In this article we will tell you how to become a web designer and what you need to know and be able to do.
Web design is an exciting and in-demand specialty in the 21st century. It can also be very lucrative, but it requires work experience and a solid portfolio to earn a high income.
The path to becoming a web designer can be quite thorny. At a certain point, you may realize that you do not know which direction to move next in order to achieve success in this profession.
Do I need to learn web programming skills? Will watching educational videos be enough to get a job as a web designer, or is it better to get a formal education in web design?
We decided to put together a step-by-step guide on what you need to do to become a web designer.
Step 1: Decide what type of design you want to doThis is key because not all designers do the same thing or have the same skill set. For example, some designers can write code (HTML and CSS) and some cannot. The debate about which type of designer is “better” has been going on for several years:
When you really understand what each designer's role is and what he or she can achieve, you quickly begin to realize that we're talking about not about who is better, since it is a matter of implementing different directions. The importance of web programming skills
Wanting to become a web designer is not enough. You also need to understand that as a designer you will work with developers, both on sites and in the process of optimizing the user experience. Coding skills will make communicating with developers much easier. You will be able to speak the same language with them, so there will be fewer misunderstandings during the communication process!
Knowing how code is created can also give you a better idea of whether your project will be technically feasible.
One of the benefits of website templates is that web designers can create complete resources based on them, regardless of whether they know how to write code from scratch or not. If your knowledge of web programming is limited, you will still be able to customize the layout template to get the final result.
Step 2: Get educatedIf you want to go the formal route, there are certain levels in web design and development that you should strive for. There are many higher education institutions offering specialized educational programs.
But getting a good education will not make you a sought-after and highly paid web designer. First you will need to market yourself or get hired by a top agency, but more on that later.
How to become a web designer from scratch yet? You can take a path that involves self-education. The web is full of web design educational materials just waiting for you to explore!
Even if you have a degree in web design, you can always continue to improve yourself by exploring online resources.
Step 3: Learn to use the best toolsYou will need to develop skills in using the latest tools if you want to become a true professional. These tools not only allow you to work as a web designer, but also demonstrate your professionalism to clients and clients.
Tools for developing web elementsBefore you become a web designer yourself, you need to understand that using a set of tools from Adobe is mandatory. To be successful in web design, you need to learn how to effectively use tools like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. These programs are necessary for working with graphic design:
Tools for working with codeWhile the tools that help you create visuals are basic, there are others that make coding easier.
- GitHub - useful for version control, web design, and collaboration;
- Pattern Lab - allows website developers to create dynamic data;
- Vivaldi Browser is the most customizable browser for power users (ie: serious designers);
- Sketch App is a tool for speeding up and simplifying web design development.
When you start working on real projects, you will realize that choosing the right editor is an important decision. If you're not using a website builder or content management system like WordPress and are working with raw code, here are some great editors:
- Sublime;
- Textmate;
- Atom;
- Brackets.
Without going into too much detail, knowing how to use these tools, especially software from Adobe, will make your life as a web designer much easier. In addition, the presence of these tools in your arsenal will make it clear to the people with whom you work that you are a designer whose level of knowledge and skills is high. And this will make your services even more in demand.
Step 4: Become More VersatileWhat else do you need to become a web designer? A web designer must be good at writing (everything related to text on websites), understand SEO and know the basics of marketing (since websites are important tools for running a business).
Once you have a more universal base, you can use your knowledge of SEO and marketing to make sites more user-friendly, with a great user experience.
For example, if you understand the basics of marketing well, you can create a website that includes:
- A large title, subtitle and description of your client's product or service;
- Minimalistic design that uses popular trends;
- Characterized by high performance and page loading speed.
In this case, you will create a website that not only looks aesthetically pleasing, but also works great. And you will have no questions about how to become a web designer and where to start.
Being a versatile web designer will not only allow you to take on other projects, but also make them competitive. To do this, you should familiarize yourself with the basics of SEO and internet marketing in addition to web design skills.
Step 5. Decide where you want to workA web designer works as an employee of a company or as a freelancer. Whatever path you choose, you must understand what awaits you on each of them.
When working for an agency or company, the main advantage is that you do not have to look for new clients yourself. You will be part of a team that has specific projects going through the pipeline, including you. You will also have the support of the entire team (engineers, developers, marketers, other designers, etc.) at your disposal.
