenting mark, really appreciate you taking the time to offer an alternative point of view with some really great points!
@Foamcow – Some more good points there. I was trying to draw the line between fame and fortune – suggesting that they aren’t inherantly linked, but I fully support your points about the downsides of having large clients.
Some valid points both in the original post and in the comments.
Consider this though; having a hugemungous client is not necesarily a good thing for the following reasons.
1. They can often become more demanding than they should, using their size as a measure of importance. I’ve been in the situation with big(ish) name clients holding their importance over your head like a sword of Damacles.
2. You can end up spending so much time and energy keeping 1 client happy that you negelect, and disenfranchise, the others.
3. The big client is run by accountants. At the will of someone you have never had any contact with you can lose that client. If they make up a big share of your income you can be well and truly stuffed. All too easy for this to happen.
You should also consider that, certainly in the ‘traditional’ agency arena, that these collections of big name clients have come about through mergers and buyouts.
In short, size of clients is not a measure of quality of the work just that you can get away with billing them more.
John, Thank you for this post. I am glad to see I’m not the only one who feels this way :). Every once and I while I have to tell myself that impressing my clients and the local community will be 100 times more profitable and rewarding than being a world famous web designer.
Really good post and it’s something I often talk about with my colleagues. Of all the designers that are often mentioned (and I won’t mention names), when I look at most of their portfolios I’m hugely underwhelmed, yet these are the very same designers issuing all kinds of advice. I guess in their defence it’s not a self appointed list but in many respects I think this industry, or certainly the industry press bows to those who shout loudest rather than those with the most talent.
Great post John. And I completely agree with you. That said, the metric used for ‘top’ designers in the article was obviously, as you pointed out, best marketers. Likewise, your list of big earning agencies could be considered the 20 best salesmen. It all depends how you measure. My 0.02
Nice post. You’re definately correct in that the .Net list will always be a bit skewed as they’re bound to only know of the well known designers and those whose designs they like.
Whether it’s better to be a design celebrity or just work hard loving what you do will always be down to what you want to get from life and your career. Either way it’s always nice to be recognised by your peers for doing some good work. This is something I’d like to see more of for less known designers than what just seems to go round in the web design inner circle.
Brilliant to the point, Amen.
I definitely see where you are coming from in this article, no doubt. I just think that a few things need to be taken into consideration.
First off, you’re saying how none of these writers gain big clients, but in all reality, why should it matter? Sure, it may get our name out there. Sure it means more money. But then that makes me question, what are you doing web design for?
I design and develop because I love it, I partake in blogs and communities online because I love it. If you’re feeling tired and unrewarded for your work, maybe you should consider all the work you are doing.
I’m not completely fighting against you here because I do agree, to some extent, that these so-called “web-celebs” raise some questions.
It shouldn’t matter what you’re doing, whether it’s working for huge clients, making lots of money, or keeping independent. None of it should matter as long as you are doing what you love. As cliche as it sounds, it’s true, and you can’t argue that.
I love talking and reading about the web as much as I love working on it.
Hope you could get something out of this.
@Mitch – I appreciate your points and there’s certainly a time a place for that, but this isn’t it. This is a post about effectiveness of becoming well known within the web design industry and how/if it directly affects business income. This is a business blog, so the issue of attracting big clients is a fundamental principle of what I write about – unfortunately questions of “what does it matter as long, as long as you enjoy it” don’t do much to pay the bills.
You don’t have to like it, or agree with it, but that’s what it comes down to. This is a post about business, not about enjoying the work you do.
Hey John, some interesting points you’ve made here. I’d like to step in and contribute my opinion as a non-designer. Hope you don’t mind!
The companies you quoted as the top 5 digital media companies are of course large businesses – not individuals slogging it out on their own, such as yourself, Elliot Jay Stocks, Sam Brown etc (whether you’re offering work under your own name or a company name). No individual, regardless of how talented they are, can match that turnover. Companies as big as Nike will need a large agency to fulfill their needs, and just from looking at some of those Top 5 companies, I can see their services extend beyond just web design. So, for that reason, I think that’s a completely different league. Also, I’ve noticed designers aren’t ‘famous’ for their clients themselves, but more so the sites they produce for their clients.
I believe the reason designers take speaking gigs or writing jobs is to increase awareness of their own personal brand and services, but that’s an essential part of gaining business. More publicity = more clients = more moneh! As someone who has needed to hire a designer before, I’m thankful for that. As you may have noticed from Twitter, I’ve worked with Sam Brown on quite a few sites, and I wouldn’t have known where the hell to start when sourcing a designer if there weren’t so many well publicised individuals/small businesses. I could take to Google, but I don’t even want to go into detail regarding the atrocious sites ‘web designer glasgow’ returns. I don’t think there’s one ‘famous’ web designer who has a poor portfolio of work, so there’s a good reason these guys are so well known.
If that’s what you’re aiming to achieve, then I believe it’s as simple as filling up your portfolio with quality work, being active in the community via Twitter (for example), and just giving your rep time to gain momentum. Keep at it dude.
@Ashley – I just typed literally 3 full paragraphs in response to that and then wordpress decided to get all AJAX’y on me and deleted all of it! FML!
