Job Description of a Web Designer
A Complete Job Description of a Web Designer
A web designer does many things, whether it be helping a web developer on a project or designing the best layout for the homepage. Here is a list of duties, skills, and salary of a professional web designer.
So What Does A Web Designer Do From Day to Day?
If you want to be a professional web designer then here is a generalization of what duties you will be doing from day to day. These are the typical duties when working for a fortune 500 company or corporation.
- Listen to the director of the corporations and make sample websites that achieve the targeted goals of the director
- Work toward company goals of a company that caters to a specific niche market.
- Work hand in hand with the web development team to achieve the best results when designing a website.
- Work on multiple projects at a time and have them done by a specific deadline in an efficient manner.
- Be a great team player that works well with other towards a common goal.
- Use CSS and HTML for carrying out projects.
Benefits of Being a Professional Web Designer
Being a professional web designer has many perks not only in the job world but also in the freelance world. Benefits such as good retirement plans, paid time off, and an opportunity to move up the corporate ladder. Here is a list of great benefits given to web designers from their jobs.
- Paid Time Off: An average web designer has usually around 9-12 holiday days per year.
- A Good Retirement Plan: Includes a 401K plan.
- Health Insurance: A great health insurance package for you and maybe even your family.
- A possibility of promotion in the company for higher pay.
How Much Does a Web Designer Make On Average?
There are three positions associated with being a professional web designer. These positions include a Senior Web Designer, Junior Web Designer, and Associate Web Designer.
Associate Web Designer usually makes anywhere from $45,000 to $65,000 dollars per year.
Junior Web Designer who are more experienced make around $55,000 to $80,000 a year in a good company.
The Senior Web Designer is the most highly paid professional of them all, making anywhere from $80,000 to $90,000 dollars a year.
What First Steps You Can Take to Start Your Web Designer Career Path:
Now that you have a clear understanding of a job description of a web designer, you can take the first steps to achieving success and maybe even getting a highly paid job in the future! Start learning basic code HTML and CSS and learn the building blocks of every webpage on the internet. I highly recommend this top selling book called 
For More Great Information Regarding Web Design Visit
- Web Design Blog - Helping you Succeed in Web Design
The ultimate source for a web designer looking for an informative web design blog that helps you become better and more successful as a web designer.
Comments
That often is the way. When you design for yourself, there is little chance that your designs will be ruined by an over-enthusiastic secretary who thinks that she can "improve" your site by adding content in all the wrong places. (A constant problem when employers want to see live URL's for your portfolio).
In my experience, there's always a difference between the designer and the developer. The designer is the guy who does the UI and the developer is the guy who does the back end. Ideally, it's good to have skills in both with a concentration on one.
If you wind up working for a corporation developing and designing websites, you're going to have to learn either their process life cycle or understand if they're into an Agile approach - it will make a difference on how you work and what the requirement will be for your website.
You will also need to develop a thick skin and get used to working with people who will test your site for you (Quality Assurance). Depending on the quality guidelines this could also affect how you design/develop your site. There are a million little details that larger corporations insist on and you will need to remember that you'll rarely end up with the design you started with (things like content changes, accommodating for the visually impaired, making the site workable through "readers", and understanding how they want you to use their brands and trademarks).
If you're smart and if you're lucky you'll start out at a small shop where you can get a bit of cross pollination in your skillsets and then you can take your portfolio and move to larger places... or vice versa. Many people who have worked in larger shops often go to smaller ones because the larger shops are much more restricting.
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I agree, however web design can be used also as part of your assets and not just your career. I would suggest designing your own websites and blogging with it. This could serve as a benefit because you know how to design websites and don't have to pay anyone else to do it for you.
Great article.
The good news regarding web design is that you can make a lucrative career from it. The bad news is that you need to constantly keep on your game by renewing and padding your portfolio and tech skills. But if you have the passion for it, you won't have a problem with it.
If you really want to break into the industry, it's like anything else that requires a portfolio, you might need to do some free work or some mock sites to show your skills for an interview.
But, more than anything else, bear in mind that the competition is fierce. Your rates will be weighed against offshore resources and you'll need to keep on top of your skills to be nimble.
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