The definition of Web Designer is quite possibly one of the most over-used and mis-interpreted labels in the I.T. industry. Website Design includes a lot of distinctive facets, and an understanding of these can help anyone thinking of getting in the marketplace. Fundamentally, there are 2 key sides to web-design; the creative side & the technical process. Many people assume a web designer is someone who is responsible for the visual aspects of the site. Meaning a web-designer is essentially an 'artist' who has had some technical training. However, a professional 'web-designer' will frankly be as occupied with the technical side of things as much as the creative element. If you break web design down into it's component tasks, then it becomes more apparent how each thing sits together.

First, there are the graphic artists, that design and put together the graphic icons & images which we see on any web page. They most frequently bring this about by using graphic layout and animation software (like Adobe 'Flash' and 'Photoshop'), and aren't really web site designers per-se. Virtually all graphic artists went to university, with a qualification in artistic drawing. This area is more about artistic ability than any other function.

Second of all, there are the web site designers, that work with design environments such as Adobe 'Dreamweaver' to generate the lay-out & feel of the website. They use the visuals created by the graphic-artist, and along with their client create an initial look & navigational composition for the brand-new website. An amateur web-designer tends to start with the form of a web-site, rather than the 'function'. To be able to develop an effective site though, its vital that you first look at what you essentially want the web-site to do. This might be a web based inventory of products and solutions, or possibly it's an e-commerce site that wants to have the ability to sell straight from the web page. Or potentially it will contain lots of video & heavy graphics. Then again it could be largely an informational web site, where it's essential to provide straightforward entry to relevant web pages of text. Regardless of what you require from a site, it must - at it's most elementary level - fulfil the 'function' for which its designed. Consumers will give up on a web site & not go back if it is too difficult to get around - however great it looks on the surface. A good web-designer must basically create an on-line 'experience' that's both pleasurable & instinctive for those coming to the web-site - that way they'll visit more than once.

Additional skillsets which are important to professional web-site designers are a knowledge of project-management and E-commerce. 'Search Engine Optimisation' (SEO) is another field which handles how the website is indexed with search engines like google - in order that it may be more easily found (this is almost a whole job in itself.) And although they generally originate from a network administration background, we should remember the incredibly valuable work of the web-server administrators & installers, who keep everything working behind the scenes.

The key tools used by web-site designers are the design environments, with 'Adobe Creative Suite' (currently in version 4 as of 2009/2010) staying the most popular commercially. Dreamweaver is the software that builds website pages, with Flash delivering access to interactive and animated 'graphical' content material. You could actually claim that Dreamweaver is the Word Processor of the Adobe Creative Suite series. Text and graphics can be layed (within certain parameters) and then a basic inter-activity can be established via page-linking. As with other web design environments, 'Dreamweaver' creates the program-code HTML in the background (HTML is short for 'Hyper Text Markup Language'). In essence, this language of web-browsers is actually a 'script' that draws & controls the web-page being viewed. Along with HTML are the lay-out tag 'languages' - such as XML & CSS. These tag languages allow more stream-lined 'HTML' code & more effective layout methods, which will work on multiple platforms (as they're 'standardised'). What this means is the page will look the same on Microsoft 'Internet Explorer', Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari etc. (at least, that's the plan!) Consequently though you're placing graphic-blocks and text, in the background, Dreamweaver is turning this in to 'code'. It is very important to have an in depth understanding of these various 'languages' if you would like be a web-designer at the commercial standard.

Of course you will find cross overs with a lot of these tasks - we ourselves have interactions with several web-designers who are competent in a lot of them. Nevertheless, it will take time to develop that level of knowledge. A web design course then that will equip you to enter the work-place should encompass the following - A basic introduction to web-design, and then how to use Adobe Dreamweaver & gain a basic understanding of Adobe 'Flash'. The languages of HTML & CSS need to be covered next, with a level of e-commerce instruction built-in here. PHP has to be mastered so 'dynamic' sites can be designed (ASP.NET is much more involved, and PHP is more straightforward to get into at first,) & a basic idea of Databases and SEO should be mastered. All this is just to reach a level of technical ability whereby you can deal with a wide enough variety of web sites. Just like taking driving lessons, you first have to learn the actual physical competencies, before you effectively push beyond them & achieve a degree of 'finesse'. The majority of trainees can get through a variable program like this inside a yr - based upon part-time study & practice of about 400-500 hours. An experienced advisor will be able to assist you to plan your way through this labyrinth of professional training, & we recommend that you take the time to plan your route with care before you start your training.

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