Surely one of the most misinterpreted & over-worked labels in the IT market nowadays must be the words 'Web-Designer'? Website Design includes many distinct facets, & a good understanding of these could help anybody considering getting in to the market. You'll find there are essentially two elements to web-design - the technical side and the 'creative' 'design' part. To the average person in the street, a web-designer is somebody that creates the 'look' and feel of a site. Many individuals might consider a 'web designer' a sort of 'artist'. But in fact, in modern day web design its getting more and more difficult to separate the 'technical' part from the 'creative' part, as both of them are so inter-twined. We'll illustrate this with more clarity if we separate web-design up in to its different parts.

Graphic-artists should come 1st - they design and create the icons & images for a web-site. In real terms, graphic artists aren't really web-designers. More usually they're multimedia artists that work with software like Adobe Photoshop & Flash to bring about their finished results. Many have been through higher education, with typically a degree level art background. Most importantly, this kind of role requires a good creative ability.

Web-site designers are next - they work with design software like Dreamweaver to create & design the visual aspects and 'feel' of the site. They utilise the actual visuals which are produced by the graphic-artist, and talk with their clients to initially create the feel and navigational framework of the web-site. A novice web-designer tends to start with the 'form' of a web site, rather than the 'function'. To develop an efficient site though, it's crucial to first of all look at what you essentially want the site to do. It may be an online catalogue of merchandise, or possibly it is an e-commerce site which would need to have the capacity to sell directly from the page. Quite possibly somewhat like this website the principle function is easy access to relevant details, or maybe it'll be a show-case for products by way of video & a heavily 'graphical' inter-face. No matter what the client needs from a web-site, the fundamental prerequisite is that it addresses the basic needs. There's little value in producing a visually inspiring website that is difficult for anyone to get to where they want! The overriding purpose of all good web-designers is to have people go to their website regularly - therefore it needs to be a happy & pleasurable experience.

Web developers are members of the equation, and also the most technically minded. These people won't only know HTML, CSS & XML, but will have also learnt 'proper' programming-languages such as PHP, ASP.net, VB, 'C#', Java etc. A large number also possess an effective knowledge of SQL, the database language - as the information on many large modern web sites is stored in this language. In reality, it is not likely that a big e-commerce web-site has been built in lay-out format by a team of web-designers. What generally occurs is a place holder 'template' is created, & the details are automatically inserted from a database to the website. So along with far higher efficiency with the website construct, this method also allows for an infinitely more consistent look & feel as well.

Many independent web-designers can carry out a number of these tasks by themselves; certainly we liaise with several who can on a regular basis. Although that level of knowledge will take some time to master. A web design course then that can equip you to enter the work-place should consist of the following disciplines - A briefing of the basics of web-design first of all, then straight into using Dreamweaver to a commercial level & the key nuances of Flash too. Next you must learn the 'coding' languages 'HTML' & 'CSS', and then be trained in a synopsis of just how e-commerce works. PHP has to be taught so that 'dynamic' web-sites can be constructed (ASP.NET is far more involved, and PHP is very simple to get into initially,) & a basic idea of Databases & SEO should be mastered. All of this is basically to get to a standard of competence technically whereby you're able to work on a wide enough array of sites. As with anything else, we have to learn how to really do the physical skillsets initially, & then develop increased finesse by way of practice & experience. A comprehensive training program like this would probably require about 400 to 500 hrs of part-time practice and study & therefore can be viably completed part time over 12 months. As there's a lot of areas to consider, it's worth taking the time to look carefully at any training programs you're interested in. Speak to someone with industry knowledge who can help you put things together.

The key point to emphasise is the fact that training program alone will not make you a web-designer; it will simply coach you on the techniques. Build as many sites as you possibly can whilst you go through your studies - the process will be invaluable & you will have a portfolio to show what you can do. Make sites about your special interest, your family, your favourite band or Television show. You might even build interactive websites & get 'traffic' on them. Adobe accreditations are very useful, but how you can use what you've learned says much more about you as a web designer!

Additional skillsets which are important to commercial web-site designers are an understanding of project-management and e-commerce. 'SEO' ('Search Engine Optimisation') knowledge is also extremely valuable for web-experts - this concerns the skill of getting internet sites at or near the top of the search engines for commonly used keyword phrases. And although they generally originate from a network administration background, we should remember the incredibly valuable job of the web-server installers and administrators, who keep everything working behind the scenes.

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