Tag Archives: designers

Risk Assessment for Web Designers

Anyone working in a design-orientated field or industry will already have a feel for how complicated it can be.

As the saying goes, ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ and one person’s preferences can be very different to anothers.

It is often the case that differences of opinion arise, with neither party actually being wrong but having very different opinions about how something should appear.

Therefore anyone looking to go it alone in a creative field needs to have a fairly thick skin.

This is certainly true for web designers where, in a sense, the final ‘artwork’ is the public domain and out there for all to see. There really is no hiding place.

If the website is the perfect blend of form and function, the client will be rewarded with lots of web traffic and potential sales. However, this very public appraisal of work, can be a double edged sword and a website that does not produce the expected results could be highly criticised.

A website designer is able to define how a website looks, how it feels, how it works and what it contains. There is a lot of pressure riding on the designer – particularly if they are operating as a freelancer, sole trader or small business.

So, because the very nature of a web designer’s work involves opening up their work to the great unknown, it makes sense to do some basic risk assessment with every contract. After all, every designer is only human and unintentional mistakes can happen. A good basic rule of thumb is, ‘if I do something wrong, what’s the worst case scenario for my client. And what can I do about it?’

Breaking the contract down in to smaller component parts will also help with the risk assessment:

1. Who is the website for? What sort of business is my client in? How big a player is my client?
If it is possible, the designer should ask the client for examples of websites they like in general and also some examples of competitors’ sites before any work begins.

2. Will the website use content from third parties (like images, music, video)?
The designer should make sure they have suitable written licences from the media owners (and this should be saved somewhere for future reference.)

3. Exactly what is included in the contract for a new website?
The designer should be extremely clear about what is included, be that domain registration, hosting, design, maintenance. A client may believe that they are paying for ongoing support which can be a time consuming exercise for the designer, unless costs are calculated up front.

4. Considering the deadlines and scale of the job, will the designer need to use a subcontractor to help and if so, do they have professional indemnity insurance?
Bringing other people on board has the potential to increase risk as there is more potential for mistakes to be made.

5. What sign off procedure, if any, is in place?
Experienced designers know all too well that the closer a website gets to launch date, the more people get involved on the client side. To protect the designer, it is essential to have a well thought-out sign off procedure in place, otherwise the ‘design by committee’ factor may well take its toll on the whole project with massive delays or changes in strategy.

As well as reviewing all of the above points, all web designers should ensure that they have professional indemnity insurance in place. The policy helps web designers that find themselves in dispute with a client. It covers the legal expenses involved in defending any allegations or claims made against the designer, and also covers any compensation or damages that may have to be paid.

The most common kinds of claims made against web designers are for copyright infringement and unintentional breach of contract. Unfortunately if things do start to go wrong, clients tend to sue first and ask questions later. It is not particularly pleasant thinking the potential worst of clients, but at least with a risk assessment undertaken and professional indemnity insurance in place, a web designer can be fully prepared.

Save Money with Free CAD Software

These days, CAD software often offers an enormous amount of functionality albeit at an extremely high price tag which only large enterprises can usually afford. Upgrade subscriptions in addition to the cost of the CAD suite also make such solutions an expensive long-term commitment. While such solutions clearly have their place among the most demanding computer aided designers, the average user simply doesn’t need them. In other words, why spend so much money on a Swiss army knife when all you need is a screwdriver? nanoCAD is a solution to address the problem by providing a completely free and user-friendly solution for those who have more specific requirements when it comes to computer aided design. With many features and using the popular .NET framework, nanoCAD is the ultimate free CAD software out there.

Not only is nanoCAD completely free of charge, it also provides many features which are found in some of the most popular (and expensive) CAD programs on the market. nanoCAD provides fully functional 2D drafting tools as well as various modeling and editing functions which help you achieve professional results in less time. The user interface is standardized for the industry and provides a familiar set of commands and features which help to minimize the learning curve. If, for example, you have used AutoCAD before, you will find nanoCAD extremely straightforward straight out of the box and absolutely no training will be required at all. For easy collaboration, the DWG format is supported as is compliance with older data. There is also an open API for further development by way of a fully AutoCAD-compatible programming platform. You can make your own CAD applications and add-ons using this open-source solution.

The free CAD software provides a wide set of additional features as well, such as a comprehensive command set and a toolbox for editing and creating both 2D and 3D objects. There is a powerful Excel-style table editor and extended plotting capabilities.

Generally speaking, nanoCAD provides the same level of functionality as AutoCAD LT, with the fundamental difference being that it is offered completely for free and with an open API. nanoCAD also leaves a small footprint on your computer’s hardware resources requiring only 150 megabytes of installation space on your hard disk.

nanoCAD is suitable for a wide range of users of varying demands and requirements. For engineers and designers who deal with any kind of technical drawings, nanoCAD provides all of the features and power that the majority of users will ever need, without bogging them down with abundant extra features which are extremely rarely used. With unique, customizable and collaborative features, nanoCAD is ideal for enhancing efficiency and getting work done in less time and without spending any money. With free CAD software, designers will be able to enjoy the tools they need to get most of their daily work done more efficiently.

You can learn more about nanoCAD at the official product website at nanocad.com. There is a brief and simple registration process and within minutes you can be using your free CAD software.

Save Money with Free CAD Software

These days, CAD software often offers an enormous amount of functionality albeit at an extremely high price tag which only large enterprises can usually afford. Upgrade subscriptions in addition to the cost of the CAD suite also make such solutions an expensive long-term commitment. While such solutions clearly have their place among the most demanding computer aided designers, the average user simply doesn’t need them. In other words, why spend so much money on a Swiss army knife when all you need is a screwdriver? nanoCAD is a solution to address the problem by providing a completely free and user-friendly solution for those who have more specific requirements when it comes to computer aided design. With many features and using the popular .NET framework, nanoCAD is the ultimate free CAD software out there.

Not only is nanoCAD completely free of charge, it also provides many features which are found in some of the most popular (and expensive) CAD programs on the market. nanoCAD provides fully functional 2D drafting tools as well as various modeling and editing functions which help you achieve professional results in less time. The user interface is standardized for the industry and provides a familiar set of commands and features which help to minimize the learning curve. If, for example, you have used AutoCAD before, you will find nanoCAD extremely straightforward straight out of the box and absolutely no training will be required at all. For easy collaboration, the DWG format is supported as is compliance with older data. There is also an open API for further development by way of a fully AutoCAD-compatible programming platform. You can make your own CAD applications and add-ons using this open-source solution.

The free CAD software provides a wide set of additional features as well, such as a comprehensive command set and a toolbox for editing and creating both 2D and 3D objects. There is a powerful Excel-style table editor and extended plotting capabilities.

Generally speaking, nanoCAD provides the same level of functionality as AutoCAD LT, with the fundamental difference being that it is offered completely for free and with an open API. nanoCAD also leaves a small footprint on your computer’s hardware resources requiring only 150 megabytes of installation space on your hard disk.

nanoCAD is suitable for a wide range of users of varying demands and requirements. For engineers and designers who deal with any kind of technical drawings, nanoCAD provides all of the features and power that the majority of users will ever need, without bogging them down with abundant extra features which are extremely rarely used. With unique, customizable and collaborative features, nanoCAD is ideal for enhancing efficiency and getting work done in less time and without spending any money. With free CAD software, designers will be able to enjoy the tools they need to get most of their daily work done more efficiently.

You can learn more about nanoCAD at the official product website at nanocad.com. There is a brief and simple registration process and within minutes you can be using your free CAD software.