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Is web design skill marketable?

by Peter Thomas
39 replies
Hello Warriors,

Well and wish to hear the same from you.

My daughter, a rising 11th grader is interested to learn web design after seeing what I am doing to start my online blog/website.

The local university is offering a one week Web design course in July. The following is they are going to teach:

= = = =
Build your very own Web site from scratch. You'll learn color theory, creative text effects, how to hand-code HTML, CSS page designs, and how to design customized graphics. Work with programs like Dreamweaver and Photoshop to make your site unique with dynamic animation, rollovers, time-based effects, image galleries, videos, and more before publishing your page on the Web.
The course is from Mon-Fri from 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
= = = =

It cost around $400. I told her I will sign her up. I think it is a good skill to learn. I told her that once she completes the course, I will help her find projects in real life to work and design and create a portfolio for her resume.

Since, you warriors are experts in marketing, do you think it is worth for her to learn web design and may be before she goes to college in 2 years, she will have good experience and also earn some part-time income?

By the by, she is very disciplined student and works hard.

Regards,
Peter.
#design #marketable #skill #web
  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    It is a scalable skill. Go for it. Start out by entering free contests, then get paid small amounts, rack up a portfolio, then keep increasing rates. She should get into more hardcore skills like AJAX later.
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    • Profile picture of the author mrtonyp29
      Hello I say go for it, although I have a How-To Course based on Websites, and web designs, my course is only $47 plus $7 s & h. It is easy to learn, fun, and teach using a screen-capture software. If you are interested on my product, please PM.
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      • Profile picture of the author satvikpatel
        Originally Posted by mrtonyp29 View Post

        Hello I say go for it, although I have a How-To Course based on Websites, and web designs, my course is only $47 plus $7 s & h. It is easy to learn, fun, and teach using a screen-capture software. If you are interested on my product, please PM.
        Yes you are right here but I have just learned same curriculum with experienced person who is my friend and he learned by online tutorials. I think there are lots of content online which are most helpful for learning but only we have to seat few hours per day.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Peter,

    Wow, I wish I had a Dad like you.

    I would certainly say go for it. There is absolutely nothing to lose by doing it. She will end up with a very valuable skill that most people (even most of this forum) don't even have.

    There is nothing to be lost by having her do this. The fact she already has an interest in it is great and the best thing you could do is allow her to fulfill that interest. If you were telling me she was reluctant then it might be a different story but if she wants to do this then it can only be a good thing.

    You just never know where this stuff will take you.

    Good on you for wanting to do this for her.
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Thomas
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      Peter,

      Wow, I wish I had a Dad like you.

      I would certainly say go for it. There is absolutely nothing to lose by doing it. She will end up with a very valuable skill that most people (even most of this forum) don't even have.

      There is nothing to be lost by having her do this. The fact she already has an interest in it is great and the best thing you could do is allow her to fulfill that interest. If you were telling me she was reluctant then it might be a different story but if she wants to do this then it can only be a good thing.

      You just never know where this stuff will take you.

      Good on you for wanting to do this for her.
      Hello WillR,

      Thank you for your kind complement. In fact, I am emulating my Dad. He taught me excellent habits and discipline.

      My dad paid for my Mainframe Computer Programmer Course 25 years ago and with sound principles of character he taught me, I came to America as a Computer Programmer.

      I am simply trying to teach my daughter the same wise principles to build strong character first and simultaneously encourage her to develop her technical skills.

      Regards,
      Peter.
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  • Profile picture of the author codingku
    a skill always usefull... get her signed
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  • Profile picture of the author dsouravs
    yup... also there are thousands of site from where you can learn too...
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  • Profile picture of the author christiangrey
    Banned
    Web designing is great skill to have, and there are always people out there looking for talented web designers. It can pay well too, and big companies often pay the designers high in the thousands for creating high end websites. Freelancer, oDesk etc is another great way to build up a portfolio and get returning customers.
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  • Profile picture of the author BryanShearer
    Tons of companies still are looking to pay top dollar for killer designs and not just another Wordpress theme. I love Wordpress and only use that, but for many businesses, a custom design is what they are looking for and need to be frank. This is a skill that she will always carry with her and build upon, and I think taking a quick course in the basics will help the learning curve then if she tried to learn by herself. Best of luck to her and great job nurturing her interests
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Thomas
      Originally Posted by BryanShearer View Post

      Tons of companies still are looking to pay top dollar for killer designs and not just another Wordpress theme. I love Wordpress and only use that, but for many businesses, a custom design is what they are looking for and need to be frank. This is a skill that she will always carry with her and build upon, and I think taking a quick course in the basics will help the learning curve then if she tried to learn by herself. Best of luck to her and great job nurturing her interests
      Hello BryanShearer,

      One of the first projects for her would be to make my website more professional after she completes the class in July!

      Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author CPAInter
    Web design is a brilliant skill to have. Especially if she goes on to learn how to code, she'll be in demand.

    A quick note though, they said they'll teach her using 'dreamweaver'. This is a bad bit of software to use for HTML/CSS. It is far better to use a simple text editor and start from scratch, you'll get more efficient and cleaner code.

    I taught myself how to create websites using Codecademy.com (free, go through the HTML and CSS syllabus) and TeamTreeHouse.com.

    HTML & CSS are easy peasy!

    Learning about color theory should be good though. She's quite young so I'd say she'd definitely benefit from learning in-person rather than online like I did.

    Good luck to her!

    Originally Posted by Peter Thomas View Post

    Hello Warriors,

    Well and wish to hear the same from you.

    My daughter, a rising 11th grader is interested to learn web design after seeing what I am doing to start my online blog/website.

    The local university is offering a one week Web design course in July. The following is they are going to teach:

    = = = =
    Build your very own Web site from scratch. You'll learn color theory, creative text effects, how to hand-code HTML, CSS page designs, and how to design customized graphics. Work with programs like Dreamweaver and Photoshop to make your site unique with dynamic animation, rollovers, time-based effects, image galleries, videos, and more before publishing your page on the Web.
    The course is from Mon-Fri from 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM
    = = = =

    It cost around $400. I told her I will sign her up. I think it is a good skill to learn. I told her that once she completes the course, I will help her find projects in real life to work and design and create a portfolio for her resume.

    Since, you warriors are experts in marketing, do you think it is worth for her to learn web design and may be before she goes to college in 2 years, she will have good experience and also earn some part-time income?

    By the by, she is very disciplined student and works hard.

    Regards,
    Peter.
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Thomas
      Originally Posted by CPAInter View Post

      Web design is a brilliant skill to have. Especially if she goes on to learn how to code, she'll be in demand.

      A quick note though, they said they'll teach her using 'dreamweaver'. This is a bad bit of software to use for HTML/CSS. It is far better to use a simple text editor and start from scratch, you'll get more efficient and cleaner code.

      I taught myself how to create websites using Codecademy.com (free, go through the HTML and CSS syllabus) and TeamTreeHouse.com.

      HTML & CSS are easy peasy!

      Learning about color theory should be good though. She's quite young so I'd say she'd definitely benefit from learning in-person rather than online like I did.

      Good luck to her!
      Hello CPAInter,

      Thank you for taking your time and writing in detail. Along with coding in HTML and CSS, they also introduce dreamweaver and photoshop, not exclusively using those.

      I agree it is good for her to take class room training, that way she can interact with other students and develop interpersonal skills and also gives her chance to network with other budding web designers.

      Much obliged for your input.
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      • Profile picture of the author CPAInter
        No problem.

        As a user above stated, learning colour theory etc. can take many, many years. A great way for her to emulate good design and pick up colour theory is to use inspiration. Try Dribbble.com and take a look at the websites their users are making, tell her to focus on colours she enjoys using (which should make the process more enjoyable). She'll also see which colours are currently popular (pantone/pastel styles), so she should have a better idea of what works and what doesn't.

        Good luck to her!

        Originally Posted by Peter Thomas View Post

        Hello CPAInter,

        Thank you for taking your time and writing in detail. Along with coding in HTML and CSS, they also introduce dreamweaver and photoshop, not exclusively using those.

        I agree it is good for her to take class room training, that way she can interact with other students and develop interpersonal skills and also gives her chance to network with other budding web designers.

        Much obliged for your input.
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  • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
    one week of web design? Dreamweaver? I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it doesn't sound very professional at all. My web design & development degree was two years and it takes at least six months to get all the basics of design right. Learning color theory and all the other concepts needed for good design is impossible in a week. Also the fact that they will teach her Dreamweaver makes the whole program look even less professional to be honest.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lanii
      Originally Posted by joaquin112 View Post

      one week of web design? Dreamweaver? I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it doesn't sound very professional at all. My web design & development degree was two years and it takes at least six months to get all the basics of design right. Learning color theory and all the other concepts needed for good design is impossible in a week. Also the fact that they will teach her Dreamweaver makes the whole program look even less professional to be honest.
      I started from scratch, used first text-editors for making HTML, then I have moved to Dreamweaver. What makes it to look unprofessional?

