Be realistic with your website design

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In 3 Major Web Design Trends For 2014, Haris Bacic gives a good rundown of key things to keep in mind and illustrates his points with plenty of website examples:

• Keep things simple and useable, without making your website look or operate simplistically.
• Tell a story that speaks to, and engages, your target audience.
• Make sure your website downloads, looks and navigates well for mobile devices  

Remember, websites serve an important purpose for your customers. They are the true users of your website and you need to accommodate their needs, not yours.

This is a very good point from Bacic, especially in crystallizing the purpose you want your website to serve for your target audience.  But while their needs certainly ought to be front-and-center in the design, your needs as a business or brand owner are just as important.

Walt Disney had success in animation film very early on, but it took decades to become the highly polished, well-orchestrated fantasy experience that they are now.  To start, however, things were a bit rough and cobbled together.  My point is, Be realistic about what you have, what you need, and what you want.

For instance, it may be cost-prohibitive right now to have someone design the kind of website that Bacic paints for us.  So your best bet is to be as creative and resourceful as you can, and optimize a website that captures these design trends as best as possible.  Your website may not be as cool as the examples he shares, but it's good and it serves yours and your audience's purpose.