Web Design Overview

• Web Design Overview
• 09/04/2023
• eGraphics Cloud

Web design, a relatively new discipline within the design field, is concerned with designing Web pages and sites. While Web designers usually need to possess general design skills, such as an understanding of drawing and a knack for creating aesthetically pleasing combinations of color and form, they also need to have an understanding of Web-specific design factors-screen resolution, image compression, usability, accessibility, and website architecture. Web designers are responsible for everything from designing a website's "look and feel" to incorporating features such as e-commerce, online community, search engine optimization, animations, interactive applications, and advertising hosting into the site-all while ensuring that the site's design is optimized for the specific technologies supporting it.

These careers require a combination of skill in visual design and proficiency with technology. Most Web designers are salaried employees (sometimes at advertising, marketing, or design agencies, or at Web consulting firms, which build and manage websites for client organizations), but there's a sizeable army of freelance Web designers out there.

While the boom-boom years of the dotcom era are a thing of the past, the Internet is growing by leaps and bounds every year; indeed, the number of folks online in 2005 was nearly triple the number online in 2000. This translates to job growth for Web designers.

A final note for people considering this field: As the Internet evolves-as new technologies come into play and the needs of Internet users change-there will be a need for new skills among Web designers. So you'd better be okay with learning new skills on a fairly ongoing basis if you want to develop a career in Web design.