But there is also a single path - working for yourself as a freelancer. Please note that sometimes there may be no choice because circumstances will make it for you. For example, if you can’t get a job at a design firm or don’t like working for someone else, then you’ll have to start your own business:
When you work as a freelance web designer, you enjoy the independence, responsibility, and fun of running your own business. You decide for yourself which projects you want to participate in. At the same time, you need to remember that you need to find your clients, which means advertise yourself. This means the need to create your own website or portfolio in addition to posting your work on specialized resources.
If this way of doing business is attractive, then you have everything you need to enter the market on your own. Before you become such a web designer, remember that you need to start own business It's not always easy. Building a portfolio and gaining experience takes time. This is why some web designers start their careers as in-house designers at agencies or companies and then become freelancers. At this stage, you will have more industry contacts and experience.
A lot of responsibility and work, but also greater rewardsOn the path to becoming a web designer, you'll find that it won't be a smooth road. Before you reach the point where you can either work for a prestigious design firm or launch your own successful business, you will need to create a road map to achieve that goal and follow it.
Web design is a field that requires every specialist to implement know-how. This does not necessarily have to be an officially recognized education (given the huge number of design courses and textbooks available online). But your understanding of design must be solid.
In addition, there are auxiliary aspects that you need to be familiar with. These include understanding the basics of marketing and SEO. When you strive to gain a deeper understanding of these two areas, you increase your competitiveness as a web designer because you become more useful to the client.
In short, design skills alone are not enough to become a sought-after web designer.
Before you become a web designer from scratch and to get more ideas on your path to becoming a web designer, check out our collection of ready-to-use templates:
Oleander – theme for blog and store
Biz Lady WordPress Theme
Coastal is a universal theme
Web design where to start learning? Every future professional web designer asks himself this question! Have you decided to learn web design from scratch? Congratulations! Web design can be one of the most useful skills for your professional career.
The first 30 days of training are critical because many people simply give up on the idea of learning web design after one or two weeks. This article will give several useful tips and techniques that will help you start learning web design and stay “in the know” for a long period.
Web design is a fairly broad field of knowledge.
Saying “I want to learn web design” is like saying “I want to learn how to cook.” There are thousands of recipes and cooking methods. There are also thousands of specific design tools and important principles that every web designer should know.
Since then, when web design has become a separate branch of knowledge, many people have been asking one question: “How to learn web design?” This same question stops many from studying it. The choice of methods, tools and styles is huge, and this is what worries many.
When I decided to start learning web design, I was also amazed at the variety of tools and ways to do it. Which program should you use to learn, Dreamweaver or Photoshop? Or maybe you should start by learning to code and learn Javascript, HTML and CSS first? The truth is that there are many resources for learning web design on your own. Therefore, many find it difficult to make a choice, where to start?
Why is it necessary to start learning web design with HTML and CSS?Most websites (I think 99%) are created in HTML. To verify this, go to your favorite website and press “Ctrl+U”. You see in the text
HTML is the framework or structure of almost any modern website. What about CSS? CSS actually imparts some style to this structure. Without CSS, websites look terrible. To truly understand and learn web design, you need to know these two simple languages.
The main thing in learning a language is to understand its logic, and then you can easily understand how a website is built using it.
Also, don't worry, this has nothing to do with real programming languages like PHP, Javascript or C++. These are completely different universes. Learning HTML and CSS compared to these languages is like learning to ride a bike compared to flying an airplane. You know how to ride a bike, right? Then most likely you will master HTML and CSS!
How to start learning HTML and CSS?There are two ways: online course or tutorials. We'll talk about books in the next article. Now we’ll talk about some courses on learning programming. On the Internet you can find a huge number of online courses on studying web design in general and code in particular. Some of them will be useful, and some will leave a not very pleasant impression. Here are a few resources to consider:
- positions itself as “a university for the preparation and additional training of specialists in the field of Internet marketing, project management, design, interface design and web development.”
- In addition, if you have proficiency in English at the user level, you can pay attention to the school
After you understand HTML and CSS, you need to move on to actually learning the basics of web design. Namely, to study the programs with which the design of websites takes place. There are several software packages used for this. The main one is Adobe Photoshop.
