Exciting Digital Marketing Prospects

Web design has been a part of our career since the 1990’s; graphic design, since before time began. We were some of the first pioneers in our field and to this date have continued to thrive through the cycles and trends in the design world. We frequently engage in conversations about what’s next on the horizon and are in awe about the speed of digital change happening now. StraightFire embraces the web design and digital marketing culture and we are excited about how we can help companies apply the newest technologies.
 
I am the proud black sheep at StraightFire with my graphic design degree and background. My home is that far away planet of print and I have to honestly say I sometimes find website design creatively restrictive and a bit ‘young’. Compared to print, web design is a baby toddler, with only about two decades under it’s belt. Communication through print has been around for centuries and has years of rich and interesting history. As a print designer, I could place objects, colors, and fonts freely and was not limited to thinking about how a design will work or display in HTML, CSS, or a mobile phone.
 
I long for the day when web design becomes as free as print design.
 
Over the past decade, I have watched well-established printers forced to merge with others or shut their doors permanently. Publishing companies have reduced print runs significantly and have gone online. Printed pages have now become web pages. But those web pages have drastically lost the creativity and freedom of print design, especially with all the bootstrap templates.
 
As a designer, I am excited to see what’s in store for web design as I want to use all the print ideas I have stored up, and the deep training I have collected over the years.
 
I want to design websites with print layouts.
 
Is Web Design Dead?
It’s very accurate that people can now turn to a low or no-cost template solution instead of hiring a website designer. In the short run, this is a cost-effective solution for many smaller start-ups.
 
However, at StraightFire we encounter many start-ups who are unhappy with the fact that their template website isn’t designed for making conversions. It looks gorgeous but “doesn’t work.” Now they are faced with having us modify it, or starting over with a custom website. Either way, they are looking at more dollars that would have been better spent doing it right the first time.
 
We encounter template modifications because many templates remain a mystery until they are purchased and built. In most cases, templates are beautiful, but they don’t fit every need a client has. As designers, we can add e-commerce, social media, videos, convert to WordPress and other customized features that aren’t usually included in original templates.
 
There is also still a demand for more complex websites to be custom built and beautifully designed. For larger companies that understand the importance of solid SEO built into their site, and a design that converts, there is still no accurate substitute for custom design. Do consumers purchase more from a website that looks like everyone else? What kind of creativity and evolution of web design is that?
 
Perhaps our time has come.
 
A Revolutionary Breakthrough
I’m beginning to sense freedom at last.
 
The restrictive grid and table constraints might become the thing that’s really dead in the future of marketing. Soon to be replaced by creative positioning, element and grid overlapping, ability to scale images freely, use of fresh font styles and all of it mobile friendly?
 
True free positioning is what will make web design unique, powerful, and a conversion dream. We see the resurrection of print in website design.
 
Enter Nicepage
Nicepage isn’t just nice, it’s saweet and following are a few reasons why.
 
• It offers absolute creativity with no coding, and is free of charge without premium features.

• This template-style software is excellent for display sites, brochure style, and basic e-commerce sites. It is not the best option for more complex functions, which would fall under the expertise of a custom website design.

• Nicepage combines the features of a graphic design tool and a website builder and is suitable for web designers and webmasters.

• It supports free positioning, element overlapping, mobile devices and modern grids. It also generates clean HTML and CSS.

• It comes fully loaded with 100’s of templates plus 1,000 sections, each can be fully customized.

• You can start with a blank page and customize, or start with one of their 100’s templates. Choices, choices, and so much fun to explore.

• Nicepage is available for Windows, Mac OS, and online, and offers Joomla Extensions and WordPress Plugins.

We can hardly wait to start our first Nicepage build next week.

 
Check us out on DesignRush.