We design is one of the most lucrative jobs nowadays and many people are changing their career path to take advantage of the handsome pay. Another advantage is that one can do web design from a remote location.
Teaching Web Design courses makes you reflect on the characteristics that define a good professional who wants to dedicate himself to designing web pages. Can your nephew, who is very skilled with the PC (and the game console), make the website of your company?
The choice between designer and programmer
Over time, the profession of a web designer has gone from being focused on graphic design to be more focused on programming, or at least, in the domain of page description languages (HTML) and visual formats (CSS).
I remember teaching web design courses for the Herman Sánchez Community Center decades ago, where we used Wordpad as our website editor to make it easier for teenagers to create their own websites. CSS is not on my list of popular acronyms, and HTML has little educational significance for children.
So is designing web pages like creating texts?
In those days, making pages with Wordpad, MS Publisher, FrontPage, Netscape Composer and other WYSIWYG editors was quite similar to creating a text document, only we added links to other documents, and yes, the images had to be optimized.
However, in order to create a professional-quality website, you need to better understand the entire website, not just each website. It is impossible to create a page around the concepts of usability and accessibility, and then add or change content. And the new page, if we don’t build a solid structure, it’s well structured and adheres to best practices and established standards.
Should you be a graphic designer?
Of course, talented graphic designers can create eye-catching screen layouts for websites, but if you want to complete the process yourself, you need to learn the other skills we have listed or have a good web programmer. Graphic designers who create printed materials that contain certain sizes (such as A4, A5, or other sizes) may not be able to adapt to a responsive design that is not fixed but depends on fluid and screen. Width (not inches, but pixels = resolution).
Responsive Design
Nowadays, you do not browse from a single device: desktop computers, laptops, game consoles, smart TVs, tablets, mobiles, and eBooks allow you to access web pages, with very different screen sizes and resolutions, some also in landscape or portrait orientation.
In reality, the same concept of fluid, adaptive (responsive) design is difficult to assume, and deciding how the contents of each page should be displayed on different screen sizes and devices is not an easy task.
Creative or systematic?
As we pointed out before, it takes an analytical and systematic mindset to create professional websites. This is not to say that creativity, initiative, and talent are not important, but they are not enough to dedicate yourself to this profession seriously.
Web design requires keeping your attention on many and diverse variables at the same time, and knowing how to plan and organize yourself is essential to carry a task to a successful conclusion.
Unlike other professions, the design of a website requires the coordinated management of a multitude of computer files (images, HTML files, CSS, JavaScript, videos), which we must store and manage in a folder structure. If we change the name of a file or move it to another folder, the links will stop working.
Programming languages and others
To make a website, in addition to the photo retouching and web page editing programs, we need to master several languages, starting with HTML and CSS, each with its own syntax and possibilities, all in English, of course.
WYSIWYG web editing programs such as Adobe DreamWeaver make the job much easier, but in many cases, it is essential to manually modify the HTML, CSS, or JavaScript source code.
To create dynamic web pages (that allow creating and modifying their content “live”), such as self-managed websites, we must also master a server programming language such as PHP, and a database language such as SQL.
Multidisciplinary teams
It is difficult for a single technician, no matter how professional, can be an expert in several disciplines, especially if all of them are continually being renewed with new technologies, trends, and production processes.
Web designer training and qualification
If you want to become a web designer, there are several formal training options, starting with a college design degree, a degree in multimedia and graphic design, or a degree in digital visual design. There are also non-formal training online where you can get certificates after completing the courses or learn on your own with free resources online. The content can also choose to complete a higher degree in print and multimedia publication design and editing, or obtain a higher degree in graphic design and management, supplemented by web design professional courses, where you can learn about the latest developments of getting to understand the industry. In terms of language, although it is not necessary in many cases, it is strongly recommended that you can write in English fluently.
What type of job is waiting for you?
Technological advancements and increased use of smartphones and tablets have forced websites to quickly adapt to these new devices, leading to an increase in job vacancies where web designers need to use HTML5, a language suitable for everyone. The device type allows you to easily browse websites using a tablet, mobile phone or the Internet. Although there used to be a trend from computer to mobile devices, now it is about the development of websites. The first is for mobile devices and the second is for computers.
In terms of employment, the trend of entrepreneurship or self-employment is becoming more and more obvious, because most companies outsource this kind of service. Published on various free websites, you can see how freelance web designers’ quotes are slightly higher than the quotes of internal web designers. The company’s salary for web designers ranges from US$45,000 to US$75,000 per year. The price depends on the scope of the corresponding project.