Where to start learning design. Where to start learning web design. One comment on ““ Where to start learning web design ””

I would like to tell a short story that fits like an epigraph to this article. About two years ago I was looking for a DVD disc in layouts. What was needed was a collection of design programs in which, in addition to Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Flash, Adobe Dreamweaver and Adobe Illustrator, there would be CorelDraw, and several programs for and ... It was too lazy to search and download everything individually from the Internet, and then burn to disk.

Having explained to the seller that I needed a disc for a web designer, I received several DVD collections. The lists of programs in the description of the disks repeated each other, the stickers only were different. Compiled by people who were far from web design, there was nothing suitable. Having handed over the wheels to the seller and saying “thank you”, I was about to leave, but the guy stopped me. He probably thought that I was just composting his brains and decided to bring me to clean water. He asked what exactly did not suit me in all of his discs. To which I patiently explained to him that on each disk there is only a part of the programs I need, and "there is not even Photoshop on this."

And then the guy shone. With self-esteem and from the height of his design experience, he explained to me what professionals do websites in Dreamweaver. And the rest of the programs are needed for pontorez like me. He was so happy from the knowledge that overwhelmed him that I was even sorry to interrupt him and report that the HTML layout of the site in Dreamweaver’s is just one of the stages of website development, far from the first and not the last.

I was tormented for a couple of days with remorse that I ruined the guy’s mood. However, maybe this will push him to engage in self-education, rather than selling layout disks. At least, I made my contribution to his career, then it is up to him to decide.

But back to the topic of the article. So, where to start learning about web design, what programs a web designer should know, what is better to learn in-depth, is it worth going to courses. First things first.

Where to start learning web design?

With the installation of Adobe Photoshop and the purchase of Photoshop tutorial. Knowledge of Photoshop is a must for any designer, this is the standard. Even if you plan to do flash-animation or 3D-graphics in the future, you cannot do without Photoshop. There are no designers who cannot in the photograph or.

Only reading a book or just experimenting with brushes and filters will not produce results. Without a good theoretical background from reading books, you are doomed to invent a bunch of bicycles. Mostly with square wheels.

But only reading a self-instruction manual, without fixing theoretical information in practice, will also give nothing. After a week, what is read is forgotten.

No need to buy a thick book more than 1000 pages - you will never read it to the end. The fact that the "Bible of Photoshop" will be on the shelf does not add practical knowledge to you. Go to the bookstore, flip through all the books that are there. Choose the most understandable for you and not the most subtle.

The main thing is to understand all the possibilities of Photoshop, which in general can be done with the help of this powerful program. More detailed knowledge on the necessary topic can be easily found on the Internet, in the blogs of practicing designers. But some on-line Photoshop lessons will not replace reading a book - there will remain knowledge gaps that will constantly pop up and interfere with your work.

Is it worth going to courses?

There is no definite answer, a matter of taste. Courses are a saving of time and effort, but they cost money. Learn any technology, including and Photoshop, you can do it yourself on tutorials and articles on the Internet, but it will take a lot more time. It’s hard to ask the book how to make it “so it was like this and so it wasn’t”. And I want to ask. Therefore, I personally advise you to read a thin book on Photoshop a little, and when you figure it out, what is the difference between a brush and a stamp, when questions accumulate and creative ideas appear, go to courses. Money invested in education always pays off. In addition, time is money, and the faster you become a professional web designer, the sooner you can make money.

What to learn after Photoshop?

For a web designer, it’s important to know at least the basics of HTML and preferably CSS. This does not mean that a web designer should be able to layout sites. But he must realize how difficult it is to implement his creative ideas in code. For most sites, the cost and timing of their development is important, because simple ideas will accelerate the creation of a site layout, layout and installation of a content management system. But if you have enough strength to learn how to make websites of high quality, this will only be a plus both when compiling a resume and when working as a freelancer.

Web designer can not do without the ability to make animation. There are a lot of ways to create it: from traditional GIF-animation and Flash, to a new development, which in the near future should become a serious competitor for Adobe Flash. You can animate images even with scripts and CSS.

If you can in a couple of days, after reading one or two articles, then the study of Flash and Silverlight technologies will take several months and even years. But the result is worth it. Flash animators have long been in demand on the labor market for a long time, and there are almost no specialists versed in the dynamically developing Silverlight technology. So without bread and butter they will not remain.

No less promising and monetary is the area of \u200b\u200b3D animation. Modeling three-dimensional objects using programs Autodesk 3ds Max  and Maya  more and more often used when creating serious sites. Good specialists in 3D modeling and animation have been studying for years, so you should not count on a highly paid job after reading a couple of lessons or even a whole book.

But if you do not try to do anything and do not set serious goals, you can sell discs all your life.

Before starting a career as a designer, almost every beginner has a lot of questions that cannot be answered due to lack of experience. What knowledge a web designer should possess, what programs need to be mastered, how much time should be devoted to training, how to acquire professional skills, where and how to look for a customer, how to hand over finished work - I tried to answer these and some other pressing questions in this article.

1. What knowledge does a web designer need?
In general, for starters, I would advise you to read some sensible. To begin with, you just need to scroll diagonally, stopping at those points that are understandable. At the initial stage, it is important to understand “what is on which shelf”, what is the general theoretical structure. And later on, gradually turn to her for more detailed explanations on a specific issue with a deeper study and understanding of the material. That is, in fact, it should be such a workbook that should always be at hand.

