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ToggleWeb design can be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. It is a profession that combines technical skills with creative skills. If you’re comfortable with computer technology and enjoy creating documents, web design can be a great way to combine the two interests.
Ask Yourself
That being said, thinking about learning a new skill is website design charlotte nc always overwhelming. Before you learn how to become a web designer, you should ask yourself, “Should I be a web designer?”
I’ve been learning web design since I was ten years old in 1994. I now do a lot of web design for myself and for some small business clients. There were many joys, but also many frustrations. If you’re thinking about becoming a web designer, there are a few things to keep in mind.
If you can dedicate a lot of time to learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Photoshop, it’s possible to learn the basics in a few months. Be prepared to spend some money on manuals, books and applications.
No matter how you decide to learn web design and how you decide to enter the field, some people have better potential to become web designers than others.
If you code, even if you use a simple language like HTML and a useful application like Dreamweaver, you will encounter some frustrations. When I’m creating an HTML document, I sometimes spend a lot more time correcting and troubleshooting than I do with fun stuff. Are you willing to spend a lot of time testing and making small changes? No matter how you approach web design, boredom is inevitable. If you get frustrated and discouraged easily, web design might not be for you.
Technical Limitations
Unless web design is just a hobby for you, you will have clients to work with. Sometimes customers have many specific expectations. Some clients have web design experience themselves, others ask for things without knowing the technical limitations involved. Before starting any project for clients, it’s best to have a thorough conversation with them about what they want and what they need. This can save you a lot of time. How would you like to spend weeks developing a website only to find that your client wants completely different fonts, colors, graphics, page organization and content? Anyone who designs websites for others must be willing to make many compromises and take a lot of criticism. are you ready for this
Finally, ask yourself if you have the time and energy to promote yourself. If you want to be hired by a web design company, in addition to learning skills and potentially earning certifications, you also need to be willing to hit the pavement with your resume and portfolio. It can take over a year to find a job. Be prepared to attend a lot of interviews and possibly get a lot of rejections.
If you want to become a freelancer like me, you really have to put a lot of energy into self-promotion. Set up a website, ideally with your own domain. Be prepared to spend some money on advertising. Spend a lot of time promoting your services on social media – Twitter, Facebook , Linked-In and so on. Scan classifieds, especially online classifieds. Print business cards and distribute them wherever you can. Use your connections and word of mouth to your advantage. Tell everyone you know you’re a web designer and maybe someone knows someone who could be your first client. Sometimes I spend more time promoting myself than the actual work.
If you are willing to spend a little money, put in a lot of tedious work, take criticism, and do a lot of self-promotion, then web design might be the field for you.
First you need to start the learning process. If you enjoy classroom instruction and having teachers, enroll in web design and graphic design courses at your local community college. If you’d rather start on your own, buy some good books, check out the source codes of the websites you visit, and go through some online tutorials. Even if you start learning web design in a school setting, be prepared to learn a lot in your free time as well.
It is important to learn HTML, especially HTML5. Learn Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) through CSS3. JavaScript, possibly some server-side scripting languages, and Flash are also very useful. Don’t forget to learn Photoshop. If you don’t have the money to buy Photoshop right away, start by downloading some free graphic design programs like Paint.Net and GIMP. That way, you can learn some of the basics of graphic design and potentially be better prepared when you finally pick up the latest version of Photoshop.
Today, people access the Internet in more ways than ever before. When it comes to web design, you not only want your web pages to work in multiple browsers, but also on multiple devices. Even basic mobile phones can now access the internet, not just smartphones like BlackBerrys and iPhones . Even some video game devices like Sony PSP and Nintendo DSi have web browsers. Web surfers could use tiny screens or giant screens. You could use a variety of different browsers and versions of browsers. Users can have completely different plug-ins and fonts; For example, Adobe Flash is a browser plugin. When learning web design, try to surf the web in as many ways as possible.
There are many helpful resources to learn web design online and there are many helpful online tools for web designers, many of which I use.
The W3C is an excellent place to start. They are the non-profit organization founded by Tim Berners-Lee, the man who started the World Wide Web. The W3C sets standards for HTML, XML and CSS. In addition to information on programming languages and standards, they offer practical tools for validating your code.
HTML Goodies has many excellent tutorials and articles.
I’ve learned a lot so far, but I keep learning more and website design charlotte north carolina will always be a web design and media engineering student. As technology advances, things change. There will always be new programming languages and applications. Learning is a constant process.
Web design has been an immersive experience for me and if you decide to delve into it yourself I hope you take it seriously and have fun.
My name is Kim Crawley and I’m a web and graphic designer. In addition to my interest in using technology creatively, I am also very interested in popular culture, social issues, music and politics.