I’ll see if I can summarise the main points:
“More publicity = more clients = more moneh” doesn’t ring true, because they agencies which I listed don’t do that, and they have a whole lot more clients/money. I’m not saying that publicity isn’t beneficial, I myself landed a small design contract recently with a billion dollar video games company (which I know you personally will appreciate) because of a feature on smashing magazine. So yes, publicity does = moneh in some cases, but if it were true all the time, then shouldn’t the web celebs all have much bigger clients?
Yes, this is very much from an agency point of view. I run a limited company and employ staff, as do people like Paul Boag, Mark Boulton, Andy Budd, etc – so that’s the angle that’s most relevant to me/this blog. The revelation for me today was that the more publicity I do, the less time for actual design work I have. You’re right in saying that the points which I made aren’t applicable to people like Elliot Jay Stocks.
My main point was that the people who get the most publicity are NOT the people doing the most work in the web design industry.
@Mitch – Again, “In the business world, nobody can deny the fact that a job is much better if you’re actually doing what you enjoy.” – that’s not what this post is about at all.
@kiwus – “It’s not about the money” – I’m afraid that in business, that’s exactly what it’s about. If it doesn’t make money, it’s not a business, so it’s 100% about the money for the purpose of this article. I’d love to see some of these Russian websites, please feel free to post some links!
@keith – I’m a big fan of .Net Mag too, and in fairness to them – how could they have done it differently? The very premise of my article is that the best web designers in the world are unknown, so they couldn’t have written about them. I don’t think it was a bad piece, but perhaps a title of “The World’s Most Popular 20 Web Designers” would have been more fitting to the people who were featured.
I re-read my post and realized I forgot an important point which definitely does relate to the whole business aspect.
In the business world, nobody can deny the fact that a job is much better if you’re actually doing what you enjoy.
Of course income matters, and being able to support your lifestyle matters, but even if you are just getting by, you’re still getting by with something you love.
I would definitely say that when you present yourself to potential clients you can include, or at least mention, your contributions to the web community to them. These things definitely make a difference in a clients eyes, even if they cannot connect directly to the content that you publish, it definitely shows your dedication to the job.
Like I said, I completely understand that income matters, web design is a business. But even contributing to the community can enhance your impression on potential clients.
I’d say, in most cases, as a freelancer you’re living the “starving musician” lifestyle.
It’s not about the money – the thing is that the Russians are doing wonders in webdesign. The US/UK are just average. You can count with one hand how many times russian webdesign was mentioned DesignFloat, Web Blend, Design Newz etc.
Well put John – couldn’t agree more.
Great post.
I’m a fan of .Net magazine – but this article sounds pretty half-hearted. I could pretty easily name 20 of the best brand-name logo’s:
Coca-Cola, New Look, Lynx, Wii, Gucci, Comedy Central, Pepsi, EA, Adobe, Dell, Internet Explorer, Volkswagen, Extra, Homebase, Bailey’s, Pedigree, Brithish Airways, Manchester United, Panansonic and T.G.I Friday’s. I named them all within 2 or 3 minutes. Let’s grab their logo’s from Google Images, taking around 10 or 15 mins. Done.
Looks like someone just couldn’t be arsed that day :)
Great post and I suspect you’ll become one of those rockstars thanks to the traction this post is getting online. Well done and good luck my friend!
I guess the reason, say, Jason Santa Maria gets more publicity than, say, Reading Room is that he does more interesting things: The fact that Reading Room have a high turnover really isn’t that interesting. And at the risk of sounding like an old hippy, the fact they’re able to work with bigger clients doesn’t mean they’re “better“ designers (it doesn’t make them worse designers either, of course).
Someone mentioned Headscape above. I can vouch for the fact that Paul’s blog generates leads. They’re currently working with [redacted], which is about as corporate as you can get.
Arguments over IE6, CSS3 etc. may seem far removed from the reality of making websites, but the same thing may have been said about table-less design a few years back. Now it’s a given.
@Leon – Some really good points there which I totally support. My two main points were that 1.) Publicity doesn’t necessarily equate to business success (whether or not it’s interesting) and 2.) A lot of the people who get the most publicity, aren’t the people who are actually doing the bulk of the work. – So how much does it really matter if you get publicity or not? We give the ‘web celebs’ a lot of credit and respect, but the reality is that they aren’t the most successful people in the industry (no disrespect intended).
I completely agree. Whenever I see a list of the top 20 web designers I roll my eyes because it’s the same people on every list and it’s usually followed by their twitter url.
The goals sections speaks quite loudly. Why should we claw to the top(?) of the Web design scene? Impressing our clients and garnering more clients definitely should be our top priority, along with continuously developing stronger design skills.
Very well said John.
Sorry dude, I totally thought you were a sole designer under the Lyrical Media name, not running an agency and employing people. I guess I missed a lot during that ‘hiccup’ we experienced on Twitter =) Still, keep on growing your company and you’ll land those massive fish. From where I’m sitting, everyone I come across on the web appears to be a web designer, therefore the industry you’re in is MASSIVELY competitive. I give anyone doing a good job of succeeding, like yourself, major kudos.
@Ashley – That’s quite alright! :) It’s great hearing different opinions on the whole thing anyway, yourself, Leon, and Mark Boulton in particular have made some great points :)
What you said toward the beginning of this post really resonates. When people ask me if I’ve considered freelancing or building my own web business, I shudder – because I want to do web work, not be a marketer, sales manager, accountant, etc etc etc. And when you start out as a sole proprietor of any enterprise, you have to fill all those roles as well as doing what you actually love. As I said – shudder!
