We’ve all heard the saying “you don’t get a second chance at a first impression”. When it comes to your design business and landing a deal, nothing could be more true. A great first impression is the first step to securing a client and forming an ongoing business relationship.

One of a designer’s main keys to developing a great first impression is trust. No matter what the circumstances of the first impression, if the person cannot trust you, they won’t want to move forward in a designer-client relationship.

For a designer, first impressions can come in several different ways. Most of our first impressions are visual: a website, advertisement or personal meeting. After an initial visual impression, phone calls and emails may follow which can also leave an impression. This article will discuss practical ways to impress your clients over and over again.

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All designers have had that client where you wonder to yourself, after being knee deep in the project, “why did I take this client?”

Knowing how to spot potentially difficult clients comes with experience. The longer you’re in this business the more you’ll run into them and the easier you’ll be able to spot them.
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Single Image Background

How is the best way to apply a single image as a background using CSS?

You can apply a single image background to any tag that is capable, such as divs, tables, etc using CSS. This example will show how to apply a single image background to the entire page. The best way apply the background is to use the body tag, making the body or background the first “layer” in your design.

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1. Overload The Site (ads, images, clutter, etc.)

Having too many images and ads on a page will make the site unattractive and distracting.

You don’t have to fill every space, having an image or two makes a better and cleaner impression. For example, reading a magazine article is easier when you don’t have a picture or ad every two paragraphs. You should have white space between text, photos or navigation.

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1. Be Creative and Original

When designing a website, you want it to stand out not look like everything else. Look up the competition and see how your site can differ, in a positive way. Being creative however doesn’t mean re-inventing the wheel.

2. Use style sheets

Style sheets ensure that the pages will look the same. Apart from keeping the same look across the site, it is easier to avoid syntax mistakes. Using external style sheets is better than using inline styles or embedded styles. External style sheets will save time because you only have to create a style one time. (more…)