It took me a long time to admit I was a designer. For years I would tell people “I build websites”, rather than saying I was a web designer. After all, I had an English degree and was the type of designer I assumed most art school graduates hated—the kind of person who, with a little Photoshop knowledge, suddenly becomes a graphic designer. It wasn’t until years later, after taking a step back and making time to learn the fundamentals that I felt comfortable calling myself a designer.

These days, with the proliferation of software, tools, and tutorial sites, it seems like having an art school degree is not as important for web design as it once was. Web designers can live and die by their portfolios, not their resume. However, I still think it’s important to learn those fundamentals so you can have a solid foundation and philosophy that guides all your projects.

As an English major turned web designer, these are some of the guiding principles I’ve found most helpful over the years. They may seem elementary to some, but oftentimes they’re too easily overlooked.

Be Overly Attentive to Detail

At one place I worked, when doing PS comps, if a single apostrophe in the middle of paragraphs of copy was missing, I’d have the comp returned to me. It used to drive me crazy but it forced me to check, double-check, and triple-check my work before passing it on. The last thing you want to do is give a client any reason to doubt your abilities. Showing the proper respect for their content inspires confidence and avoids having the design review sidetracked by small, easily avoidable mistakes.

Speaking of Copy…Learn Your Grammar

We all find ourselves in the position of having to write copy on the fly. You’re in the middle of designing a page and realize you need copy for that button or for that box, and so you stick something in there. Keeping with the theme from above of inspiring confidence, make sure your copy is correct. Know the difference between it’s and its; their, there, and they’re; etc. No matter how killer your design may be, simple grammar mistakes show poor attention to detail.

Pay Attention to the Big Picture

Instead of coming out of the gate full speed, with thoughts of totally unique layouts and flashy graphics in your head, look at the content first. Digest the content. Throw all the content on the page and find a way for it to work together in terms of overall shapes and contrast. In fact, why not do everything in black and white first, so you’re forced to concentrate on layout rather than design. Once you have your black and white layout to where you want it, zoom way out and make sure it works as a coherent page. While it’s zoomed out, squint your eyes for a better view of how the page works as a whole.

Check Your Contrast

Be sure not to overlook those people who have trouble with their vision. It’s our job as web designers to ensure that text is always readable. A good test for this is to change your color PS document to black and white. Does all the text still have good contrast with its background color? Alternately, you can use this great tool to figure out whether your contrast is sufficient according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Impress With Vocabulary

Learn design vocabulary. Know what hue, saturation, and value mean. Know the difference between serif and sans-serif fonts. Make sure you can explain at the drop of a hat the difference between a blog, RSS, and a podcast—all terms that are thrown around and misused too often in corporate settings. Being able to explain your designs with the proper vocabulary will help sell them.

Learn the Grid

Grid-based design has been getting a lot of attention on the web lately, and for good reason. Grids can empower your design and help give it cohesiveness. When starting a new project, creating the right grid is my first step. I take my time with it and often go through a few iterations. There are a lot of resources out there about the grid, but I’ve found Khoi Vinh’s explanation about grids, along with the book Making and Breaking the Grid most helpful.

These are just some of the over-arching guidelines I try to follow as a web designer. It may not be a full list, and they may not be advanced techniques, but I think they’re important in helping to be seen a professional.