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eNewsletter March 2004 - www.paperstreet.com
PaperStreet Web Design is pleased to bring you its newsletter
for the legal professionals.
PaperStreet
Newsletter: So You Want To Be A Web Designer?
What should I put in my portfolio?
Web
Sites. Duh! You need to have actual work. If you
haven't been hired by any clients on a freelance,
internship or actual job basis, then you need
to create fake sites to show off your talent.
OK. I have a bad ass portfolio. Where
should I put it?
Online.
Buy a domain name get a cheap hosting account
and put everything you do online. In terms of
costs, this will be one of your best investments.
For only $50-$75 per year you can have your own
domain name, email and web site. Not only will
it look professional, but it will also be good
experience in setting up a web site.
How
should I structure my portfolio?
In
terms of your web site, just make it your best
work and put all of your other work in various
categories (web design, print, logos, etc.). Try
to organize items so that your potential employer
or client does not have to search for your work.
Basically do not get too wacky with the design.
Make sure you put in your contact information
somewhere on the site - preferably on each page.
If
you really want to get wild, make your web site
your own freelance company and you could easily
pick up some extra client work and show off your
business/design talent. To do this, simply add
in various pages that are needed to sell your
services, such as an about us page, client list,
services, and any other pages you can think of.
How
much time should I waste on creating my portfolio?
You need to spend as much time as needed to make
your portfolio sharp. Create as many sites as
possible. You should have various themes (i.e.
tech, friendly, corporate, creative, and using
all different color palettes). If you only have
2-3 web sites, then they better be good.
What format should I make my sites or
concepts?
Fully functional web sites are best. However,
its bad if you link to a client that suddenly
went out of business or changed their site - so
save a snapshot of the page as well. If you don't
have fully functional web sites, then at least
have a fully functional home page with null links.
If you don't have any of that, then a full JPG
version of the concept is fine, but no thumbnails.
Can
I show off my print skills?
A print portfolio helps. If you have design talent,
then that can be applied to any medium.
What
skills do I need to pay the bills?
HTML, PhotoShop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and FTP
knowledge are a must. Flash is needed too.
If
you know how to program in ASP, JSP, PHP, CFM
or any other scripting language that is great.
If you know how to make a database driven web
site using a MySQL-PHP configuration, ASP-MS SQL,
CFM-MSSQL, or any other configuration then great.
In
general though you need to know a little bit about
everything and become a master in one area. That
will allow you to get a job in either graphic
design, search engine optimization, internet marketing,
database programming, general web design, content,
usability, layouts, etc. However, if you know
a little bit about everything it helps because
you understand how all of the technologies fit
together to produce a web site.
Feel free to contact
Peter T. Boyd, Esq. at PaperStreet
Web Design, or 954.523.2181. | 