In particular, basic knowledge of and web design is needed. Special attention should be paid to such a concept as a "website", it and the principles of existence on the Internet. By the way, on my site you will find a lot of theoretical material that will help you get the necessary initial knowledge.

Another area that needs to be understood is. Even if you are not going to typeset yourself, you still need to understand how the site is being layout. This will help you not to make mistakes at the creation stage. The basics of programming are optional. And it would be nice to understand, since it is on this platform that most sites work.

2. What programs need to be mastered
  In this matter, I adhere to minimalism. I sincerely believe that in order to make a normal design, it is enough to know. However, this program must not be mastered at the beginner level. And so you have to spend time studying it. All other programs are optional. For layout, a standard Notepad is enough.

3. How much time to devote to training
  In general, everything is very individual in this matter. I had it in two stages. At first I learned how to use Photoshop and I began to get advanced. In time it took well maybe three or four months. After that, the thought appeared that everything, now I am a designer and I can create sites. I tried to design the site and I didn’t succeed at all. Everything looked very mediocre and clumsy.

Then I gave up trying to do something and just began to study the work of other designers. I literally with a magnifying glass examined how the sites I liked were made, sorted them by bones. Along the way, I continued to study the tutorials, but not really straining. And after a month of looking at it, I really had a quantum leap and somehow I easily made two simple websites, one of which I immediately bought.

So, we can say that after about 4-5 months of training, fairly strong design skills and an adequate understanding of the design process itself are already appearing. But of course, provided that during all this time you really engage in self-education, train, study theory, try.

4. What is the best way to acquire practical skills
  To start, I definitely recommend copying your favorite sites. But only as a workout! Do not reinvent the wheel. Just try to do as well. I assure you, it will turn out quite differently, not like on the original. And the next step, I would advise you to take some high-quality free theme or template and thoroughly understand the code. In order to try to manage design elements. Then this parsed code can be used as the basis for future designs.

5. Things to take care of in advance
  Be sure to take care of two things. Firstly, you should definitely get an online account to accept funds for paying for your services. Now this is not a problem - there are many online wallets and accounts. And secondly, you should definitely place your own somewhere. Well and accordingly. If there are no finished works, do the work for yourself and put it in the portfolio.

6. How to determine the rates
  My advice to you, be sure to determine your prices before communicating with customers. There is nothing worse when a customer is knocking on you, and you are forced to answer something inarticulate when asked how much it costs. And even better, there was a page with prices for your various services. It is convenient for both you and the customer. And yet, never overcharge, at least initially. While you are a beginner it is better that the price is ten percent lower than similar generally accepted rates.

7. How to look for a customer
  For starters, do not neglect the traditional methods of search by the customer. You can register in all kinds of popular freelance exchanges and arrange your page there with a description of services and examples of work. In principle, it is likely that you will find a customer there. Although, it seems to me that you can wait a long time. Because they primarily turn to the top freelancers. But I will not argue.

But there are, as it seems to me, more effective ways. Pay attention to the SEO forums. They are mobile guys and all the time they need some landing pages, splogs or pps feeds. Therefore, they are very interested in design services. Almost any major forum has a Design section. Carefully study this section, see what works are sold there, at what prices. Do something similar and put up for sale there. I did just that in due time.

In principle, if you strain up and show imagination, then it is not so difficult to find a customer. For example, at one time I had the idea of \u200b\u200bdoing redesigns of working sites on the Internet that have a completely useless design. And then offer the owners to buy a new design, if you like it, of course. The main thing is not to sit around and not wait for the customer to line up with you. At first, you yourself have to work hard in search.

8. How to communicate with the customer
  And finally, you have a potential customer who is interested in your services. At this stage, try to find out as much as possible what the customer wants to see as a result. I always ask the customer to show the sites on the Internet that he likes. And also to ask about what he definitely would not want to see. And yet, never underestimate the deadlines for the order, no matter how much you would like it! It’s better to throw a couple of days for insurance and hand over the work earlier than annoying the customer, stretching the time.

9. What is the order fulfillment mechanism
  My interaction with customers was as follows. First, I receive the terms of reference (TOR) from the customer. Then for some time (usually from three days or more, depending on complexity) I do the work and provide the customer with a site layout in jpeg. Usually this is the main page, the post page and the sub page. Sometimes the main page is enough, but you need to agree on this with the client in advance.

If the client approved the layout, then I begin to typeset. At this stage, you can take a prepayment, but I usually do not. I prefer that the work be paid after delivery. If only because it is very incentive to finish the order. After the site is made up and tested, I give the client an archive of the finished site with installation instructions (if it is WordPress). After that, the client pays for the work done.

Sometimes they ask whether it is necessary to insure somehow that you will be thrown for money. In principle, no one is safe from this. Therefore, for starters, look at the history of the existence of your client on the Internet. What sites does he have, where does he live, what is his reputation, how accessible is he. If the client is doubtful, then refuse and do not take risks. If you still threw money, then try to take it easier. At least you only got the cost of one order, but now you know for sure that you will no longer work with this client.

10. How to keep yourself in good shape
  Once you have the basic skills in creating designs, try to gradually expand your technical arsenal. Try to keep track of all the innovations in the web design industry and quickly introduce new chips into your designs. Now there are a lot of manuals and tutorials with which it is very easy to learn all the innovations. Firstly, it contributes to your professional growth, and secondly, it will make your designs modern and more competitive.

PS. The guard. Did you know that the design of the site Seo Studio www.nsk-seo.ru from Novosibirsk, successfully engaged in website promotion, is made in the style of minimalism.