Overview
One thing about web design and development careers is that depending on the employer, your duties may differ. If you are just a web designer, you might just be concerned with what the web site is going to look like. If you are just a web developer, you might just have to worry about coding the web page. The strange part is sometimes the job title is just web designer but you would also be in charge of coding, and the same could be true if you are a web developer expected to also design the look of the site. That can get kind of confusing, but it seems that both titles of web designer and web developer more often than not require you to at least know how to do both jobs (assuming you don't know exactly who you are working for, or what they require of you specifically). So, for the sake of simplicity, any statistics I found that are for specific design or development will either be noted, or averaged with it's counterpart. Also, unless specifically mentioned as separate things, both web designer and web developers will be considered as one. If I say a web designer, unless I also talk about the developer, I mean both. It just becomes a mouthful to say.
Things You'll Need to Do
So, with web design, you create all the pretty boxes, background and color coordinate. The development part is making sure there is the proper coding there so when you hit a button it takes you to the proper place. That's about it right? Not necessarily.
With this particular field, there are a couple career routes you can go, and some of them mean having different duties.
A freelance web designer is someone who works on their own. Say a new small business opened up and they want a web site for their new business. One option they have is by contacting a freelance designer, either by having someone recommended to them, a website that offers services to connect clients and freelancers together, or by placing ads online (like Craigslist). A freelancer probably won't work for a client permanently. They'll design the website for the client, then move on. Sometimes, there can be several freelancers working on one project, one for design and one for development for example. Some do all the work on their own. Someone working freelance doesn't just have to worry about doing the work. They have to balance their personal life with this job. Since they work on their own, they have no bosses or time schedules, just deadlines given to them by their clients. They also have to be careful about money. They make have prices for their work, but if they don't get enough clients to pay the bills, they could get in trouble fast. They need to worry about how to keep clients coming to them fairly steadily.
Another route you can go is working for a business who provides web design and development services. A company like this might have some people who are in charge of the design aspect, and some who are in charge of development/coding. In addition, the company might have employees who are in charge solely of finances or communicating with the client.
Yet another route you can take is to work for a company who keeps you on their staff for the purpose of being a web designer. Think about it, Wal Mart has a web site. Who maintains that, an independent business who offers design services? Probably not. They probably have their own team of web designers and developers who work to keep the web site running smoothly.
There are a few different ways you can get into web design as a career, and while each employer or client may need different specific skills, it's probably a good idea to learn both sides (the design and development aspects) when going into this particular career.
Education?
Just like with any career these days, you need a good education, right? The answer is yes. Depending on how exactly you go about everything, someone is most likely going to want you to at least have an Associates degree of some kind. Some companies won't look to hire you unless you have a Bachelors, and some employers won't hire you unless you have a good portfolio (a collection of your work showcasing your skills), even if you have the education down.
Now what employers want as far as what degrees you have varies. Some might find a general graphic design degree acceptable, some might prefer one that is more specialized (something which colleges and universities are beginning to offer more of), or if you freelance you might need nothing more than a high school diploma (and maybe a portfolio to persuade your client he want's to deal with you).
How Much Can I Make?
Even though you might be passionate about a job, everyone still wants something that is going to pay well. We need to pay the bills, and everyone loves some extra spending money. So how much do web designers make?
This is a really hard to answer question. It depends on a few things. Statistics from sources around the web say that a web designer can make around $25,000- $60,000 a year. But this number can very depending on where you are (some states may have different wages, or cities with a higher standard of living may pay more), how much experience you have, and what exactly you do. If you do both the design and development aspects, you might get paid more than if you just did the development side. You also have to take into consideration that if you work for a company, do you get benefits? Vacation? And what about freelance? You will probably get paid differently than if you worked as part of a large company on a team.
There is a general idea of web design as a career. Despite seeming to be a specialized field, there is quite a bit of things you need to take into consideration. If you are interested in exploring more about this career, you can check out the links below.
Links About This Career
WetFeet: Web Design Career
This site contains the basics of what the career is. It has some very general information that due to the career itself, is somewhat vague. The vagueness is understandable due to the nature of Web Design. The salary for example may be different depending on if you freelance, work for a small business, or a large company, and if you just do the actual graphics, the entire website (including its back end programming), or even if you are just designing the web site and not continuing with the employer on maintaining it.
Web Designers 123
Web Designers 123 is a website where freelance web designers can go and register. "Webmasters", people looking to hire freelance designers, can register and post their needs and the freelancers can respond. The purpose is to create an easy way of connecting clients to web designers who after reading the clients post can determine if they would be suited for the job. The potential client would still be able to pick who they wanted to work for them, but it saves both parties valuable time.
Dustin Brewer: What is a Freelance Web Designer?
Here, a freelance web designer talks about what it's like being a freelance web designer. He covers all kinds of details about what it takes to be freelance, how to find work, and how you interact with clients.
Other helpful sites that you can look at if you have access to them (like most colleges have it set up where you can get access to these sites) are places like:
Oregon Career Information System (OCIS)
Washington Occupational Information Service (WOIS)
Or any other web site similar (most states probably have something similar).
Here is a fun little graph for you.
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