There are many courses on the Internet to study it. Both paid and free. With due effort and diligence, understanding of working with this program will come quickly.
And now the moment has come when you seem to have figured out both HTML and Photoshop, what to do next? The most effective way to learn web design at first is to constantly familiarize yourself with the work of professional web designers and try to repeat what you see in every detail.
Don't be afraid to copy other people's work. This way, you will quickly understand and determine what is most important in web design and what “tricks” you can use in your work. This will help you get better at this matter. At first, you need to work on your portfolio. And so with each new job you will learn more and more, and after a while you will develop your own style in web design.
Having decided to start learning web design, you should know that web design is a separate huge branch of knowledge with its own rules and laws. Studying design, like any other profession, requires perseverance and a desire to achieve your goals.
It was very non-standard for me, so it’s difficult to advise something in a classical manner. I started drawing at the age of 13, I just did it without thinking about why, I have been living with this for 11 years, 6 of which I have been working professionally. I never studied design, I read two and a half books about the web, but I drew a lot. Tons of pixels and sleepless nights.
If you are not 13 and have been doing something else all your life and decided to try yourself on the web (or are already trying), then I have a lot of incoherent subjective advice that might come in handy.
1. Develop tasteTo become a good designer (not necessarily a web designer), you need to have taste. You can learn to use Photoshop or Sketch, read hundreds of books, but without a sense of beauty nothing will happen. Therefore, the first thing I advise is to cultivate an internal sense of aesthetics. To do this, you need to love everything visual in general: photography, films, clothes, architecture. Be greedy for beautiful things, buy books, watch art house, take photographs on film, love to travel, dress beautifully, decorate your home. Everything that surrounds shapes the taste. That’s why it’s important to surround yourself with inspiring, beautiful details. It is external for the internal.
2. Live by the ideaIf you are just starting out and you are driven only by the desire to get a good salary in New York, it will be difficult to achieve a good level. It is important that your eyes sparkle, that you want more and more, to learn, to receive, to communicate, to see, to do, to do, to do. It is important that motivation comes from within. Crystal clear enthusiasm, time and practice (lots of practice) will do the trick. And there will be a good salary in New York.
3. Draw a lotAt the initial stage, when there is no clear portfolio yet, it is important to draw fakes. Over the course of my 10 years, I have redrawn countless numbers of them, taking brands or projects that I like and redrawing their websites. I took other people’s designs and drew my own versions. Much, of course, did not turn out the way I wanted, but this formed my portfolio, the old was deleted, and a new one was drawn. It is important and necessary to draw fakes, even if there is no client who will make edits. Draw what you ideally dream of having in your portfolio. Launch your projects, close them and launch new ones. The more experience, the faster you develop.
4. Monitor your portfolioWhen you’re just starting out, you can put everything you have in a portfolio, from posters to pieces of interfaces. And as new projects appear, it is important to weed out what you don’t ideally want to work on. That is, if you like to draw landing pages, but don’t really like interfaces, minimize the interfaces in your portfolio (even if they actually feed you). The client comes to you for style, and if you dream of drawing websites, not interfaces, then it is important to focus on websites. In a couple more years you can niche down. That is, draw only mobile apps, or only games, or only corporate websites, or only interfaces for startups. The narrower the specialty, the more clients will come (paradox). And you don’t need to come up with a super fancy website, your portfolio on Bihance is enough.
5. Look for clientsI received my first 100 dollars on Weblancer, drew shitty banners and sites for competitions, lost 90% of the projects, but since I essentially drew designs for real projects, this again formed my portfolio. I spent a lot of time on Weblancer (I didn’t like freelancer.ru), read real briefs, drew as I understood the task. And when I won for the first time, that same feeling of “I can do it” came. Nowadays these exchanges are already a little old school, so I would recommend drawing for friends or just for yourself. And let it not be an obligation, let it be a thrill. Two years ago, I offered to design a website for a local peanut butter brand for free, and ended up redrawing their label, taking image photos for the website, and drawing the website itself. It was all free (okay, for jars of peanut butter) and I enjoyed it, even though there was a lot of other commercial work. And it often happens that it’s the free project that really shines in the portfolio. And, of course, after this client, a dozen more similar ones came, which made me very happy.
