Back when I first learned to code, and started looking for freelance web design projects, I felt like I was in a Catch-22. My portfolio was totally empty; but I couldn’t fill it with impressive projects without any clients. It’s a tough spot to be in in an industry where your work is much more important than your skillset. You don’t land big clients by listing your coding chops on a resume. You get those high-paying jobs by showing them what you can do. In other words, clients want to see proof of what you can create for them before they give you a check. But after working with freelance clients as a beginner, and coaching hundreds of students through the process of getting their first clients, I can tell you that building an impressive portfolio as a beginner is totally possible.

User experience should be the number-one priority for mobile developers. Really successful mobile experiences are not compromised, stripped-down versions of their desktop counterparts — they’re better than the experience on a desktop computer. Successful mobile developers “go mobile” first to create an engaging, satisfying user experience, and a large part of a great UX is making the user’s attempts to communicate as effortless as possible. Realistically, user interfaces can make or break a business, and with our increased focus on mobile technology, the user experience of mobile apps is more important to a company’s bottom-line than ever before. Consider the disastrous effect the subpar user experience of Facebook’s mobile app had on the company’s stock price versus the increasing success of Path following the positive user response to its app’s interface.

Developing your logo is an essential part of your company brand. It works together with elements such as your website, collateral, brand promise, and marketing efforts to set the tone for your company as a whole in the public arena. And while this sounds simple enough, many logos tend to overshoot or fall short. Let’s see if your logo makes the grade and consider four essential rules for successful logo design. Before sharing the rules of logo design, let’s start out by grading the latest logo you’ve created. Spend a minute and answer the 14 questions below (you can do it in your head):

I’ve traveled to many art schools, being asked to review senior student portfolios, and speak on professional practices in the design business, and the one thing I always notice is the lack of direction in student portfolios. Even with professionals, there is often no idea what, or even how to present work to a client. Without senior level courses on portfolio preparation, or classes taught by those who have been out of the field too long to know current trends, it is confusing, and students are left with their own thoughts on what a client wants to see. The biggest misconception is you need printed, or live web pieces to show a client. To this end, as many professionals complain, students will do free, or lower paying work just to garner a few “professional” samples to say, “SEE! Someone has actually hired me.”  If you think about this practice, what students are actually doing is chipping away at their own future and the industry itself.

Having so many new websites and start-ups springing up every day, a high-quality, professional web site is no longer optional — if it ever was. If you want your company to be taken seriously, let alone stand out, you need to have a design that is both memorable and professional. However, getting to that point can be difficult. With the exception of start-ups focused on design, most new companies are not founded by people who are naturals at Web design and few have much in the way of resources to throw at the problem. This can create a major dilemma for a startup, causing some to either push a non-designer into the role of Web developer or simply ignore the problem until they have more money and time down the road. However, if you want your company to thrive online, neither option is acceptable. So how can you get your new start up a professional web design that will get it recognized? There is no real secret to it, it is just a matter of hard work and making design a priority, but there are a few ways you can save both time and money getting to your end design goal.