Thanks for a thought-provoking post.
John – you’re right, a lot of these people are either freelance or working for small companies (again, I don’t want to sound like a hippy, but perhaps there’s a reason for that?) I also think it’s a good thing that someone challenges their status, otherwise it becomes one huge back-slap.
Your post is very relevant to me because I’m in the process of helping my employer choose a developer for our new website. It’s interesting to see what someone who has no idea who Jason Santa Maria is values in a web design company.
Couldn’t agree with you more… thank you :D
I agree that the name of the article is definitely misleading. The names on that list are not the top 20 web designers.
The question I ask is, what is the end goal for those designers on that list? Is it to become the designer with the largest list of the biggest name clients? Or is it to help the design community by providing useful tools for the everyday designers? Sure we can question the list, but we can’t take away from the designers on that list and what they have done for the community. Have we not used a “tip” or “trick” from one of the designers on that list?
What is disappointing about the .NET magazine is that they don’t define what criteria they used to define this “top 20″ list.
You need to define what your goals are for your business, or for you personally. Like you noted, building a name in the design community doesn’t necessarily bring in big name clients, but is that the goal of these designers? If your goal is to get the big name clients and lots of them but you’re pissed your name isn’t on these lists, maybe you should stop paying attention to these lists, and go after clients.
Figure out what your business goals are, and what your personal goals are. As a freelancer, or “business owner”, it can be hard to separate personal and business. To me, being a big name in the design industry is a personal thing because your influencing other people in the community. Sure, it helps bring in some clients since your name is out there, BUT, the companies you mentioned aren’t influencing the community and they are getting the big name clients, because that’s their BUSINESS goal. Like I said, it’s hard to separate business and personal.
Loved the article and the thoughts its provoking. It’s always good to reflect on things.
@Leon – That is interesting! I’d love to hear more about that process and what your company DO value when they’re looking for a web design company :)
@Adam – Fantasticly worded and highly relevant points, I’ve added your comment to the main post :)
Great article! While I admire and appreciate those “Top Web Designers” for their enthusiasm towards the design community, the whole personal marketing and self-righteous attitude annoys me.
A particular group of designers I keep my eye on are at [removed - thanks for commenting, but please keep the promotional links for your own blog :) ]
John,
Excellent post and points throughout. I cannot help but have mixed feelings because I find myself straddling both sides of the coin. I am definitely NOT one of the best designers around. But I am do decent work, I provide professional, quality service and my clients tend to like what I do. That said, I have started using the social media channels of late (especially Twitter) and have seen undeniable increase in my client base directly from it. I wouldn’t say I’m a “rockstar” by any stretch of the imagination, but I have invested a significant amount of time in getting my name out there and it is paying off. So I just didn’t want to completely agree with your great post and just throw the baby out with the bathwater. I know for me it has become very important to generate a certain level of familiarity and publicity as best as I can, while still maintaining the humility of one that is not all that the hype may lead others to believe.
I don’t know if that makes sense. I just wanted to say thanks for some great insight and thoughts from one who sometimes wishes he made those rockstar lists but instead is very happy simply being able to make a living doing what I love.
@Brian – Thanks for stopping by, I’ve been following you on Twitter for some time :) I’m in the same boat as you, I have had some great success with twitter and a couple of features on Smashing Magazine to generate business. My main points were 1.) Publicity doesn’t necessarily equate to business success, and 2.) A lot of the people who get the most publicity, aren’t the people who are actually doing the bulk of the work.
In short – publicity can generate leads, but you don’t HAVE to become famous within our industry to be successful, because the most successful web design companies (financially) do almost no industry PR at all :)
The one thing that resonated with me here John was the part about questioning goals.
‘To become well known in the industry’ is a fairly abstract goal – famous for what? Plus fame does not always bring happiness and you seem to have realised this.
I believe that setting a goal and striving for it is the forward driving force BUT the goal has to be what you really want and achievable – no way could I become a famous mathematician lol.
Well said and on point, John.
There is a big difference between the people in the article and the ones you mentioned having the top income aside from the obvious. The so-called “top 20″ are the ones focusing on their community and building themselves socially to try and bring in business, or are just plain being attention whores.
The names on the top dollar list are building themselves through work and proof of skills in their trade, and have a monetary value to back it up.
So, the question is, who defines what the top really is? Is it being known around the internet and having a handful of small clients or is it having a large income and large client list?
To build on what Mark Boulton wrote: I agree with you, I’m not big on lists either. But the people on this list are all hard workers. Creative pursuits and inspiration are highly personal, and more importantly, highly subjective. What’s useful or inspirational to you, might not be to someone else.
I actually try to avoid working for large companies. Those places can afford to hire big design companies and the process usually involves so many stakeholders that it stops being interesting to me. I prefer to work with companies who are doing interesting things and sometimes wouldn’t normally be able to spring for a good designer.
I never got into design to get added to lists like this. I’m in it for the same reasons now as when I started, because I like to make things. I don’t care about money (past enough to keep a roof and equipment). I’m a one man shop, I handle and design everything that comes my way. It’s not all great, but that’s actually not the biggest goal either.