You can also look for clients by simply sending letters to local brands with a redesign proposal. And who knows what the new collaboration will bring?
6. Internship or work as a junior designerI got my first job at the age of 18, just sending out responses to vacancies. My portfolio was, to put it mildly, childish, but they took me. And not just somewhere else, but to “the best digital agency in Ukraine.” I remember the first day, August 16, 2010, I sat with square eyes in the office and did not understand what was happening. They immediately started giving me work, drawing the Nivea newsletter and retouching team photos for the Slavutich website. Without this day, I would not be sitting in New York now, because internships and office work are very important. I was small and started from scratch. If you now have another job, but want to be a designer, it is important to make this decision for yourself and go to work as a junior designer (even if they pay less). Of course, you can develop in parallel with your first job, but, especially at the initial stage, it is difficult.
To find an internship, you need to make your own list of agencies or studios where you want to work and send them letters, even if there is no such vacancy on the site. In the letter, briefly describe your experience and what you draw, and be sure to link to your portfolio (there is more than enough for Bihans). If you don’t have any experience, then you shouldn’t make a resume, it will still look thin. Main portfolio and cover letter. There is no need for any flirting and a resume with flowers (I have sorted out those in my time), the most elegant thing that should be is a portfolio. With no exceptions.
7. Don’t disdain workIf they let you draw a banner for $20, take it. If you sit and wait for big clients, it means that you are motivated by money and here you need to re-read the second point. At the initial stage, take everything they give you. But paint like it's the most important project ever. That is beautiful.
8. Design communityHere I have my own subjective opinion on this matter. Personally, I avoid designer parties, because there people think that since you are also a designer, then you can’t talk about anything else but Sketch. And I don’t like talking about Sketch in my free time. To be honest, I’m not interested in many people from the industry (only a couple of people, and that’s it), I don’t need other people’s advice. Although this may help at the initial stage. Communicate, but don’t limit your surroundings only to designers.
9. Read foreign Internet and booksYes, English decides. Even if you speak English poorly, it is important to at least read, read a lot. Now I rarely even read Medium, but I constantly look at new works on Siteinspire and Awwwards. Printed books on the web become outdated faster than they go to print. That’s why I love books on classical typography, photography, and graphic design. In general, those where you don’t read, but look at pictures.
10. Analyze the work of othersI collect inspiration to this day. These are boards on Pinterest, a folder in Dropbox and links in Evernote. I collect links on interesting projects of my style (fashion, minimal landing pages, interactive promos). When a project comes up, it’s easier to open ready-made references than to look for the same thing again.
It is very important to consciously analyze other projects and say it out loud. Why does this search look cool here? Oh what a cool hover. But you need to keep this footer for yourself. And here's some cool typography because... It's important to remember these pieces and use them in your next projects. If it’s difficult to remember, you need to take and save screenshots. And watch a lot, preferably foreign. Repeat, try, find your wave, your style.
11. Try different areasThe web is very cool, but I would also advise you to try everything: motion design, prototyping, interfaces, retouching, mobile applications, graphic design, photography, logos, magazine layout. It often happens that a related field works better, so it’s important to try everything to make sure you’ve done it right choice. Of course, you can and even need to be able to do all this a little bit at a time, but it is still important to eventually stop at one thing and go deeper. And when you get bored, go deeper into something else. I will not tire of repeating, the more experience in related fields, the faster the progress in any new business.
12. Go studyI hated school, I had a hard time getting through college (I studied to be an accountant), I didn’t study at university at all. You can take web design courses in your city, some information will be known, and some will be new and useful. In any case, this will provide a foundation, you will be able to ask the teacher, understand the field, hear answers to your questions, become a little more confident, and join the crowd. Live communication provides a lot of motivation and support. Well, the entrance to the party.
13. Work in another countryThis is probably not for beginners, but still. I’m not talking about “leaving the country,” just going to another country for a couple of months and returning a different person. This changes completely, it clears your head and makes you understand how huge the world is, and how much your war means nothing. This gives an incredible amount of motivation and confidence, new goals appear. Different people, different language, different approach, different country. And it's never too late to return to your city.