      Dreamweaver is best editor there is.

      I agree that you wont become master of web design in one week but that should get you started pretty good.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sheila Ross
      Originally Posted by joaquin112 View Post

      one week of web design? Dreamweaver? I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it doesn't sound very professional at all. My web design & development degree was two years and it takes at least six months to get all the basics of design right. Learning color theory and all the other concepts needed for good design is impossible in a week. Also the fact that they will teach her Dreamweaver makes the whole program look even less professional to be honest.
      I also don't think she will become a professional designer after this course but what I can see here, she will get a foundation of web design by joining this course which will help her for lifetime.
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      • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
        Originally Posted by Sheila Ross View Post

        I also don't think she will become a professional designer after this course but what I can see here, she will get a foundation of web design by joining this course which will help her for lifetime.
        That's a great way to look at it. You can then help her improve her skills even further with some extra classes/books.

        I started from scratch, used first text-editors for making HTML, then I have moved to Dreamweaver. What makes it to look unprofessional?

        Dreamweaver is best editor there is.

        I agree that you wont become master of web design in one week but that should get you started pretty good.
        I don't know of any professional web designers/developers who use Dreamweaver. IMHO it's a waste of time. I'm just stating the facts here, I've been in this business for half my life and I just finished my web design degree.

        The problem is that you can do a lot more with a decent text editor. The code produced by dreamweaver is notoriously bad-formatted. Since you're a beginner you might not have many issues, but once you start incorporating javascript, jquery or when you want to create something really amazing, then you will have problems. Creating responsive sites with Dreamweaver is also a nightmare. Not to mention adding support with PHP and actually figuring out what all the extra code does.
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        • Profile picture of the author Lanii
          Originally Posted by joaquin112 View Post

          The problem is that you can do a lot more with a decent text editor. The code produced by dreamweaver is notoriously bad-formatted. Since you're a beginner you might not have many issues, but once you start incorporating javascript, jquery or when you want to create something really amazing, then you will have problems. Creating responsive sites with Dreamweaver is also a nightmare. Not to mention adding support with PHP and actually figuring out what all the extra code does.
          I don't personaly have any problems like that beacause I have been with coding also long time and I know how to do those things. But yeah, Dreamweaver formattes HTML and CSS good but when you add jQuery and PHP, code can get messy.

          But there is also alot good with Dreamweaver also.

          What editor do you use? I would like to test some new
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  • Profile picture of the author wwetherby
    You bet it is. If you start looking through the online classifieds, there are a ton of companies looking web designers, graphic artists, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author PinkVelvet
    Sounds like she'll be learning the core skills - not just using CMS and slapping on a theme to say it's webdesign. Not many marketers know about CSS, HTML, and so on.

    I remember when I first made my website from scratch back in 1999 I believe.. I was around your daughter's age back then. It was time consuming and would takes week to build from scratch. If only we had the tools we had now back then..

    I think it is a great idea for her to sign up for this class! But remember, it is important to let her to work on some projects after and this way she can develop her skills at a hands-on pace..
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    No doubt.

    Two of my best friends are very nasty designers and make a boatload of cash.

    (one of them actually teaches; don't listen to the "if you can't do, teach" mantra, because this guy is a nasty designer and makes tons of money teaching).

    I've taken years of graphic design (and digital media) courses myself and they've served me well.

    I'm not a pro designer by any stretch; but the photoshop skills alone have paid off dividends. Also remember, when she learns and becomes great with photoshop, the knowledge transcends mere web design.

    Even if she loves a CMS, knowing photoshop, CSS, and HTML will always be in style. Go for it. Never stop learning. Ignore the naysayers. (If they exist).
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    For what it's worth I love dreamweaver. I have adobe web premium (got it cheap through my uni store) and you can basically get everything you need done with that.

    I would personally either use visual studio, or adobe suite. (visual studio is more for development and not design)

    Notepad ++ is good to have too, but isn't robust or anything. It's great for agile development and messing around. (It's very agile, because it's super light and recognizes syntax for every language I've ever heard of). Not really a full fledged IDE that can compile anything out of the box though.

    Just my $.02

    PS: Basically, all information technology skills are a safe bet for the future. IT, design, web development, programming, you name it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Thomas
      Hello joaquin112,

      I understand what you are saying. I have programming background too. She is NOT going to be a MASTER web designer after one week of web design class. Of course, she will have to practice what she learnt and further study if she wants to be a professional web design specialist.

