How to Become a Web Designer At Home

Have you ever visited one of your favorite websites and wondered how it was made? Or maybe you’re a creative person with a keen eye for detail, and you’ve thought about learning how to create unique websites yourself? Either way, learning web design might be an excellent fit for you. This exciting field combines elements of graphic design and computer programming; you’ll need to ensure your web pages are visually appealing while also knowing how to code them properly to avoid bugs and glitches. It’s also a career that you can easily do entirely from home, which is more important than ever for many workers.

Let’s dive in and learn more about how you can begin your new virtual career path as a Web Designer. 

What is Web Design?

Web design is a skillful blend of visual design and technical expertise to develop appealing and accessible web pages for both businesses and individuals. The first step towards designing a website is called coding, which tells a computer how to do what we want it to. There are hundreds of computer programming languages, but some are better suited than others for web design. The most popular languages for web design include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python. 

Coding a web page is important, but it’s only half the battle. The site also has to look attractive and function intuitively; otherwise, people will search elsewhere for another product that has a better website. This is where User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design come into play. UX is concerned with how people interact with the websites and apps they use and aims always to create the most positive experience possible. It also involves a great deal of market research to understand what consumers want most in a design. On the other hand, UI focuses more on the visual aspects of a product. Essential components of UI design include color theory, layout and composition, and typography. 

Steps to Become a Web Designer at Home

There are a handful of steps you’ll need to take to start a career as a Web Designer. These events might happen simultaneously or in a completely different order, but they are equally important to consider as you start down this path.

1. Choose your learning style. If you want to learn web design from home, there are plenty of options out there, but narrowing them down requires some self-reflection. Are you disciplined enough to self-pace your studying, or do you need the structure of a class to keep you accountable? Do you prefer to learn in person in a traditional classroom, or would you rather engage in virtual learning so you can remain in the comfort of your home? There are no right or wrong answers, but it’s crucial to recognize your unique needs so you can find the tools that suit you best.
   
   
2. Learn to code. Computer programming is a huge part of web design, and learning to code can feel like a daunting task. You can always learn more languages as your career progresses, but JavaScript is a great place to start if you hope to become a professional Web Designer.
   
   
3. Boost your UX and UI skills. Programs like Adobe XD, Sketch, and Figma are commonly used for UX and UI Design. You can find free trials for some of these programs, so you can try them all before deciding which one you prefer, though it might be worth looking at job postings to see what programs are the most in-demand before you make a purchase.
   
   
4. Practice and build a portfolio. To keep your coding skills sharp, you can get an account on a website like GitHub and add the projects you create there to a portfolio. As a budding web designer, you may want to create a website that displays all of your work in one place!
   
   
5. Begin the job search! While it can take some time to break into a completely new career, you can still earn extra money as a Web Designer by offering your services to local businesses. This allows you to create your own schedule so you can still devote time to applications and interviews, but it still provides opportunities to practice your new skills. 

Web Design Careers

Web designers can work in nearly any industry since their goal is to help attract more traffic to their client’s websites, regardless of what they’re selling. According to Indeed, a Web Designer earns an average annual salary of about $51,000. This amount will significantly increase if you become a Senior Web Designer or a Design Director as you progress in your career. 

Another career path that requires experience with web design is something called digital design. This umbrella of professions includes web designers, but it also encompasses those who work with graphics and visual effects. These skills are frequently employed when designing websites, but digital designers can also work in marketing and game/mobile application development. Digital Designers can make an average salary of about $97,000 per year, but this varies widely depending on where you live. 

One of the most exciting aspects of these careers is the job security they’re sure to provide. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, careers in web design will be one of the fastest-growing jobs in the next ten years. Over 50% of the global population has internet access, and this number is expected to continue to rise. Therefore, skills in web design should continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future. 

Books and Virtual Resources to Learn Web Design

There are several popular books that can help you learn the fundamentals of web design. Books are especially affordable if you can take advantage of your local library, but it may be worth purchasing a few to refer back to as you move forward in your education. You Don’t Know JS by Kyle Simpson is a set of books related to JavaScript, a necessary skill when learning web design, and you can read them for free on GitHub. Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug is another excellent read that will help you better understand common web design mistakes so you can avoid them yourself!

Additionally, you can search for videos and tutorials on YouTube. If you go this route, it’s important to ensure you’re viewing relatively recent videos since industry-standard software and trends are changing quite rapidly in the digital space. Finally, Udemy offers a handful of self-paced video courses that discuss topics like web design, Photoshop, and WordPress.

All of the above resources are great ways to get your feet wet, but research shows that the best way to learn a new skill is through project-based learning. Web design classes and bootcamps are an intensive way to master a new skill quickly, and the best ones will heavily emphasize hands-on projects to prepare you for your new career. 

Learn Web Design with Noble Desktop

If becoming a Web Designer sounds like your dream job, boosting your skills by taking some classes is a great place to start. Noble Desktop offers multiple web design courses. Noble is committed to small class sizes to ensure that students receive the individual attention they need, whether you choose to learn remotely or in-person at their Manhattan campus. The school also offers free retakes of their courses within one year to make sure you’ve retained the information. 

Noble Desktop offers shorter courses that cover more specific aspects of web design. For instance, they have a Web Development with HTML & CSS class to teach students to code basic web pages. They also have an Adobe XD Bootcamp and a Sketch Bootcamp as part of their programming. These classes teach students to create appealing visual designs for their web pages. Finally, Noble Desktop also has some more extended certification programs available. They offer a UX & UI Design Certificate and a Web Design Certificate, which help students create robust portfolios of their designs to help impress recruiters when they are ready to enter the workforce.