14. Set goalsI'm a fan of lists and notes, I write everything down. I believe that this frees up my head for the next thoughts (and I don’t forget anything and I don’t let anyone down). You can write down goals for six months, for example, draw 3 fakes by May, create a portfolio, find an internship by July, finish this project, start a blog, take courses in April, read two books by the end of the month, learn Illustrator by the end of the summer. Then break it all down into smaller goals and into weeks, and go back and re-read it every day so as not to forget where, and most importantly, why, you are going. I often hear the phrase “I’m not sure if this is mine.” Okay, but this needs to be checked. For example, set a goal for myself - if by the end of this year I don’t succeed and it’s no longer fun, I’ll start trying something else. And don’t doubt it until the end of the year, but run as quickly as possible. And closer to the target date, look at your feelings whether it’s yours or not.
You will be surrounded by people who say a lot of things. “You won’t be able to earn money from this, you’re too young, you’re too old, it’s very expensive, it’s not in our country, what will you live on, it takes a lot of time, it’s difficult, it’s not done like that, it’s done like this, here you do it wrong, and what kind of designer are you?” All this must be divided by two. Or better yet, twenty. Listen, but go your own way. It’s especially difficult when those closest to you say it, I understand. Mom said that I wouldn’t be able to make money from design, “but you know how much chief accountants get paid!” It was difficult, because I always did everything in character, in spite of it. Proving something to others is a good motivation, because first of all you prove to yourself.
16. Find supportIt's important to find something that calms you down. A person to look up to. A goal that warms. It could even be stranger, an idealized image from the Internet, the main thing is that when reading it, your insides calm down: “I can do it too, no matter what.” And don’t tell anyone about it, let it be private.
17. Don’t be afraid to make mistakesFortunately, our lives have absolutely no goals, so the only important thing here is to live these hundred years happily and in pleasure. Therefore, you shouldn’t worry too much or take anything too seriously. If something suddenly doesn’t work for a long time, give it up. An unloved job, a boring book, a difficult relationship. If you suddenly have a passion for being a designer, but after a year it somehow doesn’t work out, quit and do something new. The more you try, the easier it will be to make the right choice. I started doing a lot of things, dancing, calligraphy, photography, copywriting, programming, sewing (!), fashion design, magazine layout, video shooting, and gave up everything at some point. Yes, maybe it looked like I wasn’t finishing anything, but all these endeavors help in the end, without this experience I wouldn’t be where I am. It's normal to start and quit. And listen only to yourself, and not to social norms.
18. Make in your own wayIt is also important to accustom yourself to live by your own rules. Be a niche designer or do a little bit of everything. Want to get a Cannes Lion or not think about awards at all. Want to move to New York or develop design in your country. Take courses or study online. Discharge lowercase or be an adept of the classics. Communicate with designers or ignore them. Read about web design or publicly hate it. Swearing on Twitter or pretending to be decent. To be on Dribbble or not to be. Work in a small company or in a large network agency. Launch your own projects or work on others. Draw in Sketch or Photoshop. Prototype on paper or on a computer. To follow popular designers or not to follow. Make your choice. Don’t give in to general trends and always have your own opinion. Live by your own rules. Because nobody really cares.
19. Be patientHonestly, it's impossible to become good designer in a year. The rule is ten thousand hours of work and it’s funny that I got a job in New York in my tenth year of work. It is impossible to simulate this process; it takes time to go through the stages from junior designer to art director. This is not about Photoshop skills, but about inner confidence. In general, in two years you can reach a decent level, it’s a matter of motivation. But honestly, the most interesting things begin after these two years. And after about six years you are already approaching space. Therefore, it is important not to give up after a month of drawing, it is important to run and enjoy the process, a long process, and this is the very secret.
20. Yes, have fun!Well, of course, this is the basis of any professionalism. When work is not a pleasure, achieving heights is difficult, even unrealistic. Love what you do and do what you love. Try and start. Do not be afraid. Develop taste and self-confidence every day. Don't waste time. Set goals, achieve them and set new ones. A lot of drawing, looking, drawing, drawing. And always remember that you can achieve anything.
His goals and objectives, I received a lot of feedback and even more questions - how to become a web designer? How long will this take? What is better – face-to-face offline classes, or using online resources?