I strive for giving a client something that’s appropriate for them. Sometimes that results in a good piece, something that might inspire others too, and sometimes it doesn’t work out so well. But I show my work and write about design and talk about design because these things inspire me. They cause me to reflect and get a better understanding of what it is I do. Plus, like any creative community, it’s cyclical. The experience and insight I have now might be useful to someone just starting out, just as someone who’s 10 years older than me will be able to give me insight on things.
@Jason Santa Maria – Thanks so much for stopping by and providing your own insights, I think that the personal goals and reasons for working with specific types of companies that you mentioned are highly relevant to this discussion, and admittedly not something I had given due attention to whilst writing the post! Thanks for shining some light on it from your point of view :)
John, interesting article but I don’t agree that client lists and profits are proof of greatness either. WebHeads does have an impressive client list but I can immediately tell from their homepage that they’re not very good designers.
That said, I know a lot of amazing designers that aren’t known and there are some famous designers that stink, some of them though are really good like Mark Boulton.
*Side Note: I wish you had threaded comments like you do on lyrical*
I wanted to comment on this “In short – publicity can generate leads, but you don’t HAVE to become famous within our industry to be successful, because the most successful web design companies (financially) do almost no industry PR at all :)”
I agree with that 100% because not one of my clients has come from Twitter or other social media sources nor have I been featured in SM or anything of the sort. But I do find it very helpful to try to keep up with everything that goes on within the industry.
Not saying you have anything against it just adding my two cents.
Thank you so much for this post. I was disgusted when I read the top 20 since I think almost all of them are purely shout versus substance and their design skills are mainly pitiful.
I run http://siteinspire.net which aims to showcase the very best web design right now, and which is a lot different to any other web design galleries out there, and I was almost pleased to see that almost none of the websites that these “top designers” are responsible for are present there.
There is no doubt that you can possibly limit the worlds best web designers into a top 20. Screw the lists and the hype. I say spend more time on your work and it will speak for itself. The clients will come. Along with the publications and speaking events.
It is becoming too rare that I read well written and researched posts like this. Bravo, sir. Well done and right on the money.
I have been looking at things differently lately, and this post brings a little more clarity. Being known and being good are not necessarily fruit of the same tree.
Although being good is somewhat of a requisite for being known, the bar isn’t as high as it once was.
You know I just flipped through that article a few hours ago and found myself thinking: “Top 20 web designers, huh? On what metric are they measuring the level of… um, topness? Can’t be income, many of them are one man bands. Can’t be size of clients, I follow a lot of their blogs and their main client base consists of small businesses and startups. It must be based purely on celebrity status. 20 “top” web designers. What a crock!”
Then I read this article. Glad I’m not the only one who thinks this.
Great point my friend. I’ve thought the same thing for the past few months. If you are a good designer your work will speak for itself and if you do good work, the work will continue to come. As for your example with Nike and Adidas, that is actually a great technique to confront competitors that we use. Makes sense and why wouldn’t you want what Mr. Jones has across the street. Bigger TV, Bigger Garage, new car etc.
Well done John…Well done.
Brad
This post was extremely thought provoking and did show another facet to the world of web design. When I think of top designers, I think of people who are able to make original, distinctive and creative websites. The designers who I have the most respect for are the ones who can code as well. They seem to find the right balance of form and function. I feel that the “best designers” are the ones who can do it all.
I totally agree about networking yourself and how publicity can be time consuming. Being a student, I am always on Twitter and Delicious, bookmarking and saving links that I may need to use someday. When I think of all the time I’ve taken to keep all this information and the probability that there is no way I’ll ever use all of them, I sometimes wonder what would happen if I cut back. Still, there’s a part of me who feels that there is so much valuable information out there, you can never have to much.
I guess the best thing is to know your limits and find a way to find the happy medium when it comes to balancing publicity and creative work. I don’t think there’s one right way to determine what makes the best designer. Any acclaim a designer receives is a bonus to most. It’s never the designated titles that are given to a designer by people in the that will be remembered as much as the websites they created that makes them special.
It’s not only a fascinating article rather it opens eyes of many young and upcoming web developers. Thanks a lot for such a post :)
Wow – brilliantly written article, John. I couldn’t agree with you more… and from the looks of the other commenters, we are not alone in this thought. Thanks for taking the time to share!
Hey John,
Interesting points. I do agree with you, I say its all about your work and how you go with it vs. trying to be a web celeb and being famous.
I can use myself as an example. I have just started freelancing, for about the last 4/5 months I guess. I don’t even have my own portfolio site up yet, how crap is that? BUT, it doesn’t mean I want to go mad and launch it so I can get kudos from every web community. I’ve had 3 successful and very happy clients so far and they didn’t pick me on my web reputation, simply because I don’t have one as yet. I post thoughts and links on Twitter but that’s about it. I got those leads through previous clients and word of mouth.
I think to sum up, you don’t have to be a web hero to be a great designer or studio/agency. I wouldn’t focus too much of your efforts on getting noticed, it will come naturally through your work.
Great post as always John.
Keep up the sweet work!
Hi John,
I don’t pay much attention to such lists either, and agree with how Mark Boulton and Jason Santa Maria side on the topic. Personal goals may lead a designer to working with many smaller companies, rather than big hitters like Mercedes or Intel.
I’m sole proprietor of my one-man business, and have worked on brand identity projects for organisations such as Yellow Pages. Do I prefer that work over a small independent start-up? Not necessarily.
