I’ve been making websites since I was 14, working with nothing but a keen interest and a thirst for learning - starting from scratch and clawing together a unique style and skill set. Now-a-days, creeping closer and closer to my 20th birthday, it’s easy for me to look back and say it was all well worth it.

Not because I’ve scored the perfect job, or because I’ve made a name for myself as an expert in my field, no; those things take time and far more effort than I’ve been investing. I look back and think it was all worth it - because it’s still what I want to be doing. There’s a knack to finding something you love and sticking with it, and when it comes to web design, the rules are constantly changing and trends and techniques are perpetually evolving.

An introduction of sorts…

Part of the reason I still love designing for the web is exactly the same thing that turns people off the idea, or leaves them lamenting in the same processes that seemed to work in the past, before loosing interest: the web is still a constantly evolving media; new styles and trends shift and change every hour of every day, some catch on and cause a craze, while others are too unique to slap on every project.

I can’t help but be interested by something new - to try something different, but regrettably, striving to be unique is a trait that seems to bode poorly when it comes to big business, with most clients for larger studios feeling more comfortable with tried and true over new and daring. A trend that I personally feel should be viewed in a negative light - as with any medium, new and daring means a fresh, new experience, a new point of view, and overall evolution of the media.

Recent developments and trends in design in particular are only just now being stretched and contorted to create beautiful and fresh results. Grunge - my personal favourite trend at the moment, is only now catching on as an alternative to creating cold, corporate feeling websites, for companies that prefer a more organic, down to earth, ‘of the people’ feel - adding a little texture to a simple design can elevate it to an entirely new level. Grunge makes perfect sense for a client in the food or beverage industry - for instance. It’s just a matter of designers making the right decisions.

Sticking with particular styles of design for a while helps develop and expand the style, but it’s also good to keep things mixed up a little - creating websites using more then one core style creates something new to toy with, and also helps the client decide which of the styles they prefer - or if they love the combination. It makes sense to use a style you’re good at, but if you want to try something new, why not combine the two to create something new?

Designing for the web may still seem like it’s only just taking off - these last few years have seen massive changes in the way design and its use on the web effects the world - from the simplicity of popular social networks, to the massive amounts of information served up beautifully in online news aggregators - the web is becoming more and more appealing to newcomers of all shapes and sizes, and good design is becoming more and more an integral part of making getting around all that much easier.

So next time someone asks for something fresh and new, whether it’s a website, a wedding cake, or a business proposal, don’t let them just get served with something they haven’t seen before - give them something you haven’t tried before. That’s how innovation begins - with one little push in the right direction.