What Makes a Good Web Designer?

The very word 'designer' is sometimes used very loosely when applied to websites. Designing a web site must surely require some creative skills and assembling the content, probably the hardest, most time consuming part, requires indepth understanding of the person or business that the website is about.
It helps if the subject of the new website already has a strong corporate identity or brand image as this will provide the starting point for the visual style of the site. The website must relate to other marketing communications being used by the business.
Many web developers deliberately avoid any sign of consideration of typography and choice of images, feeling that this is not what the internet is about and it is all rather superfluous. However, as in every media, badly presented information has no credibility. A web page that is crammed with text in unattractive fonts and garish colours just shouts 'unprofessional' and the relevance of what is being said diminishes. In the early days some over enthusiastic designers indulged themselves with impractical designs that were contrary to guidelines and not search engine friendly.
Further down the line the gap between designer and web developer has closed. Users have expectations of what a website should look like and these have been lifted by strong, well designed, creative layouts that comply with web standards, consider quick, efficient navigation. many are still irritated by too many 'whistles and bells' that waste their valuable time, but good design, as always, wins through.