Web designer is a person with artistic taste and knowledge of Internet technologies who creates Web pages and combines them into Web sites. The main task of a web designer is to design an Internet project so that as many users as possible are interested in it. The profession is suitable for those who are interested in drawing and computer science (see choosing a profession based on interest in school subjects).

The profession of a web designer appeared only with the emergence of the World Wide Web (WWW), in which it was possible to create websites for advertising purposes (late 1980s - early 1990s). A Web designer is a person with artistic taste and knowledge of Internet technologies who creates Web pages and combines them into Web sites.

The specific task of a web designer is to be able to develop a stylistic design for a project taking into account the specifics of the Internet. That is, in addition to the design of the project being simply stylish, it must meet the standard requirements set by the network: graphic elements (logos, banners, drawings, etc.) must be optimized; when choosing a color and font, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the user will see the graphic embodiment of the project on the monitor, and not on paper. A web designer is responsible for how a website looks and feels. He comes up with logos, banners and other graphic elements, thinks through site navigation, and determines where the text should be placed. A designer needs to not only create an interesting website, but also take into account its loading time. Creating interactive websites is the pinnacle of web design.

To make such a site, a web designer must not only know HTML language and have an artistic flair, but also simply must know “classical” programming and understand databases.

In addition to websites, web designers develop banners, Internet postcards, and electronic presentations.

Features of the profession

Web page design is information design, not graphic design.

In the process of work, a web designer solves the following tasks, on which the success of the created project directly depends in the future:

• determining the goals and objectives of site visitors;
• design and planning of the site structure;
• interface development;
• navigation development;
• care about user interaction with the system;
• content preparation and quality control.

Main functions of a web designer:

• website design;
• creating an idea and developing a server layout;
• creating a server layout execution style;
• ensuring the best perception of web documents on the monitor screen, taking into account document loading time, data transmission channel capacity, size graphic files document, color palette quality;
• determining the rules for the layout of web pages, choosing the format, background, quantity and quality of design elements;
• creating style samples for web documents;
• work with Internet node, Internet;
• writing software and page code;
• management of hypertext documents;
• carrying out the company's information policy on the World Wide Web (WWW);
• installation and work with tools for preparing and checking web pages;
• creation of interactive web applications;
• updating, modernizing a web document;
• creation and work with applications for static processing.

Pros and cons of the profession

Pros:

• constant demand in the labor market,
• work is not limited to one country,
• possibility of remote work,
• ample opportunities for professional growth,
• you can implement almost any idea without spending money,
• decent wages.

Minuses:

• a discrepancy (sometimes) between the artistic vision of the customer and the performer, which is why you have to either convince of the need for a specific design solution or agree with amendments.

Place of work

• design studios;
• companies involved in website development;
• any organizations that use a personal website in their work and want to develop and modernize it;
• Freelancing or custom work to develop an individual style for a company website.

Important qualities

• developed aesthetic and artistic taste;
• high level of development of distribution, volume, concentration and switching of attention;
• high level of development of imaginative thinking;
• high level of memory development;
• logical thinking;
• analytical thinking;
• creativity;
• thoroughness, systematicity in work;
• attentiveness;
• patience;
• accuracy;
• perseverance;

A qualified web designer must have relevant knowledge both in the field of design computer programs, and in the field of graphics.

Need to know: Adobe Photoshop, HTML/CSS

It is advisable to know: Corel Draw, Illustrator, Macromedia Flash.

Web designer training

A one-year practical course for those who want to master web design from the very beginning with an individual mentor, create an excellent portfolio and get their first orders (or an internship in a studio). At the end of the course, students create their own project based on a brief from a real customer. After a successful presentation of the work, course graduates have the opportunity to receive an invitation to an internship. Web design training from scratch to professional.

Universities

Salary

Salary as of 01/07/2020

Russia 20000—100000 ₽

Moscow 35000—140000 ₽

Salary depends on the prestige of the studio and the experience of the designer. It also all depends on the number of design orders. The range of prices for website design is very wide - everything is determined by the quality of work and services. Creating a design for a website is a creative process. It may take varying amounts of time. There are certain fixed-price “service packages,” but they do not accurately define price and design quality. The same work can be done for both $50 and $1,500.