Good discussion.
excellent article!! re-tweeting..
I’m not sure if I’m the first to mention to this as I’m a bit late to the discussion and I’m not reading ALL of the comments, there’s an essay right there. :P
But since when did either fame, infamy or big clients make you a “good” web designer, or in my case developer? It should really be judged by skill, and results.
But then again I guess skill is difficult to measure, as both good design and development is subjective.
Still, nice article. :)
Hi John a great article.
Having recently started to use social media to get involved with the design industry I have questioned the merits and at the end of the day I think it depends what you want to get back.
As has been mentioned by numerous people here, the biggest clients don’t always equal the best and I think the .net article is misleading as there are no doubt plenty of great designers who pass under the radar. I guess it just depends on their criteria.
Still there are questions as to whether blogging etc is worth it and it seems from a freelance point of view it would be (I remember mention by Chris Spooner of an increase in clients who come through his blog). Agency work for large clients is different though and well I guess it just depends where you want to go.
I’d like to think there are some people out there who just let their work do talking? Anyone know of any or do we always read showcases of sites from those who blog and tweet about everything?
Thought I would chip in here with a quote I published on my Posterous blog:
“Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, the post of honor is a private station.”
[Joseph Addison English essayist, poet, & politician (1672 - 1719)]
Personally speaking I don´t need to be acknowledged as a “Rockstar” it is enough for me to remain “obscure” and be able to do my own thing…
Congratulations John, this post has definitely made you a full fledged designer celebrity.
I think you are dealing with a David and Goliath story here realistically the “big” studios are mostly ad agnecies, they were around well before the internet and continued their market dominance.
The whole idea of the independent web designer with the small creative studio is relatively speaking fairly new, The chance to land that first big client may not have come yet. The whole idea of the design blog is for self promotion. Although through blog promotion as you point out we are reaching each other but ultimately it might not matter to the big client.
Finally I don’t see that bigger is necessarily better. I have seen a few larger (No Nike or GM or Fortune 500) but large enough clients with big budgets move away from large agencies because the service and product are sometimes better from the small studios. With most large agencies having their history in advertising and not web means they may just not be the best choice for web products. Sometimes a specific focused small agency does the best work, because they are a web studio and not an ad agency.
Great post. This is not only an issue with magazines like this, but it is also becoming more common in the blogging world.
People are posting articles called “The web’s best designers interview” etc etc….when some of the people included in the interview have a weak portfolio…these people are only known by some in the online design community, this doesn’t make them the best designers. In fact, I think most of the world’s most talented designers are probably not known by the masses at all, or even on Twitter etc..
You can have a somewhat popular blog but that doesn’t make you a good designer at all. It makes you a good blogger.
Great post mate
“Web Designer” is a job title taken on by many people that can specialize in completely different fields of expertise. That’s a no-brainer, obvious in terms of coding language, programs, even styles– everyone knows that. However, I think the personality and ‘political’ aspects of being a “web designer” are dynamics often overlooked. If I understand correctly, you’re wishing to articulate some of these differences, many of which boil down to simple preference and personality traits. Maybe that’s why some people are confusedly caught up on how loving your job is the most important thing–even though this article is not relevant to that sort of discussion. It’s dangerous to assume that everyone would love their job THAT much more if they were constantly receiving a higher amount of public attention.
That’s simply not true. There are always going to be people (freelancers, businesses, celebrities of all origins, high school students come to mind) that strive for popularity and the general public’s affection above ALL else. Nothing is wrong with that, but it’s not the true holy grail of success for all of us. Obviously this is the case for many web designers, but I personally wouldn’t thrive in that kind of environment. I would much rather earn money by playing in Photoshop, code xhtml/css and chill with my 30-some Twitter followers than entertain thousands of people in any medium. I’m simply not that type of person, for better or for worse, and I’m not alone.
Granted, blogging is a large part of establishing your own expertise, especially in a web-based field. Huge no-brainer, of course, and I have no plans to skip out on this step. Everyone has to start somewhere–but what is your goal? “Celebrity” web designers have worked very hard for their status, and that’s certainly something to respect very highly. They’ve taken time away from actually designing and developing to speak about both of these, and they’ve played ‘politics’ to retain their titles and social stature. Nothing is wrong with that, people like that are simply prioritizing their time and utilizing a different skills set. Obviously, that group has done that well.
You just need to ask yourself when will you feel most satisfied with your professional life. That’s the real question here, and I think we’d surprise ourselves with how different so many of our answers truly are. Will it be when you see your name on one of these lists, when the retiring business owner passes his title to you, or when you can afford to only work 6 months of the year? Not everyone aspires for the same dream, and not everyone thrives in the public spotlight. Not even close.
As individuals, freelancers and business owners, it’s extremely important to fully understand ourselves and our intentions. I realize I’ve gone slightly off topic as well, hope you don’t mind John. :) I think the web design community needs a personality test.. ha!
If you want some help with the administration portion of your business, that’s what I’d like to get more experience with, so I’d be willing to help out as much as I can.
I think I can speak into this rather well.
Recently my company was nominated by .Net magazine as one of 20 design agencies of the year. And I honestly can’t tell you why we made the list. Now I love what we do and our work. I feel like our portfolio is strong now, and our clients are starting to get more and more well known. So I can see growth in our future.. and we’re working it on the social scene.. particularly since we’re gearing our work to the entertainment business.
