Web designing career/job

Anksy

Anksy

Anksy

Soldato
Joined
29 Mar 2007
Posts
5,762
Is anyone here in the business of web designing ?

what courses, education is required or is necessary to get into the business, im starting a diploma in web design as ive always liked creating web pages so i decided to get a proper qualification in it, although i have near to no knowledge of the business itself, so im not sure what my future plans should be in terms of getting into the business.

Hopefully someone here has some knowledge :)

cheers
 
Gets some reading material on HTML 4/5, CSS 2/3 and xHTML. Use a simple graphics application and something like Notepad++ for HTML. Look around at other peoples work and layout examples.

The main factor i would say is Creativity, be creative. Its someting you can't learn, but makes 1 site different from another.

Its easy to learn HTML and CSS and make a page using them. Its all down to how creative you can be with your design and graphics.
 
yeh the course i am doing is all about HTML etc, but i mean, finding a job, or getting a job, a career in web design will a simple Diploma in web design get me started ?
 
Education is definitely the way to start. What level is the diploma at in comparison to other qualifications?

I went to Southampton Uni and read IT. A lot of the work was web app projects, perfect for learning the practical and group skills to work effectively in any organisation. The social learning is probably the part I value most. No not the drinking, working in teams!

That said, there are quite a few roles spread across web projects but design and development are the meat and gravy of it.
 
Portfolio is what your gonna need before approaching any companies. Its better if you can back it up with any commercial examples. I'm not sure if Diploma's in web design carry much weight compared to examples.

I used to be an web app programmer where i used to work. All the designers who joined never had formal training. Most came from media design and art courses. Most importantly they all had a portfolio of previous work, comercial or non comercial.

Its what you can show potential employers you can do, rather than a certificate.
 
Most web design jobs will require an expert knowledge of HTML and CSS, that means designing the site using somthing like photoshop, then writing the markup and styling from scratch, after which it will usually be passed on to a back-end developer (php/asp).

Many employers will also look for javascript skills. As others have said, a strong portfolio will do you a world of good, maybe see if any relatives or friends have businesses that require a simple website, do it for cheap/free and that way you can build up your portfolio. I can't comment on your course as I don't know enough about it, although some positions will ask for degree level education (I don't think it'd have to be in the specific area of web development).

Best thing to do I'd say would be to complete the course you're on, while building up your porfolio and mastering XHTML and CSS. After that just start applying places and see how it goes from there. :)

Edit: As others have said, use something like notepad++ or netbeans for your code, I'd suggest staying away from WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver.
 
Just to echo others, I have no formal training in webdesign or development at all, my degree was completely unrelated. It's really your portfolio that matters, once you can code a site in photoshop and notepadd++ try and get at lest 5 - 10 decent sites done, (friends family, personal, for the hell of it etc) before you approach companies. Your work will speak volumes.
 
billysielu said:
There are tons of Web Designers, so the jobs pay very little.

Go do a Computer Science degree and become a Web Application Developer.
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Really?

I know for a fact that agencys in Manchester are always looking for freelance front-end web developers*, which have been in the short the past few months, and they charge £200-300 a day.

And it's not for a quick 1 day job, normally at least a week and I know a few developers (front and back-end) that go between several agencies for most of their work as they are in quite a lot of demand.

There are certainly a lot of web designers/developers out there, but the high majority of them are not what I could call professional and can compete for the real jobs.

edit: *and even designers with no HTML/CSS knowledge who just create PSD designs and hand them over to a developer.
 
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I think the key there tsinc is, and you're right, "front-end web developer". Nobody wants someone who can just make a pretty picture in just photoshop anymore, businesses are looking for creative flair with some technical skills (mainly standards compliant html/css etc). Tons of people claim to be a "web designer" however on closer inspection, their work is... debatable! :p
 
tsinc80697 said:
Really?

I know for a fact that agencys in Manchester are always looking for freelance front-end web developers, which have been in the short the past few months, and they charge £200-300 a day.
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Bear in mind that freelance rates will always be higher, due to all the factors involved in such a short-term solution - no benefits, travel costs, short-notice start and end, etc.

Having said that, I've been keeping an eye on Mancy web design/front-end jobs since the start of the year, and I can't recall many being at those sorts of rates. For back-end developers, sure, but not for the front-end cannon fodder ;)

Cannaton - you'd be surprised. I've recently done some freelance web design work at one of the biggest agencies in the north and was very surprised/dismayed to discover that coding wasn't going to be necessary; it was all Photoshoppery to be passed on to a development team. I suspect that a lot of the bigger agencies are still rooted in old-school media...
 
I suspect that a lot of the bigger agencies are still rooted in old-school media...
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Heh am I the only person who mocks up on paper first then goes into the css, I find it very liberating, although if I could get one of these bad boys, I think I would change my method.

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No I'd never disregard "classic" media, I've just noticed a lot of design jobs seem to be asking for more technical skills, maybe I'm looking in the wrong places though with regards to trends within the web design job market. Top notch design skills are difficult to teach and therefore will always be in demand to some degree.

I just think that with the OP, it would be beneficial if he mastered some front-end technical skills before applying for design based jobs, diversity is never a bad thing. :)
 
thanks for the replies :), as i said all im doing is getting myself started, already ordered the course, will be starting next week so now i have something to work on :)
 
In case it's not clear, I agree utterly, Cannaton :)

Isn't it peculiar that designers, who are expected to know so many facets of specialist knowledge are happy to put up with relatively low wages?

Really, I don't know any other profession that undervalues itself more.

No wait: musicians too. But that's probably it.

Anyway. Don't want to put Anksy off :D My bit of advice: don't even consider freelancing until you've worked under a company's employ for a few years. You may have the design skills, but it's unlikely you'll have the client-handling skills required to maintain strong business relationships. Clients are weird.
 
I've been using paint shop pro for years, it seems most web jobs around at the moment they are asking for experience in photoshop so I have been migrating, I like it but it does have its differences which I am still getting used to.
 
UncleRuckus said:
Heh am I the only person who mocks up on paper first then goes into the css, I find it very liberating [...]
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Pencil and [squared] paper is my first go-to, too. It's just so much more immediate to sketch out layouts on paper than Photoshop, Illustrator, Omnigraffle or whatever computer-based 'sketching' tool one has available. It's so easy to get sucked into faffing with precise alignment, colour choices etc when doing that, when those sorts of things should come later on in the exploration/discovery process.

In fact, for email design, I'd say sketching the table layout first is a must, rather than merely an option.
 
I would agree with all previous comments. Portfolio is important when approaching firms. If you can't get commercial projects then set yourself some so you've got some. Offer websites in your local area for a really competitive price - the portfolio will earn you a lot more than the 'cost' of it.

Remember, a Designer is someone who designs the website - generally producing a PSD to hand over to a developer. A developer is someone who creates the HTML and CSS from scratch. If you wish to become both you need understand design and development. Both roles require vision and expert skills, particularly in programming.

Something I would say that is utterly crucial is get yourself some sort of work flow. I am self employed and do both jobs for my clients. However, I also have a contract with a website design agency who outsource some of their development work to me. For both roles I have a workflow, it's important.
 
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