Tips for an Aspiring Web Designer
How many times have you heard the saying, "Find something you love and get paid to do it?" If I had a penny for every time I've heard that phrase I would be beyond rich. Truth is, most of us are creative or artists; we love building and making things. Unfortunately, getting paid to create can be difficult unless you're really great at it.
The internet has opened the door to a plethora of lucrative careers for creative people. One of the most popular careers of the Internet age is Web Design. If you've spent any amount of time online you've encountered web design, good and bad. The feel and look of a website is hand-crafted by Web Designers. People just like you are earning top dollar to design those websites.
If you're a techie with a passion for design and would love to break into the field of Web Design the good folks at http://soapagency.co.uk have some tips for you!
Study:
Maybe you have a natural talent? Perhaps you want to learn but can't afford a degree in design? Well, you can learn a lot online, for free. Treehouse, Lynda, Udacity, and even YouTube has some great content for aspiring Web Designers. Look for free online courses that show the basics of Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to start.
Get Connected:
Create accounts on Twitter and Facebook, follow other well known professionals in Web Design, ask questions and check out their work. Create an account on Behance and showcase some of your best designs, which leads to my next tip...
Create an Online Portfolio:
Create an online portfolio which showcases all of your best work, paid and unpaid. If you want to make money in Web Design you have to showcase your skills. Potential clients want to know what you're made of so only put your best online.
Web Development:
The top paid professionals in Web Design also know how to turn their designs into a living, breathing, website. Learning how to translate your stunning designs into HTML and CSS will take you a long way. Proficiency in Javascript, JQuery, Ruby, SQL, and Java isn't a must but being able to do more than create a design and pass it on to the developer on your team means higher pay for you. Also, when you understand the code behind the design you'll be able to design better.
If you consider yourself an artist Web Design is a rewarding career choice that doesn't require years of school to get a job.
With just a little bit of patience, a lot of zeal, and a fair share of hard work you can actually get paid to do something you love.