You don’t need to be a web designer to recognize good work. However, you may need to temporarily step out of your mindset as someone looking to hire a web designer, and instead pretend to be a regular visitor looking at another business’s website.

A website visitor isn't thinking, “Does this aesthetic fit my brand?” They're looking for a business that understands their needs and can help them. Similarly, you can evaluate a website by asking:

• Is it easy to navigate?

• Are the messages clear?

• Does the website help you understand what the business offers and who it's for?

• If you were a potential customer, would you want to work with this business?

You can also check the website on different devices to see whether the design is truly responsive.

Finally, when looking across different projects in a portfolio, consider whether the work feels custom-tailored to each business, or whether it's the same template dressed up in different ways. This can tell you the level of customization to expect for your own project.

The creativity in our work is not created through technology or visual design software. It is built through the choices and tradeoffs our clients made to build their businesses with exceptional quality, and our ability to recognize those hidden values and carry them further with a combination of research, empathy, strategy, writing, design, and patience for many revisions before the final product.

AI can mimic appearances but it can’t build the foundation underneath.

AI is a great tool, but creativity isn’t computational. In our experience, creativity emerges from conscientiousness — the willingness to stay with the work longer than required, with no extrinsic reward, simply because you care about what you create and want to do the best work you can.