To clarify the situation for you, today I would like to talk about how you can master this profession and how to get trained in web design from scratch to become a strong professional.
Paths to becoming a designer can be divided into three main categories:
- offline studies at institutes, universities,
- independent studies using free resources and specialized literature,
- study online through paid courses, trainings, seminars.
Each of these directions has its pros and cons. How to correctly determine where to study web design from scratch and how to choose the right training program?
The first option is the most familiar and obvious. Various educational institutions now have design departments. There are courses with shorter deadlines - from several months to a year.
Traditional methods have their advantages, but at the same time they have rather strict limits. This method is more suitable for those who want to have a higher education diploma in the field of design, have enough time or prefer live contact with a teacher.
For those who simply want to expand their capabilities or change their type of activity, it is wiser to pay attention to more modern methods mastering web design based on free graphics.
Learning by ourselves - pros and consYou can learn web design on your own and use for this not only books and textbooks, but also a lot of free videos, presentations, and lessons posted online. There are modules developed by fans of their craft, which include a whole series of training materials. This option is good because it does not require special financial investments; the money will only be spent on paying for traffic.
However, this method has a number of significant disadvantages
Despite some difficulties, such training is accessible and used by many people, at least initially. The ability to study at a convenient time makes this method attractive for those who are busy with their main job or study.
However, I use such a free approach only as an additional one: to patch up holes in my professional activities, to understand some nuance. It is much more effective to receive comprehensive training from specialists.
Learning from a specialistThe second option is paid online courses taught by professional web designers online.
Today you can find enough such offers on the Internet. The learning process is based on the following principles:
- lessons are held immediately for a group of students,
- you can watch the lesson in real time or recorded at a time convenient for you,
- you complete your homework and receive feedback afterwards,
- the teacher answers all your questions and conducts individual consultations,
- As a result, you have a ready-made portfolio of your first works.
The advantage of this method is that you not only have direct contact with the teacher, but are also constantly in touch with your classmates. In addition, online training makes such training convenient for you in terms of time: it can be completed without interruption from work.
You can share examples of work, ask your own questions and answer questions from others. The productivity of group classes is always higher, and new acquaintances and connections among future colleagues can always be useful later.
Choosing a training programIt is quite difficult to select the best offers on the educational market for web design. A large number of trainings presented today on the Internet, offers various programs for different levels of training - from classes “from scratch”, starting with mastering the basics of Photoshop, to an advanced level, where various nuances of the profession are mastered.
As soon as you start looking for a course, you will come across a lot of offers on the Internet, the quality of which will not always be easy to understand. Whether it is worth taking online web design courses is a controversial question and does not depend at all on the method of training.
To avoid making a mistake in your choice, you should evaluate the options according to several criteria:
- cost - cheap is never good. A competent, carefully thought out product that takes a lot of time and effort to create cannot cost $20,
- deadline - they won’t make you a web designer in a month, especially if you are also busy with your main job or study. Mastering such a profession takes time. Although, you can easily get the basics on which you can already work remotely
- the number of students in the group - the smaller the better (this applies to full-time education). If the group is larger than 10-15 people, the teacher will not be able to devote the necessary time to each student. In the case of training through personal accounts, the number of students does not play any role at all
Want to learn how to become a web designer yourself? Or maybe you already have several of your own designs and would like to take your skills to a new advanced level? Then you are moving in the right direction right now, since the topic of the article is “Web design, where to start” and in it we will look in detail at all the necessary stages of preparing a web designer and will help you become a web designer yourself, with a little diligence and creativity.
One article, of course, cannot tell you how to become a web designer and talk about all the skills necessary tools and technologies you need to master on the way to your dream job. If you think that the path will be simple and fast, then I must disappoint you. Working as a web designer is about constant self-improvement, development and the pursuit of new trends and tendencies. But, despite all the professional difficulties, learning and gaining new knowledge is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this work.
First, a short lyrical digression for designers who accidentally wandered into reading this article. " I do web design", you've probably said this phrase to someone more than once and felt cold fear when they answered you something like: " Cool! Can you teach me how to do this? How to become a web designer from scratch?"Many people just assume they'll click a mouse, drag a couple of icons onto the screen, and the design is done. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. So, the next time someone asks you how to design websites, just show them this article.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to MotoCMS's guide for beginner designers. Grab your mice and sit back at your keyboard, this is going to be a long post. It's not necessary to brew coffee, but it's worth it.
