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Design

Posted by Zorah Keith
Zorah Keith
205 Points

Can a freelancer of web design be successful in both designing websites from scratch and using Wordpress?

I would like to become a freelance web designer in the future. I have studied HTML and CSS and becoming more familiar with them. However, I would like to do Wordpress site designs for clients as well. Is there a preference for what most clients would expect?

3 Answers

bleedcmyk
bleedcmyk
5,945 Points
bleedcmyk
bleedcmyk
5,945 Points

Word press is a decent standard for a lot of people who want the ability to update the content of their website from a CMS. You can integrate Wordpress into virtually any website you design if it is what the client would like.

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points
Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

Wordpress, and HTML / CSS designs are not related.

Whatever you can design and build with just the barebones HTML and CSS langagues, you can build the exact same same in Wordpress.

Wordpress is nothing more than a CMS (Content Management System). What you make the front end of that CMS is up to you and your skill level.

Today, I do believe most clients expect a CMS of some sort for their website. And they aren't too hard to set up.

Zorah Keith
Zorah Keith
205 Points

Ok. So as far as making a portfolio, is it expected for them to be designed from scratch? For a better impression?

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points
Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

Scratch like in not using some sort of front-end framework? i.e Bootstrap or Foundation? If that's what you meant, no not in particular.

The design should never be built around the tool(s). But, don't recreate the wheel. If you can get creating using a grid or framework to fit your design ans you want it, than go for it. It's efficient. Just don't let someone else's framework design your portfolio.

That's why designing on paper at the beginning can be so helpful.

Alexander Stanuga
Alexander Stanuga
11,999 Points
Alexander Stanuga
Alexander Stanuga
11,999 Points

Kevin is right, your design should be independent of your tools. This can be quite difficult to achieve in the early stages, when you're learning though. WordPress is a great choice if you're looking for a way in to designing with CMS (Content Management Systems/Software), having said that it is still a steep learning curve, and often only part of the puzzle in creating a great website (Other popular FREE CMS platforms include Drupal and Joomla amongst others).

The benefit of using WordPress is the breadth of available resources and the huge community of other Designers & Developers who are involved. As an Open Source project you yourself can contribute to the project if you see something that could be done differently/better. There is also the added bonus that many clients are familiar and comfortable with the WordPress User Interface, which makes it easier for them to run with. At the end of the day each CMS has it's strengths and weaknesses, you may find a different CMS offers a unique feature which your client is adamant they need and this could decide for you.