What would be the best way to start off as a Web Designer/Developer?
how many websites does a company need to see in your portfolio? 5? 10? 15?
Do they look at personal websites or just commercial websites?
The way I started was from the bottom with a small company, then worked my way up.
I started with a magazine called Snoop - about 10 staff, useless pay, all that kind of thing. I had no real experience outside University, so they could pay me peanuts.
Left after a year once that site was up, and got a job at a bigger company. Learned Flash and more HTML there, got better, did more things… Stayed there for a year and half.
Then got a job at Churchill Insurance (where I am now) which is a big commercial site. So technically they only saw two sites that I’d had a hand in building.
I think it depends on your skillset, how well you’ve made your sites and how much you ask for your services.
hi thanks for your help. I am pretty confident with photoshop 6 and html. I have experience with flash and asp. I would not say that i have intermediate knowledge on those subjects.
I also have set up my own server and currently hosting my own webpages.
I do not want to be a freelancer but instead work for a reputable company.
What would you say is crappy pay for a web dev/des?
My first job paid me £12,000 a year, and that is crappy. Especially considering the amount of work etc you have to put in. And if you can design <i>and</i> code it’s really crappy.
Second job was £19,000 a year which was better, then that went up to £23,000 after a year or so.
My current one pays £26,000 a year. Which isn’t bad. But it could be better.
What I have found is that they want you to have a all around expertise. I keep everything I do from drawings to digital stuff to web sites. Usually like 3 good websites will get you in the door. Not only good design but run down the tools and technologies. Really the big ting in the industry is XML, Flash, ASP (or someother server side scripting) Web sites are cooler and smarter these days so it is not just interface desing anymore. You have to know how to breathe life into a website. Allot of compaies want you to know dreamweaver and flash as well as any new technologies that will benefit them. You really have to be well rounded. That is my .02.
thanks, i will show you some of my work , so that you can evaluate it and let me know what i need to improve on.
I guess America would have a totally different pay scale to us over here. 100 grand though… Geez. You’d be lucky! What’s that in pounds? about £60,000?
I am lucky to live in the technology capital of America. Silicon Valley. It is expensive to live here so it evens out. I always wanted to check out london.
I’m with 3D on this one. What I’m finding nowadays is the fusion of Designer/Programmer. Employers are looking for people who can do both front and back end. You’re coding knowledge MUST extend beyond HTML… get some experience in programming Javascript, DHTML, PHP, ASP, XML, and MYSQL.
But if you’re in the graphical end of things, I’m also seeing a combination of Web Designer/Graphic Artist. Print design, production work, in addition to basic web design.
I’m only on my second web-related job. However I’ve been designing websites long before I decided to make a career out of it. For a couple of years, I had maintained a lot of personal sites, portals and projects. I put these in my portfolio for my first job. It worked out because it showed self-motivation. Since then, I gained enough experience in advanced programming as well as print design for future jobs.
But to add to the wealth of advice here: start working on your personal page/portfolio. It’s the easiest way to get your foot in the door (ie: my cover letters pretty much just said - “you WANT to hire me. Go to my URL and see for yourself.”). Don’t be afraid to add personal sites… just make sure they are tasteful and well executed. Invest in a domain name. DO NOT do something like this!
HAHAHAHAHAHA…rennaisance…that site was truly horrible where did you find that?? And yes do not do a site like that or I will hunt you down and slay you.
:!: :!: 
holy ****!
that has to be the worst site i think i’ve ever seen. i mean, nobody starts off at the top and i’ve done some stuff i’m not too proud of- but WOW BABY!!!:cyclops: <:} :geek:
umm guys, i think you’ll find that the website posted was all a joke…
not sure if you guys already knew that (if you did then i’ll look like a fool now 
) but really, it’s TOO badly done, and uses all the typical bad-site elements…
also, do you really need to have experience with many different areas? i don’t really know any programming (except for some actionscript) but i don’t really want to do programming as my job, so isn’t knowledge of graphics programs enough? I don’t even have dreamweaver, let alone a server to do ASP with!
thanks
Stuart
you can do ASP on PWS or IIS that comes with XP or 2k. Also you eally will not last long in web development with out some programming. Because websites are gettin smart now. There dynamic elements come into play. Plus you can design tools to actually help yourself. So it is actually all around better to have a little bit of programming background. And dude dreamweaver is a prerequisite for a lot of design jobs these days I suggest you learn it and get it. It has so many uses beyond just code editor.