Who is this article about web design for?This article is intended for everyone who is wondering “How to become a web designer on your own?” It will also be useful for people who want to start creating websites and have some experience in design and . Everything will be very accessible and step by step. The article is designed for the fact that you do not have any special artistic or technical education, no coding skills at all, and no experience in the web design industry.
Requirements for beginning web designersThe “minimum requirements” for people who are thinking about becoming a web designer and want to create their first website are quite simple. If you know what folders and graphic text files are, you can start.
However, although getting started is simple, creating a really good website is a real art. There are many skills that you will need to learn. You will need to learn about color theory, graphic hierarchy of elements, fonts, and general website organization.
Also, knowledge of the main coding languages, namely HTML and CSS, will be useful to you, we will also talk about this.
Next, you might want to learn some basic JavaScript programming and figure out how to use it to control different parts of your site. And desperate strikers who want to dig even further will be able to dive into content management systems, search engine optimization and marketing.
But you shouldn’t rush into everything at once, skills will come with experience and necessity, I’ll just try to point you in the right direction. And if you have read all the way to this part of the article, then I can safely say “Welcome to the wonderful world of web design, newbie. Be prepared to screw things up repeatedly and don’t forget to have fun!”
How to use this web design guide for beginnersRead it! This will be enough to get started. Make your first, most likely, clumsy website. Go back and read it again. Correct the mistakes. Repeat.
No, you probably don't want to read everything at once. There are many other resources, many different approaches that can be taken. It's okay, but I still recommend reading a little and trying to take the first steps.
You may know that most designers first use graphic editors, and only then give their projects to a coder for layout. Photoshop is the most commonly used tool, but designers also use programs such as Sketch, GIMP, Inkscape and Illustrator.
There's no doubt that you should try a few of them and use the tools that work best for you. However, if you want to create websites, then try to do it right away in their natural habitat - in the browser! Ideally, do this in multiple browsers - because people don't view websites in Photoshop and see them the way you do through a graphics editor interface.
The browser-based workflow has a number of other advantages:1) You see exactly what you are getting. Even professional mockups don't convey the interactive or animated parts of websites. By creating a browser-based design, you can see exactly how it works.
This is especially true when it comes to responsive design. (For the uninitiated, a responsive or adaptive design is one that displays correctly on different screens and devices, be it a mobile phone, tablet, or PC).
2) Browser-based design can make you a better designer. When you yourself know the whole process, you can understand what works and how it works, and prevent yourself from many mistakes. The nightmare of any designer (or layout designer who has to do this) working in, say, Photoshop is the subsequent “stretching” of it onto a live site.
In any case, here are some resources that may be useful when working with graphics editors.
Designing in the browser can change the way you work in many ways and encourage you to learn something new about HTML and CSS. Basically, the more you tinker with dirty code, the better you will understand how websites work. It won't make you an amazing designer; but this is a great start.
Skills you need to become a web designerIf you want to become a professional web designer yourself, you will need some special skills. In this section, we will answer the question “How to become a web designer on your own?” and also focus on the skills needed to actually design and create a website. Of course, you will also need business and communication skills, but that's a slightly different story. So, to become a web designer yourself, you need to know the following.
UX/UI design
User experience design, or UX design, is how the overall user interface will look and work. It's a process, it's a philosophy, and it's a lot of work. A truly good website can only be created by knowing what path a visitor takes on it, and how his behavior changes depending on changes in graphic elements.
More information about this can be found in the article “What is UX/UI design really? »
Aesthetic skillsAesthetics is a complex thing. It seems like a great color scheme for some people can look completely weird for others. Fonts that look “just right” for you in this place may not be liked by the customer at all. This seems very, very subjective, but still, each of these aspects has its own rules, which we will talk about now.
Font combinations and typography
The Internet is text. These are words. And these words should look amazing. However, there is more to typography than just choosing the right font. This is, first of all, ease of use. It is necessary to properly select and combine font sizes, types and styles in a design to create a graphic hierarchy in the design.
