The Future of the Web Design Profession
November 10, 2007
Every once and a while I use a question put to me, as the basis for an article. This time, we have Richard asking whether web design (as a profession,) will have bright future.
The email:
Thank you for having courses that make it easier for the average laymen to comprehend the basics which will allow the complex material to sink in. I have a question though.
I am in my fifties, have done many different things in my life, and I am looking for something as a career change to take me into my second half of life and into retirement. What do you think the opportunities are going to be in the future in this type of industry taking into consideration the advancements in technology?
In other words, where do you see a web page developer or designer 5, 10, 15 years from now. Thank you for your time and consideration in my attempts to make an educated decision about my future.
Sincerely,
Richard Sherban
Hi Richard,
I think the future is good for web design and development. That said, I would like point out a few things:
Web design means flexibility
Web design is a great profession to get into because it is not unusual for web designers to work from home for their clients.
You can even take this a step further – target the world!
For people who are interested in a potential world wide market, but who don’t necessarily want to travel (maybe you live in a small town and you need to reach out …) web design gives your that flexibility.
For example:
I have a friend of mine who is a web designer and multimedia author – he creates CD/Web presentations along with web sites. He has worked as both a freelancer and as an employee of a firm.
What is interesting thought, is that he does this from many different places in the World! Sometimes he will work out of Florida, then he will head up to Montreal Canada for 6 months. These days he is running around Asia (Thailand, Korea etc ) while all along, doing his nerd work.
His clients are all still located in North America, but because of the Internet and his laptop, he’s mobile and his clients don’t mind.
Working for a company
On the other hand, if you rather work for a web design company, you will find that like most careers in the tech field, the work atmosphere is very relaxed compared to more traditional businesses – the legacy of the founding nerds!
To get those web design jobs, you will need to always look to the cutting edge web technologies – companies are always looking for people who are a step ahead of the market.
An important question:
“What do you think the opportunities are going to be in the future in this type of industry taking into consideration the advancments in technology?”
Web designers are going to need to keep on top of things and learn the technology and methods that are in line with the current trends – you can’t be building web sites the 1990’s way, while the Web has moved on.
These days that means:
- You need to learn modern web design techniques: HTML, CSS, PHP
- You need to learn to integrate web templates into your web design work-flow.
- You need to learn and use blogs like WordPress and CMS’ like Drupal as foundations for many of your projects.
- You must understand things like usability, accessibility and SEO.
Thanks for reading,
Stefan Mischook