But I look at some of the other companies on the list.. 2advanced, FI, bigspaceship and I wonder how we possibly got here. Our work is mainly small projects with low budgets and that’s hard for me to compare to the work of these other companies. And with our size we couldn’t handle the projects these other firms are taking in anyhow. Plus we do 100% flash sites.. which I know makes most of you reading this cringe (for the record they’re perfectly SEO and iPhone compatible) Our chances of being a finalist seem quite small, but I feel somewhat accomplished for making the list at all.
I find success, or potential for success, quite a mystery and it’s keeping my head spinning. We are constantly trying to keep up with ourselves.. each month we have way too much work or not nearly enough.. we never seem to have time to develop our internal systems.. can’t find time or budget to invest.. ugh.. and yet things seem to be pretty good. I’m no longer worried about getting a day job at Starbucks.
Otterball was pretty dormant for over a year but in May of last year we started doing it full time.. halfway expecting it to fail.. but we started off with three things in mind that we’ve kept along the way that I can attribute to where we are now.
1. Understand that our company is only as good as our clients.
2. Start a job by setting the client’s expectations to the worst case scenario then exceed them in the end (rather than promising up front and meeting expectations or less)
3. Understand that we are not a good fit for everyone and always be ready to walk away from a job (preferably referring them to a better solution).
When we set these goals initially it seemed like a pipe dream.. previously we’d take all sorts of jobs in order to pay the bills.. and we’d bend over backwards to make the client happy so they’d tell their friends. Somehow we managed to reverse this trend (we think by following our goals) and clients seems to feel privileged to work with us. Previous to having bigger names in our portfolio, we had big name clients approaching us much like you described with Nike. We would not allow them to walk all over us and we were ready to walk away.. and that led to more of the same jobs. We get new business through referral, portfolio visibility through clients sites, and by having a good product (we think anyhow).
I don’t know if we would be considered popular or successful.. we sure hope to be both of those one day.. (I wouldn’t mind being on some panel at SXSW, although I don’t know yet what I’d have to talk about) We also hope that or contempraries (you guys) like our design work. We do. But either way .Net Magazine has give us a shot at being “the design agency of the year.” Whatever that means I’ll take the opportunity.
In any case, if you like our work, or if you want to vote for “David” amongst the goliaths, we’re listed under #8 on http://www.thenetawards.com We could really use and would appreciate your vote.
There are a few things that I don’t see being directly addressed in the comments:
1) Type of Work: I believe that the *type* of work that you do or speak about lends itself to becoming known. That’s why you see things like design portfolios and cool web or iPhone app sites talked about in industry design blogs, or in “best design” type lists. What you won’t see on these is a site for a local bank or an enterprise app. The reason is because the main purpose of those type of sites or apps are not design aesthetics or to market some “cool” product (like doing work for Apple or Nike would allow). There are many great designers that creating fantastic work everyday, but it’s for the type of product or company that doesn’t get anyone talking. It is still very important though.
Take for example the case of Twitter. You have the designer of that become known because Twitter itself became so huge. So by default that designer is well known and at a “rockstar” status. I am not making a call that he isn’t talented, but just making a point. If the great (unknown) designer that did your local bank site happens to do the next Twitter, you can be sure you’ll know their name.
2) Ego Factor: Jason and Mark said by talking/writing about what they love the rest of this “celeb status” sort of came with it. I think everyone has to be honest with themselves, ego has *something* to do with it (even if it’s only a small part of it). It might not be the main drive, but who doesn’t like some attention for their work? Design is by nature somewhat ego driven. You don’t see many plumbers saying, “Look at me and what I did” on a portfolio site. Ego is a factor in how social networks have taken off. You have a Facebook page all about YOU. On Twitter people follow and listen to YOU. If no one cared about the attention they wouldn’t list all the social networks you should follow them on. In addition it takes a lot of work to stand out. Spending time writing, speaking, creating community sites or blogs. If it really was just about doing good work, then why try so hard to put yourself out there?
There are many other ways to become involved in the community or do good work. You can start local organizations, teach at the local design institute, and so on. You choose to get out there online and get some of the attention. I do believe it is hard work though. Not everyone has the discipline or let alone the time to do this. Striking that work/life balance is tough.
Great post and some really good discussion. Thanks for bringing up something so many people were thinking, but not talking about.
John, you seem to have a real knack for writing about stuff that matters to me! Maybe because I (and a few others judging by the comment stack here) am in a similar situation to yourself.
What you’ve written here is spot on, and dovetails beautifully with another piece I read last week about why your business shouldn’t hire rock stars.
As others have said here, it’s how you want to move forward that matters. If you want to be a well-known celebrity in the industry, the rockstar/ninja route of self-promotion/branding is the one to go down. If you just want to quietly run your own business that makes money under the radar, a giant ego isn’t necessary.
There’s nothing wrong with either approach. It’s all down to personal preference – where you want to take your business, and what you’re comfortable with.
http://www.webheads.co.uk/clients/index.html#
why the mercedez benz logo appears twice in the clients page?
Great article… Thanks.
I think, that really makes sense. Actually, when I saw that .Net Mag’s cover with “The World’s Top 20 Web Designers”, that was exactly my reaction, in fact, i also thought that using the word “World” was too exaggerated.
