new to web design, where to begin?

dan87676

Junior Member
Hello there,


My name is Dan I'm 27 years old from north-east England. I'm new to the forums, have been reading the last week and seems like a very helpful supportive community so I thought I'd register and post up a question.

What does it take to get into web design? can it be pretty much self taught and what is the best way of going about it? I know basic html and css but thats about it at the moment.


Cheers

Dan
 
Dan, one of the most important things that you need is a portfolio of websites that you've designed to showcase your work.

So if you're starting out, do some websites for friends or family either for free or at a reduced rate so that you have something to show prospective customers :)
 
Dan where did you learn html and css??Web design is pretty much about creativity after when you know better in web design.I refer you w3schools.com i think it will be helpful for you.
 
dan87676 said:
Cheers mate :)

Are you a web designer?

Nope, illustrator. Sorry. As far as advice goes, the most transferable advice has been mentioned. Get a portfolio together and get it online, and do any work you can get even if it's for free for the time being.
 
Hi Dan,

I recommend getting to grips at first with HTML, CSS, Javascript and some basic PHP will help. You will then need to learn how to use programs such as Photoshop and Text Editor or similar, o yeah theres plenty more and EVEN more hard work.
 
I am completely self taught and I consider myself a front-end web developer. I'm proficient with HTML, CSS and am more than capable of implementing javascript (jQuery).

I never bought a book and never had any formal education or even a friend/unofficial tutor of some kind. The internet is full of so many resources it's unbelievable.

My advice to you, based off of what my own experience, would be to find tutorials anywhere and every where. Complete them all, even if you think it covers things you've already done. Set up a folder on your desktop to store completed tutorials and try to complete a couple each day, schedule depending. This works for learning most programs, so includes not only learning web development but graphic design too.

As well as following tutorials, start reading articles on web and graphic design. There are some great blogs out there with articles regarding current trends, design theory, inspirational sites and much more.

I like to think of learning about graphic design as a hobby, something that's interesting and so I do a lot of it in my spare time.

Good luck :)
 
dan87676 said:
Hello there,


My name is Dan I'm 27 years old from north-east England. I'm new to the forums, have been reading the last week and seems like a very helpful supportive community so I thought I'd register and post up a question.

What does it take to get into web design? can it be pretty much self taught and what is the best way of going about it? I know basic html and css but thats about it at the moment.


Cheers

Dan

All you need is TIME....
Learning web design like learning any design discipline - it's not difficult but you have to put the hours in. If you're not going to take a course then start with the basic principle of "if you want to learn about farming go to live on a farm". So if you want to learn about web design start living on the web - and take it to bits.

Which sites work well ? Why ?
Which sites do you want to return to ? Why ?
Which sites have most traffic ? Why ?

Now think about tools. The web is built with some pretty basic tools. HTML, PHP and Javascript are the big guys - these are languages. But they're not languages like French or Japanese (which are huge) these are tiny little languages which follow very basic rules. They are 'objct oriented' languages and you can learn the principles of OOP (object oriented prgramming) in two minutes. It goes like hits: If this, then that - else - if the other then the other. ) no joke - that really is it. But learning to tell a computer to think like that (in code) can take a while. Start with a few basic tutorials - just google "Kirupa" and take your pick from the lessons.

You'll need some space on the net to test out your creations (can be had for free with google and yahoo etc) and before long you'll need to learn about FTP (file transfer protocol) but it's child's play so no worries. All you need to know about images is that they need to be 72dpi (dots per inch) and if you have an eye then great - if not - go back to school and take A level art at adult college.

Once you have your head around HTML look into php (very powerful) and SQL (database stuff) then Javascript (cool front end stuff) and maybe Flash (animation and deeply cool, powerful application building).

But.... don't expect to know much in a day - it's like anything - confusing and opaque at first but the harder you work, the luckier you'll get.

Best wishes
Monty

PS - php is the future and I can very much recommend this forum:
PHP Discussion Forum List • PHP Developers Network
A decent php developer can make £350 a day in London - learn it - love it !
 
As posted above, definitely build up a portfolio - get your own site online. Build sites for friends, family or local charities. No one will buy anything from you unless they can see examples of your work.

Then I would say learn to use one of the major Content Menegment Systems (CMSs) e.g. Wordpress or Joomla. Wordpress is probably the most popular ( although I use Joomla, just because that's what I got into first)

An ebook I found invaluable for improving my CSS skills was: CSS: the Missing Manual

I knew very little about CSS until I read this, and will still use it today as a reference.

Obviously you need to know HTML, but really there's not a lot to it nowadays as CSS and/or teh CMS will do most of the work.

All the best.
 
Hi Dan, I started out a couple of years ago by doing open university courses. They helped loads, then I bought lots of books and learned more by myself. I did 2 short courses out of a possible 6 which made up a qualification, they've now been merged into 2 larger courses, here's the link to the first one:
TT284 - Web technologies - Open University Course
Hope that helps. Rach
 
Hi Dan, I haven't read the rest of the posts except yours!

My recommendation.... steer clear from web design and get into Plumbing or something, more money and less competition ;) there's too many 'designers' nowadays!
 
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