      This is just an introductory class which will give some basic knowledge. I was asking people here to see if it is something worthwhile skill to be used later in her life. That's all.

      Thank you everyone was your encouragement for a youngster who wants to learn a skill that can be marketable.
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  • Profile picture of the author dbrwn
    Web design skills are a must and they're definitely marketable! Really good web designers make really great money, so I would say, go for it! You ahve nothing to loose.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Web design and development are great baseline skills to have. She can layer on other skills like app development and programming later. It is a great GATEWAY to an increasingly pricey set of skills. Get started!
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  • Profile picture of the author AdRock91
    Is this even a question? Without a doubt. I've been making a full time living for 2 years just providing web designing services. It's a go for sure. Word of mouth and Craigslist are great starting places to find clients. If you have any questions on how I run my business feel free to send me a PM.
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Thomas
      Thank you Writeaway and Adrock1.

      Adrock1,

      It is nice to know that you are making full time living providing web design services. You would have definitely started somewhere, either by taking classes, class room or online. How long it took to learn the skills and then do some projects and then finally market your services to make a full time living?

      It is just the first step for my daughter to learn the basic skills of web design.

      Thanks for offering help. When she completes her class, I will contact you and will go from there.

      Regards,
      Peter.
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  • Profile picture of the author kdevarney
    I wish I had the coding skills to be able to make a beautiful website from scratch. I think you would a very marketable skill people would be willing to pay for, combine that with seo skills and you would do very well. I have been doing ok with just word press but it is limited ans wish at time i could customize it a little more
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  • Profile picture of the author freeadstime
    It sounded great, but one can't possibly learn all those in one week. It probably is just an introduction and then she has to learn a lot more about the mentioned codes and programs by herself or through more courses.
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  • Profile picture of the author run
    I learn the web design for just using on my IM project.

    It's profitable if you ask me not even for employment.
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  • Profile picture of the author substance
    I have also recently taken up a course on web designing using .xml, css, html and JavaScript just to increase my knowledge.

    It is 2 month course and hopefully by the end of the two months, I will have an expert grasp on it..
    It is good to hear that you are exposing daughter to web designing at this young age. Way to go...
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Peter Ive been building sites and freelancing since 2001.

    There's a couple of things that Id like to share with you.

    1. Web design is extremely competitive now. This means that pricing has become a continual race to the bottom in a lot of areas. There is good money however in specialising in specific markets (eg just doing dentist websites or optometrist websites etc)

    2. Having some form of accreditation is only ever going to be good thing. Good on you for supporting her interests.

    3. Tell her to try and make the cost of the course "self funded" (ie, try and do a small web job for someone at the cost of the course)

    4. There is some money in web design, but the real money is in the services that compliment it (SEO, online marketing etc)

    5. Tell her its a long process. You can learn to build sites quickly enough, but the business aspect is one that is always ongoing. Be patient and work hard.

    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author nzrobert
    Whether it is designing other peoples websites or your own website when you go into business... It really is a valuable skill to have. I say go for gold.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    The key is to look at experience and an ever increasing skill set as your main reward. The rest is gravy. Too many people ficus on the short-term cash.
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  • Profile picture of the author dndoseller
    Absolutely and good for her for being interested!!

    Its the solid foundation needed for the future of business.
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  • Profile picture of the author TravisO
    Yes go. I feel that your daughter can be a great web designer someday. But for the web design course offered by the university your have stated, I don't think your daughter can learn a lot in just one week. And mind you, $400 for one week? Seems like the university is making money out of innocents. With $400 dollars, I can pay my whole semester tuition with that money and that includes web design course, html/css, dreamweaver, photoshop and many more tools for web designing. And mind you again, the university instructors that I have been enrolled for web design course are all masters and let's say experts on the web design area. For this matter of yours, I don't think $400 for one week course would be considerable. Again the university is just making money. Should have been not that too expensive though.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Yes Peter, if you believe it
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  • Profile picture of the author Melissahoster
    Banned
    Modern CMS platforms allow you to learn fast and for free (through support forums and IM forums) and you can actually create a site from scratch without going to a design class and have it serve your purposes. Having said that, a design course will help your daughter sell services as a professional and there's a huge market for it.

    So, yes, go for it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bonita T Josephson
    Web design is one of the most important and marketable skill for everyone who are in the IM. I appreciate that your daughter is willing to sign up for this program.
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