All those who make too much noise and like you said, they know and understand html5 and css3, and spending more time talking about them rather than really using it doesn’t really mean that they are top designers. You need experience to be expert and sometimes things are kind of different theoretically and practically.
In fact, top designers doesn’t have that much of time to make themselves seen on every social media sites, they have “real” work to do and it is there work that speaks for itself, they don’t need to promote themselves so desperately.
I don’t mean to say that those listed ain’t good designers, they might be, but defining who is what in a list of Top 20 Worlds(!) Web Designers is a lil too overboard.
Exposure doesn’t make you good, it’s being a good designer that (possibly could) get you exposed. Outside our little favorite blogs/twitter world, who have heard of those “great” designers? Do they get contracts from big companies?
I haven’t seen the list so I will not judge those specific people, and please don’t take this as an angry/jealous comment, but I’m probably not the only one to think that some of those other twitter-famous designers that we look up to are actually not that great…
AHHH. RIGHT ON.
I really wish I had the time to truly leave a great comment, but I got some trash to take care. Anyway, THANK YOU! I have been wondering the same thing.
Yep, just making noise all day and night to “get there name out”
thanks
Excellent Article. They are 20 most famous web designers, not the 20 best!
Ace article, This is defiantly a hot topic in our office, and judging by the comments there are a lot of other out there with the similar views.
The pursuit of fame is silly in any profession. Sure, you’ve got to self-promote but articles like the one reference aren’t doing anyone any good. Aren’t we fame-obsessed enough?
Do what you love and the money and clients will follow.
Great Post.
As a two man web development team, I am busy 24/7. I don’t understand how these other design rockstars can get away with the amount of blogging, twittering and updating, they do.
If I was spending that much time on myself, I wouldn’t get any work done for my clients.
Your description at the top of your article of all the backed-up and bottle-necked chores that need to be done reminded me of this remark I heard made by some comedian 20-30 years ago:
“The 2 most highly-over-rated things in life are: (1) Pregnancy; (2) Owning your own business.”
:-/
I feel your pain.
I don’t know the answer.
You have my sympathies.
you got your point and i seconded you.
when we say TOP, they should have a benchmark on how do they define TOP. TOP means that there are people ranking from 1st to 10th or more.
if we say FAMOUS, then it sounds more appropriate, because this does not rank them into who is better than the other, but on a list of a particular topic : they are famous and not ranked.
Absolutely agree with you, or you spend your time working, or you spend hours to twitter followers and so on. There is a big difference between using the social web for self marketing or try to be a rock star out there. ohh vanity my favorite sin, Satan said.
There is probably a reason why you hadn’t heard of any of those agencies…because they aren’t producing the best design work around. Just as fame doesn’t make someone a “top” designer, big-name clients don’t make designers at agencies “top” designers.
Having worked at one of the agencies you mentioned I can tell you that the designers there aren’t even in the same league as the most modestly famous freelance designer.
Your point might make more sense if you were talking about developers and the cewebrities making money selling books and conferences on HTML, CSS, and any other latest “much know” technology or draft spec.
Well said, and I couldn’t agree more. While a lot of those names I recognize and have followed, I just had trouble believing that these were the absolute top 20 in the world. I just think of great, interactive design sites such as Hulu and Nike and the people behind those. We never hear about them, now do we?
As a freelance web designer, I always questioned the point of raising my profile among fellow web designers. I’m much more interested in raising my profile among my target customers – small business owners. I work to position myself as a web design and online marketing expert and communicate that to less web-savvy folks who may purchase services from me. I’m far less interested in being listed in a “top 20″ list in a magazine or popular web design blog.
@Brian: I guess it depends on exactly what business you’re hoping to get. For example, it makes sense for me as a web developer, to try to raise my profile amongst web designers.
For me, I want web designers to know there’s a friendly, knowledgeable, web developer willing and able to help with the more technical aspects of a project if they need me :)
If I was ever to be featured in a top 20 list somewhere that other web professionals saw it, it’d be to my advantage. Perhaps that’s part of the reason these guys try to raise their profiles?
@Brian @Japh: Besides, would you rather work with clients or peers. Maybe it’s a developer perspective, but like Japh I’d rather work with my peers. And any kind of publicity is good. :)
@Brian: Nice site btw, subscribed!
A couple of people on the list are actually good designers like veerle. They didn’t really ask for all this attention but worked hard for it, but I always don’t understand why that guy named SNOOCKA seems to be everywhere. Look at his website! It sucks big time!
Interesting points and well said. I’ve always thought about this because many of the web designers that make that list, you check their work and it fails to wow or amaze me. But in the web industry being a good designer is not measured by only your designs but by your the level of expertise. The ones who talk a lot are the ones with opinions and good ones so being the best doesn’t mean just being a good designer.
I agree that .NET magazine should list the criteria for what makes these designers the ‘best’. Now to me, it just shows that .NET is full of shit because personally there’s no such thing as the best, especially in this creative field. There’s good and there’s better but never best because best implies that there’s no other who can do a better job and that’s just plain non-sense unless they’ve surveyed the entire planet.
Design is also very subjective so what I think is crap another would think is great design. In addition to that some people look at just the visual aspect but there’s other aspects to consider before a design is good. So truth is the list is .NET’s opinion. If you think highly of it – great. If you don’t, fine.