To take you “from A to Z,” I suggest looking through the book “Typography” by Emil Ruder. Reading can be quite long, so for those who want to immediately start practicing - short video on the topic, as well as (this is if suddenly you have already found a good example of text and would like to identify its font).
Once you've learned the rules of typography, you can try out some fonts for your project. There are actually a lot of good free fonts online, so take a look around.
Many people, including myself, choose their fonts from . Google fonts can be “embedded” into a website, and this is quite convenient. Moreover, you can use ready-made font combinations:
Other similar examples can be found on the Internet.
If you want to create your own Google font pairs, try the "Web Font Combinator". This is a tool that allows you to quickly preview font combinations in real time by changing the font, size, color, line width.
If Google fonts are not enough, then you can look at WebDesignerDepot, Fonts-online, and other sites.
Color theory and color schemesColor theory has little to do with the technical names of colors. If your client asks for fuchsia, but really wants hot Pink colour, the choice is yours. Color theory studies, first of all, the connection between color combinations and the emotions of the person who perceives it. This is real science.
To understand the basics of color theory, there are several excellent publications:
Required tools: Adobe Color CC
Remember that color theory is closely related to typography. For example, if the text color is too close to the color of the selected background, it will be difficult to read and visitors will most likely simply pass by that part of the site, or leave it altogether.
Composition and general organizationHow to become a web designer without knowing the basics of composition? No way! For me this part is perhaps the most important. After all, you can choose wonderful fonts, an excellent color scheme, and then simply mess with the correct arrangement of blocks, hierarchy and proportions and get “the most disgusting dish of excellent products.”
There are several useful publications on this topic, after which you get it right the first (or almost the first) time.
- Using the Golden Ratio and the Rule of Three in web design
We can talk endlessly about trends in web design. What role do they play? All customers, most likely, before coming to you, have already looked at several examples of cool fashion sites, and perhaps even read a couple of articles with web design trends. Knowing fashion and popular design elements is simply necessary in order to understand what they are asking for and to have something to offer them.
Since trends in web design are constantly changing, there is no point in citing any specific publications as examples. Here I can simply advise you to keep an eye on websites for web designers, here are some good examples:
- www.abduzeedo.com
- behance.net
- noupe.com
- webdesignerwall.com
- flickr.com
- wwwards.com
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. Every website you've ever looked at is built on HTML. HTML is the language that your browser uses to understand that a site contains text, an image, a link, a video, or other elements. Your browser then translates the code into what you see on your screen.
Another language that in simple words makes a website look beautiful is called CSS, which stands for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS tells the browser what font the text is set to and what colors are used. CSS, simply put, defines appearance your site (buttons, styles, colors, animation).
Learning these languages on your own, or at least getting a basic understanding of how they work, is quite easy. These are the simplest computer languages. However, they are also quite extensive and can be used in different variations to create stunning designs.
For those who want to start right now, we have selected two good textbooks with detailed lessons.
Once you know the basics, there are a truly amazing number of sites where you can learn more about how to become a web designer and teach yourself programming languages.
Live pouringReady to put your website on the Internet? Do you have a domain name (for example: mywebsite.com) and hosting (space on a computer permanently connected to the Internet or online hosting purchased from third-party providers)? Upload your files to your hosting, sit back, relax and...
What to do after launching the site Correct mistakes and finish what you forgot about
“Oh yes, that’s it... I definitely wanted to fix that.”- It happens to everyone. It is almost inevitable that after launching any website, errors will pop up. And the larger the site, the more likely it is that you missed a mistake or forgot something. For your convenience, here is a fairly detailed checklist:
Collect feedbackYou can't improve if you don't know where you made mistakes. Time and experience can teach you this, but others can teach you faster.
When you're trying to become a web designer from scratch and learning on your own, I encourage you to join communities to connect with other designers who can help you and give you professional advice.
The article was quite long, but it would have been difficult to fit it all into fewer words, so I would like to congratulate everyone who read to the end and sincerely thank you for your patience. If you want to learn more about web design training, or about specific tools and work strategies, write it in the comments, and we will definitely create more useful materials on the topic. Good luck to all!
And if you are ready to test your skills on a live project, and you need good hosting, as a bonus, you can buy hosting for a year from our partner Inmotion for just $1.
