Big question: what's the key factor affecting web design today?

The field of web design and development has developed so much in the last couple of years that we've really become masters of the domain. We've become experts at everything from understanding the needs of the user and planning out complicated sites, through to managing intricate development processes and learning how to build sites that scale. We understand the importance of accessibility and have mastered new frontend technologies and techniques like HTML5 and responsive design. This means that we're now able to build fully rounded applications in the browser that were hitherto impossible. As such I think the biggest single most important factor affecting the state of web design today comes from the client.

While the level of professionalism and complexity in the web design industry has grown at a rapid rate, client budgets haven't kept pace. As such, cost cutting has become the norm. Most agencies just don't have enough time and budget to do things well, so are forced by their clients to cut corners. This is especially true when the vast majority of pitches are decided on budgetary and deadline related terms. So agencies offer their clients watered down service and then get blamed when what they deliver doesn't match expectations.

However, I don't want to point the finger of blame entirely at clients as most of them aren't experts in the web design field and can only base their prices on what agencies quote and what they have always paid. It's our responsibility to charge appropriately and not underquote simply to win business. Instead we need to make it clear that as professionals there is a level of quality below which we refuse to go, even if it means losing out on a potential contract.

I've been thinking a lot about the hazards of the job. Granted, office work doesn't sound immediately dangerous, but spending 8+ hours a day sitting hunched over a desk staring at a screen is bound to have negative long-term effects.

We need to look beyond our screens for inspiration and get out of our chairs for the sake of our physical well being. If our bodies were intended only for sitting and working on the web we'd all look like giant blobs of silly putty with eyes and one arm with 20 fingers for typing. No one wants that.

I'm interested in seeing the kind of work we'll be putting out in 20 years, and I really hope we're all still around to do it.

The prevalence of multiple viewing interfaces. Everything needs to look good on both a huge monitor and a tiny handheld screen. While devices are becoming smarter in their abilities to view the "normal" or "desktop" version of the site (using smart zooming, for example), users are starting to expect optimized experiences for the particular device that they are on (desktop, tablet, mobile, TV box). This requires one single site to be designed and built multiple times -- sometimes requiring only simple CSS tweaks and adjustments, while other times requiring an entirely different layout, custom-built for the platform.

Take Instagram: it's one of the most popular services on the "web" and the entire experience is controlled not by some HTML pages, but rather by an iPhone app. Twitter and Facebook are just as popular, if not more so, via native apps for various platforms (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, etc.) than they are on the browser-based web. As "web designers," we have to start realising that our job is no longer solely to produce sites, apps, and pages built in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. More and more, the "web" is not a platform. It's a service with clients on many platforms. Wired Magazine called it the "death" of the web. I call it an evolution.

Design and development are our occupations (a way of spending time) NOT yet our professions (requiring prolonged training and a formal qualification). Until certification is required for us as it is for a doctor, lawyer, accountant, architect or real estate broker, there will always be a million opinions flying around about the appropriate way to do things, and absolutely no basis for demanding consistency and fluency.

Bad content! It's an obvious answer and not something that's new but the web being what it is, almost anyone can create and publish content and the result is a never ending list of websites where the content isn't appropriate for the audience, doesn't have the right tone of voice for the brand or is simply poorly written. With content strategy seemingly at the fore of everyone's minds at the moment this looks set to change but it won't happen overnight.

The 'responsive web design' movement has finally heralded a fundamental shift in the way many of us think about designing for the web. Sure, we've had fluid layouts for years, but only now are we collectively understanding that websites should be properly flexible. I believe that's the most important factor: the widespread adoption of this idea by our community. We're designing truly interactive experiences and the days of fixed, flat Photoshop mock-ups are coming to an end. So, too, then, are the days of designers who can't code.

This is an exciting time in web design. Typography choices on the web are getting better. Devices are giving us better access to the web. HTML5, CSS3, canvas, and other great technologies are giving us more ways to express ideas.

However, especially when great technologies are available, there's always a risk that the solution gets lost beneath the method. Parallax, responsive design, QR codes, web fonts, geolocation… all of these are incredibly useful tools and methods, but often end up benefiting the designers' or developers' portfolios more than a user's experience.

The single most important factor affecting the state of web design today is remembering the people who use the stuff we're making.

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The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.

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