I wouldn’t take anything from the designers because that’s them doing what they have to in order to gain recognition – something we all want. So I would congrats them, move on and hope that when and if I make the list it’s not questionable like this.
“The Top 20 Designers” is no different from the FHM list of “The 100 Most Beautiful Women”. Both lists are nothing to do with relevance or objectivity, but in fact how well these people promote themselves. As you rightly point out Jon, it’s just a question of marketing.
I see many beautiful women walking around London all the time who are far more attractive than the so called “Top 100 most beautiful women.” Why don’t they make the Top 100 list? Because it’s simply not important in their lives and thus they aren’t on the “celebrity” radar. Anyone with half a brain knows that lack of celebrity status does not equal lack of worth.
I’m completely unknown as a web designer and this isn’t because I’m no good; it’s because I don’t have a big mouth. I’m self effacing with an introverted personality (and no, that doesn’t mean I’m shy.) I get plenty of work, mainly through referrals and it’s enjoyable and rewarding. I’m an OK web designer, I’ve worked hard to learn my trade, and I try and do good work for good clients.
But at the end of the day, it’s still just a job. It’s not a life-consuming passion and I don’t want it to be. I simply want to earn a reasonable amount of money doing something that’s enjoyable and that gives me time and money to do the things I want to do outside of work. Some “web celebrities” bang on about how they are passionate about the web and their work is their life, and that’s fine, but for me personally it’s just not such a huge passion. I enjoy what I do, but it doesn’t define who I am. I’m not in it for the money, and definitely not the fame!
People who actively look to become famous, by any means, usually have some need for attention. While I don’t wish to make this a pop-psychology response, it’s important to recognise that this is the main driver for some people. It’s not about being famous for doing something, it’s just about the fame itself. Fame is an empty objective and if that’s the only thing driving you, you’ll end up a pretty sad person with a hollow life. Becoming famous for doing the work you love, in any field, is clearly going to be far more rewarding.
It always comes back to the same thing for me: Do good work, maintain standards, deliver on your promises, continually better yourself and simply stop caring about what anyone else is doing. You’ll be far happier in the long run.
REFRESHING outlook!! I completely agree. If I’m happy with my work and my clients are happy that’s all that matters. It’s easy to get caught up in the game of comparison and it only leads to a dead end of frustration. There are probably 10 million designers who may be better than me, but there is only one me! Thank you for a sensible and encouraging post.
the whole text on your site is very hard to read in ffx 3.5, John
Hi Toonfish, I’m afraid it must be a problem with your computer – as the majority of this site’s visitors use FF3.5 (including myself) and no one has ever had any problems.
John this was a good post to ponder on. I do agree with some of them not being the “best” web designers. Using some of their tips in the past, guess me a certain appreciation for them. Self branding will not just leave a scar, but will get you some of those top clients in the future.
I completely agree with you – “top 20″ based on what?? A lot of designers focus their marketing efforts to other designers, which while boosting their popularity in the community, does nothing for their bank account. How many designers have blogs that talk about css issues, or have web tutorials? That won’t get them business. “Top 20″ should only consider those who are advancing the medium and have the client list to prove their worth.
Good post John,
I think there a lot of more talented designers out there, working under the radar agency side or client side who work their absolute socks off only to have no appreciation. How many times have you heard of a (team of) web designer(s) get all the credit for a high profile campaign or website…hardly never, its always the project manager, Art Director or CEO, never the designer(s).
I think some of the most talented designers are graphic designers transitioning to the web. Take a look at the publication Computer Arts. Absolutely amazing individuals with so much skill and knowledge to share. I subscribe to this magazine and I’ve never heard of any of them every month.
The article “The Top 20 web Designers” in .Net is pretty predictable to be honest. They are all people who are “Internet famous” and its just getting their name out there as household “internet glitterati”. You can’t knock their efforts to make a name of themselves out there but how is anyone suppose to break into this elite crowd to be noticed? I think its a closed knit circle there. I have no chance of breaking into that elite.
As web designers, we never have complete freedom to design, there are always boundaries and style guides to adhere to. Its how you interpret and overcome design challenges I think makes you great. Besides its always a team that works on a design and quite rare that its one singular person.
An analogy: The famous web designers are the Gordan Ramseys of the internet world where as some of us in the community are more like Marco Pierre White. Both exceptional but one doesn’t make a song and dance about it.
I looked WebHeads portfolio. NONE of their web work make me say WOOOOW. Less than half of all references looks fairly average. Most of their web work is something I would rather not put in my own portfolio, speaking of design.
So generally I would say these people from WebHeads are not even close to the subject of this post. I really wonder what type of service they really did for big clients from their list.
I definitely agree that the world’s best web designers are unknown.
To be fair, I couldn’t agree more with Sanjin’s comments regarding WebHeads. I am distinctly underwhelmed by their portfolio. The site they did for Intel is a prime example – lovely looking Flash intro but, my God, how bad is the styling of the content section? Made me feel sick!
Good Article. I think a lot of web designers are fine without having to have a profile among the community. My prioirty would always be in developing clients rather than fans.
Fans are a nice to have, Clients are essential. – How many people who want a web site built read web design mags?
Great post.
If I see 2Advanced get another “award”, I’m going to scream. Their website is a geek’s wet dream. Impressive? Definitely! Could I use it for more than 2 minutes without wanting to kill something small, cute and furry? No!!!
I totaly sympathize with you! :-)