Career steps and prospects

A successful aspiring designer in the future can apply for the following positions: web programmer, banner maker, project manager.

Outstanding web designers:

Artemy Lebedev. Born February 13, 1975. The son of the writer Tatyana Tolstoy and philologist Andrei Lebedev. After school, he entered the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, who never graduated, having dropped out of the 2nd year. In the summer of 1992, he and his partner founded the A-square studio, where he worked until the end of the year. In January 1993, he founded an independent studio “Artographics”, in which he was engaged in graphic, printing, calligraphic and other types of paper design. He took part in the creation of books and magazines. From 1993 to 1995, he worked part-time as art director of the MakTsentr company. In 1995 he founded the WebDesign studio (in 1998 renamed Artemy Lebedev Studio), which is one of the first and largest web design studios in the RuNet. Since 2001, Artemy Lebedev Studio also began to engage in industrial design.

Activity. Artemy Lebedev founded the studio, which has produced more than 1000 works, including corporate styles, books, magazines, signs, logos, graphic and physical interfaces, websites, industrial design and industrial graphics objects, shop windows. Lebedev is not only a designer; he spends most of his time setting and inventing problems, developing information architecture, and researching ergonomics and ease of use of websites. The design discoveries of his studio are widely used on the RuNet.

Programmer-designer

Designers are creators of the world around us. These specialists are engaged in the artistic design of objects, trying to make them not only beautiful, but also practical. The specifics of a designer’s activity depend on the chosen direction. Visualization designers, interior designers and landscape designers are engaged in the artistic design of buildings and the surrounding area. In the fashion industry, designers of clothing, shoes and accessories are always in demand. Graphic designers design printed materials, websites, mobile applications, develop brand logos, etc. Creating 3D graphics is the responsibility of specialists in the field of three-dimensional design. An interesting and at the same time complex type of it is game design.

Where can you work?

Design studios, enterprises, publishing houses, urban planning firms, advertising companies, clothing factories, furniture factories, show business.

Programmer-designer

Creative, resourceful, attentive, has a good imagination, aesthetic taste, a developed eye and three-dimensional thinking, and knows how to concentrate.

Traditionally, places in educational institutions of Belarus for the specialty “Design” sell like hot cakes. The classic scenario for future designers of space and objects is training in. However, not everyone manages to get there: the competition for in-demand design specialties is quite high due to the small selections. To follow your dream, desire and talent are not always enough; sometimes you need a bit of cold calculation. will be happy to help you review alternative options for applicants who want to study design.

BGAI comes to mind first when it comes to creative professions. This university teaches how to “design” interiors, furniture, virtual environments, means of production, costumes, etc. The most popular specialty is considered “ Graphic design"(~311 points). BSU is not far behind and offers courses in subject-spatial design (~249 points), communication design (~256 points) and web design (~291 points). Only 4-5 places are allocated for the budget uniform, so many study for a fee (which is about 2200 BYN per year).

A similar situation is developing in regional universities. For example, at VSU named after P. M. Masherov there is only one specialty in this profile (~252 points and only 18 places on the budget). Residents of Vitebsk and the region can also pay attention to the design specialties of VSTU. Enrollment for them has been expanded, but the passing score is still high (from 206 to 260 points).

The Y. Kupala State University of Grodno has two programs with a fairly pleasant competition (~170 points and about 12 places on the budget). But at PSU the situation is different (~276 points with 5 places on the budget), but the cost of tuition at a paid one is much lower (approximately 1720 BYN).

If it is not important for you to study classical design, then you can apply to BNTU, BSTU or BSUIR. The Polytechnic offers a variety of specialties: from “Architectural Design” (~288 points) to “Design of Production Equipment” (~136 points) and Design of Tracked and Wheeled Vehicles (~118 points). BSUIR generally boasts a unique specialty - “Game Design” (~360). There is also an interesting specialty at BSTU - “Design of Electronic and Web Publications”, where the enrollment is large and the passing score is good (~252 points).

It is very possible to enroll in private universities: the Institute of Education and Science named after A. M. Shirokov or MIU, where there are a sufficient number of places for everyone. True, you will have to pay a lot of money for training.

A good option is to go to college. In all corners of Belarus there are secondary specialized educational institutions with suitable programs, where you can enroll both after 9th and 11th grade. In Minsk it is,