October 25, 2023
What is the 30-Days-of-Webdesign-Challenge?
It’s a challenge anyone can sign up for here to expand their webdesign skills. For 30 consecutive days you will be sent an email with a design prompt that you’re going to work on and then upload your outcome to social media using #30daysofwebdesign.
I learned so much while taking this challenge and highly recommend you do to take design challenges from time to time, too!
Learning 1: You become a faster designer
In each challenge you design only the hero section (the upper part) of a website. This is supposed to take you 1 hour, including thinking of a name for the website, finding fonts and images and putting it all together. When I started out this process took me 2 to 3 hours! However, I noticed how quickly I became faster. By the end of the challenge it only took me 45 minutes to 1 hour!
Learning 2: Images are essential
The thing that took me longest of all was finding good images. I realised how crucial images are to your website. A blurry, unprofessional looking image makes your entire website look unprofessional, even if the rest of it is designed perfectly and in the most creative way.
So, take time to get AMAZING images! My top tips for sites to find great and royalty-free images (meaning: free to use, without any copyrights) are:
Learning 3: AI is your friend
Believe it or not, AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be your friend, even as a web designer! Of course You are capable of thinking of an amazing name for a brand, and of course You are capable of writing incredible website copy! But: IT TAKES TIME! While we sometimes sit there and write, and re-write, and paraphrase a sentence for half an hour, AI can do it for you within seconds.
And listen, I’m not telling you to let AI do everything for you! I believe the human mind is still 100% more creative and capable of producing beautiful things. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about using resources to SUPPORT you, SPEED UP your design process, and GIVE YOU SOME INITIAL IDEAS that you can continue developing.
Two resources I used to support me in the design process were:
Learning 4: Use Google Fonts
Google Fonts is a great resource to find beautiful fonts and download them for free to use in your design. When looking for fonts it lets you filter by different categories and you can see what your text is going to look like in the different fonts you’re interested in.
Learning 5: Research is valuable
Before you start a new design challenge, do your research. Every day of the challenge is completely different. There are website design prompts that reach from real estate, to Sushi restaurants, to wedding bouquets, to sales videos, to flight search, to museums, to jewelry shop, to phone insurance, to soap shop, to surf board rentals, … and so many more. Chances are you have never before designed anything for those specific niches.
So, take some time at the beginning to do your research, e.g. on Pinterest or Dribbble. Be inspired, get to know different styles, get some ideas, but of course don’t copy!
Learning 6: Base your design on an image, logo, phrase
Sometimes you see an image and it gives you an idea for the design of the entire website. The same can happen with the logo or a single phrase. Let me give you an example:
Here, the challenge was to design a website where local farmers can showcase their fresh produce online for locals to see and then buy with the farmers directly. While searching for images on Unsplash I found this image of the 2 people exchange an orange. I based my entire design on that image. I wrote the phrase “Connecting local farmers with local households”, because the image carries that “connecting” aspect, and I also took the green and orange colours from the image and carried it on to the website copy and the buttons.
Learning 7: The importance of sketching on paper first
I came to realise that it helps to sketch your ideas on paper before you jump to your design program. Just take a piece of paper and a pencil and start drawing your ideas. If you don’t like them, start again on a fresh page. You can also set a timer to 2 minutes, or 5 minutes and draw as many possible designs as you can.
For me this really helped to get all the ideas in my head to form a cohesive design on paper, and then afterwards on my computer.
Learning 8: The power of the timer
When I need to get work done I LOOOVE to set a timer, be it for webdesign, or for any other task really. I find this helps me keep my focus because I want to get it done within the given timeframe. I don’t get distracted that easily, AND (and this is really important part for most designers!) there is no time to be a perfectionist! 😉
You all know what I mean! If you take as much time as you like you can spend HOURS editing one tiny section of a website. Just don’t do that! Set a timer instead and your life will be happier because you will have more time for the really important things in life!
The outcome of the 30 day webdesign challenge
Here is a sneak peek into my designs. If you want to see all 30 of them check them out here.
