Webdesigner, what is its role in the creation of a website?

Halfway between the web developer and the graphic designer, the webdesigner is in charge of the structure and visual identity of a website. He must make the interface attractive, fluid and visually pleasing to attract, retain and convert visitors according to the marketing objective. To do so, he acts on the presentation, the layout, the visual and graphic elements or the ergonomics of the site.

The webdesigner, based on the client’s requests and the art director’s indications, will carry out various missions:

• Creation of a visual identity adapted to the stakes of the company on the web
• Creation of a digital graphic charter
• Conception and realization of the design of the various pages of a website
• Redesign of a company’s website
• Reflection on the structure and optimization of the ergonomics of the website
• Organization of the website’s tree structure in order to offer a fluid navigation and a good indexation on search engines
• Reflection on the accessibility of the website and implementation of solutions
• Responsive design, adaptation of websites on different media (computer, tablet, smartphone)
• Creation and layout of communication supports linked to the website (newsletter, e-mailing, e-books, …)
• Development and design of mobile applications

The webdesigner will be in charge of choosing the photos and illustrations, the typography, the font size, the colors, or to create the pictograms that will facilitate the reading and assimilation of the information, in order to keep the attention of the Internet user as long as possible, and to bring him to the targeted conversion (purchase of a product, reservation for a service, sharing of his e-mail address, subscription to a newsletter, contact with the company)  To do this, he must take into account the customer’s request, his communication and marketing objectives, the expectations of the target audience, the requirements of the sector and the IT constraints.

The more pleasant and fluid the experience on the website is, the better the website will be positioned and indexed on search engines. This is why the web designer’s job is essential to boost the efficiency and quality of your digital visibility. 

It is important to have some basic qualities required for the job. A good webdesigner must have a strong artistic sensibility, be creative, adaptable, reactive, and rigorous. He must have interpersonal skills adapted to collective work, since he will have to coordinate with the work of the art director, the SEO experts, the web developers, the web writers and the marketing managers. Moreover, it is important for the web designer to follow closely the web and graphic news, so as to always register his work in the trends of the moment, or even to anticipate the evolutions of the sector to propose avant-garde creations.

To become a webdesigner, it is also necessary to acquire various specific skills:

• Mastery of XHTML, XLM, HTML, CSS and PHP languages
• Complete mastery of graphic design software (Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator)
• Mastery of web analytics and SEO concepts
• Knowledge of the rules and good practices in terms of ergonomics
• Knowledge of the different typography styles and their connotations
• Respect for the coherence of the graphic charter
• Skills and knowledge of data analysis tools

Several Swiss schools and training institutes offer courses leading to the profession of webdesigner. You will find schools in French-speaking Switzerland but also in German-speaking Switzerland.

You are French-speaking and passionate about web design? You can join the Haute Ecole de Gestion (HEG) Wallis, located in the Valais, which offers a diploma course entirely dedicated to web design, called “Webmaster”, or an apprenticeship as a “Webdesigner” within its “Multimedia” certification program, which includes a range of different courses under this general title.

If you want to learn in German, the SAE institute in Zurich offers a diploma “Webdesign und Development” as a continuing education program.

For a greater variety of training places, the Klubschule or Ecole-Club

Migros offers three diplomas, two of which are in German: “webdesigner expert”, “webdesign publisher” offered in the cities of Zurich, Bern, or Lucerne, and a course in French, “webdesigner”, offered in the universities of Neuchâtel, La-Chaux-de-Fonds, La Gruyère, and Fribourg in French-speaking Switzerland.

As for private schools, you can train as a webdesigner in Geneva with ifage, in evening classes at IPAC Design Geneva, in Lausanne with the Ecole Dubois Lausanne, in Valais with the design school Edhea, or in Bern with the school specialized in multimedia Webedu.

For more freedom, you will also have the possibility to follow distance learning courses with online course platforms such as lausanne.enligne-ch.com or design-formations.ch. For the more independent and rigorous, it is possible to train in a self-taught manner.

In addition to creating visuals according to the client’s request, the webdesigner has to consider the whole project, to bring his point of view and his angle of analysis. He can, thanks to his expertise in the field, readjust the requests and ambitions of the customers according to the budgetary, temporal and technical realities of the project.

This is why Habefast is much more than a graphic design agency. Our teams are specialized in web design to offer you a global vision of your project and to be able to accompany you by proposing the necessary optimizations for the good development of your website or your application.