It's no coincidence that even stodgy conservative companies have been rolling out creative new designs for their websites and apps. There's an online design revolution taking place that's increasingly seeing the battle for market share being won by design, not product. Companies big and small can can simply no longer be content to sit on the sidelines and think of good web design as a mere "nice-to-have". Opportunities abound -- all you need is an eye for aesthetics, and an eagerness to learn new skills. Skills that will set you up for a career that's certain to be in high demand for the foreseeable future.
Develop attractive designs for websites, logos, and apps. Artists, illustrators, and animators rejoice. The first step in developing an attractive online look is mocking it up the old-fashioned way: in other words, draw it, no programming abilities required. Web designers use any of Photoshop, traditional photography, and yes even hand-drawings to create designs that meet client needs.
Write computer code that converts a finished design to a usable interface. Some web designers only concern themselves with the artistic element of putting a look together, while others produce the "mark-up", which is the computer code (e.g. HTML) that actually brings the design to life on a website or smartphone app. It's an area where the roles of web designers and web developers begin to overlap.
Discuss the advantages and drawback of various design options with clients. Too many clients want to rush to create the aesthetic of their dreams, but web design is a world where it's best to measure twice and cut once. Producing the mark-up is a time-consuming and tedious process, and much wasted effort can be avoided by first spending time talking over the merits of various designs with a client.
Monitor performance metrics and squash bugs. While launching a new design is a major milestone, web design projects often don't end there. Some bugs are inevitable, as are client requests for modifications, not to mention new smartphone features and screen resolutions that require revisions to the code.
The sky's the limit when it comes to web designer compensation, and is largely dictated by, well, how GOOD you are at it. The median wage in 2012 was $62,500 per year, but the top 10 percent of earners topped $105,200, and the demand for quality web design has exploded in the 3 years since the Department of Labor published those statistics. Hourly rates of $100 to $150 for freelancers are typical, and salaries for full-time positions in Silicon Valley regularly reach into the six figures.
How do I become a Web Designer?
Education Requirements. Web design and development are fields where traditional educational prerequisites are largely unimportant (though most employers will want to see at least a high school diploma.) It's a meritocracy: produce attractive, modern designs with clean code, and which work on all screen sizes, and you'll never be out of work again. Thorough knowledge of HTML is important: even web designers who concern themselves only with the artistic component need to understand what technical limitations exist at the coding level: drawing the world's greatest design is of little value if it's not something that can be faithfully rendered by today's browsers and smartphones.
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