The number of hits that a web site scores partly depends on the design of web pages. Web designing is a creative job profile and perfect for you if you are adept at computers and creatively endowed.
Web Designer Salary Ranges
Web designers are generally in a dilemma about what to charge their clients and fair pricing. There is always an issue of charging too much and delivering little or vice versa. It becomes a perplexing task to decide on a fixed rate. Therefore, one cannot pin point a definite salary for web designers. It generally varies with the clients that you work with, your quality of work and specifications.
Generally, the starting salary for a web designer could be anywhere between $25 and $50 per hour. These figures would obviously increase with time and experience and quality of your work. The annual web designer salary ranges from $51,750 to $74,520 according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics.
Median web design salary earnings are estimated to be approximately $59,894. Web designing comes with many different job titles like a graphic designer, project manager, web designer director etc. The salary range varies with these job titles. As a graphic designer your average salary would be around $45,340. As a project manager or an assistant design director, you could earn a little more. Web design directors generally earn up to $80,000 annually. So, as a web designer you can earn good money and the future prospects for web designers look bright.
Web Designer Job Profile
As a web designer, your job entails designing a client’s website. Graphic designing forms a major part of web designing. Of course it is important that your design blends in with the aesthetics, ideas and themes behind a website.
A web designer first has to discuss the ideas and point of view of the clients. Generally a client or a web producer will have a concept or a theme ready. It is a web designer’s responsibility to design and give the website the required look and style and make it look appealing to the viewer.
After a concept of the web site is finalized upon, the web designer has to make use of all the text documents and images that form the main bulk of the website and make them visually appealing. Web designers need to have decent knowledge about software and graphic designing.
As a web designer you should be good with your communication skills as well since this job also involves interacting with the clients and trying to understand their ideas and putting forth your ideas. Without good communications skills, there could be a lot of misunderstandings and the clients would be left dissatisfied.
Academic Background for Web Designers
To be web designer, you need to have an academic background in the fine arts or graphic design with certain qualifications in computer science. Since, HTML is the core language required for designing a web page; many people learn HTML on their own along with other required computer skills and may begin designing web sites. But clients generally prefer web designers with related academic qualifications. Web designers need to have mastered various graphic packages like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Adobe Illustrator, and Paint shop pro along with Flash, HTML, XML, XHTML programming along with a variety of other computer languages.
With the number of companies launching their own websites, the demand for web designers is rapidly increasing. Many web designers often start their careers working as graphic designers or sometimes as layout artists for different firms and publishing companies.
Web designers are advised to create their work portfolio to show their potential employers. As a web designer, you could work as a freelance designer on a contractual basis or you could be a self employed web designer and put up your own website over the World Wide Web showcasing your designing skills.
Web designing is a challenging and a demanding job and you need to be flexible with your working hours and style since there will be many deadlines to match and expectations to be met. You need to be prepared for erratic schedules and tight deadlines. It is a highly creative field which can stimulate your creative streak and is very satisfying. So, if you are highly creative and love designing along with good computer knowledge, then web design is the job for you, where the work is highly satisfying and the money is good too.
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