Web Design is Multimedia
by July 14th, 2008 Patrick GreerMore thoughts today on our name and what we do and trying to change the perception of what we do. It’s 2008 and maybe when you read this article it will be 2009, 2010 and so on but not matter what year it is from here on out their is no denying the fact that web design is more than laying out some graphics and text on a page the people can access via a web browser. The modern web experience consists not only of pages with hyperlinked text but also audio, video, animation, photography and print ready document files and how those are presented in such a way the user can access the information and obtain the products or services they need.
The concept is even more critical during challenging economic times. If you can give a product demonstration, testimonials and quality service via interactive media then you are giving potential clients a valuable service. You are helping people save gas and time.
In some respects I almost wish the term “web designer” would go away because it’s so generic and so misunderstood. Allow me if you will to coin a term if it hasn’t really taken hold in the general public, New Media Developer. In fact I plan on telling people that’s what I am when they ask me what I do. New Media of course refers to communication technologies that enable or facilitate user-to-user interactivity and interactivity between user and information.
I hate to almost tell people I’m a “web designer” because that puts up a mental wall and I have to go out of my way to explain I’m also a photographer, videographer, writer (mainly for business blogging) and graphic designer. Some of this works goes beyond what we traditionally call the “web”. With the advent of mobile devices like iPods, iPhones, Blackberry’s etc. more and more people are downloading can carrying media in their pockets to be listened to or read even when one is not connected to the Internet.
Surprisingly you may thing the work load of a New Media Developer may be a lot more than just what you think a “web designer” would do but in reality most web designers have for all practical purposes been new media developers all along. It’s a technology and discipline of convergence. We chose the name, SpinningSilk Multimedia for a reason and are working on an initiative to make our overall “new media” work more obvious. Do you think “web design” is a term that confuses more than helps? What do you think would help the term “new media” take hold better?
July 14th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Multimedia is a general term. It includes everything, from web designing, graphics designing, web developing and so on..
July 15th, 2008 at 3:43 am
“web design is more than laying out some graphics and text on a page the people can access via a web browser”
very true! theres so are so many aspects to web design that people dont realise. Compatibility, SEO etc etc
July 15th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Yes, it is a general term but that is part of my point. It is one job where you pretty much have to be a “jack of all trades”. Yes, in an ideal word you will have programmers, graphic designers, photographers, etc. each working on a particular discipline but when it comes down to the person who puts it all together that person needs to at least have an understanding of the different kinds of media and how they work together. I actually lost the opportunity to work on logo project because someone I knew didn’t think I did that sort of thing. They were under the assumption all I did was “programming.”
My point was that even though I offer services outside of web design it is itself a “multimedia” discipline.