I wanna be a web designer

[WashedUpDriedOut]

Says ds1.

So what is the best way for him to go about this? He's 17.

What does he mean - as in ‘design websites’? I suppose he could learn html - that’s not hard.

If he starts messing around in Wordpress he can start playing with templates then switch to the html code and have fun finessing the designs.

It’s quite a boring job. The client always wants you to do something awful.

What does he want to do specifically in web design? While there will be a need for websites, I’m seeing a move away from them, eg a lot of younger freelancers and self-employed people are managing without a website, and are using platforms like Instagram to showcase their services. Of course the big players still have websites, but I’m wondering how this is going to go....

It depends on the type of design. Doe he want to be a digital/website designer or a user experience designer. At some point all website designers need an understanding of user experience design to be successful at their job so my advice would be to read up on the user experience (UX) side of design firstly. Getting into the industry sometimes means applying for designer roles at marketing and digital agencies. Being proficient in photoshop is ideal for web design and learning the fundamentals of the trade; measurements are always in pixels, all design elements need to lend itself to the goal of the site (can’t just ‘look pretty’) and what does the user want to do on the site and how can the design support this. Due to his age he could always email some local agencies and explain he would like some experience and see if they could give home some part time work or work experience? It’s a time intensive job and with many revisions so it might be helpful for him to see the day-to-day if the role. Hope that helps somewhat!