Earning a Living as a Web Designer

Jowo_2

Has anyone worked in this field (front end web design, not development)?

My pal is contemplating a college course to learn the basics but hears it can be tough to earn a living, particularly in a freelance capacity, due to over supply.

Also, because on freelance websites where they bid for work, they are competing with people overseas who will do it at much lower cost.

dseventy

Sounds about right. I have a 6-month lease for my companies web-site, always fierce competition to take it on. I nail the web-design companies to the ground. The money I pay for the up-keep is 50% less than 2 years ago and it does 200% more business.

There is always someone else better than you, who will do it cheaper to a higher spec.

Sorry!

D70

timberford

I work for a web agency and while I don't do any of the front end design (I program) I know that the designers we have earn a good salary.

Typically most of the designers we hire have successfully freelanced on their own first and we have had some leave to go back to it.

Have a look at the recruitment sites and you'll see the typical wage a web designer can expect to earn depending on experience.

DVardysShadow

Pal should stick with the day job. In about 1996, the headlines were for £800 per day on html. No doubt there was exaggeration, but there was very good money. But it is money for old rope, hence an oversupply. But equally there will be demand for people who can do some front end but who major on the back end and server interfaces.

If he is determined, I would say the way to go is to stick with the day job and do a couple of short courses. He should then practice with the aim of creating a few portfolio type websites which do some server based database interaction and demonstrate sound grasp of principles. These should be left running on the public internet and the links given in a cv.

purplerose

I set up a small web design business aimed at making simple sites for small businesses about 7 years ago when I was at college and gave it up when I decided to go to uni about 2 years later. In my experience it was pretty hard to get regular work. These bidding websites can be good but sometimes you have to get out there and get networking with people. The majority of my jobs came through people I knew who knew someone with a business that required a website. It was fine for bringing in extra money on the side but I quickly got sick of it.

If your friend decides to go for it then my advice would be to create a very clear pricing policy and clear procedures about how things are done from the start. I found that many small business owners weren't terribly clear on what they wanted from a website, I would explain things to them and they'd opt for the cheapest option anyway. Once they see the completed version then they'd want extra things added or bits changed and they often weren't keen on the fact that the £199 basic site they signed up for was now several hundred because they now wanted to be all singing and dancing. On the other hand, I found that dealing with people through bid sites and also ebay tended to be a much more straight forward transaction.

A basic college course will enable someone to do the above but if you want to be employed by a company eventually or be employed as a freelancer then I would also advise they stick with their day job and concentrate on learning more, doing sites on the side and building up a portfolio in the meantime.