How to become a web designer: 20 steps - ForumDaily
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How to become a web designer: 20 steps

I started doing web drawing at the age of 13 - I just did it without thinking about why. Now I have been living this for 11 years, 6 of which I have been working professionally. I never studied design, I read 2,5 books about myself, but I drew a lot - tons of pixels and sleepless nights.

If you aren’t 13, and you’ve been doing something else all your life, but decided to try yourself on the web (or try it already), then I’ve блоге There are many subjective tips that may be useful to you.

1. Develop taste

To become a good designer, you need to have taste. You can learn to use Photoshop or Sketch, read hundreds of books, but without a sense of beauty, nothing will happen. Therefore, the first thing I advise is to cultivate an internal sense of aesthetics. To do this, you need to love everything visual in general: photography, films, clothes, architecture. Be “greedy” for beautiful things, buy books, watch art houses, take photographs on film, love, travel, dress beautifully, decorate your home. Everything that surrounds us shapes our taste, so it is important to surround ourselves with inspiring, beautiful details. The external is for the internal.

2. Live the idea

If you just start, and you are driven only by the desire to get a good salary in New York - it will be difficult to achieve a good level. It is important that your eyes are burning so that you want more and more, to learn, receive, communicate, see, do, do, do. It is important that the motivation comes from within. Crystal clear enthusiasm, time and practice will do the trick. And there and a good salary in New York draw.

3. Draw a lot

At the initial stage, when there is no clear portfolio, it is important to draw fakes. For my 10 years, I redrawn them innumerable, took brands or projects I like, and redraw their sites. I took other people's designs and drew my own versions. Of course, much did not work out the way I wanted, but it formed my portfolio, the old was removed, the new was drawn. Fakes to draw is important and necessary, even if there is no client who will make edits. Draw what you dream of ideally having in your portfolio. Launch your projects, close them and launch new ones. The more experience, the faster you develop.

4. Follow portfolio

When you first start, in the portfolio you can add everything that is, from posters to pieces of interfaces. And as new projects appear, it is important to sift out what we don’t want to work on ideally. That is, if you like to draw landings, but do not really like the interfaces, minimize the interfaces in the portfolio (even if they are fed after the fact). A client comes to you for style, and if you dream of drawing websites, not interfaces, then it is important to focus on websites. After a couple of years, you can niche. That is, only draw a mobile app, or just games, or just corporate sites, or just start-up interfaces. The narrower the specialty, the more customers will go (paradox). And no need to invent a super-fancy website, your portfolio on Bihansa will be sufficient.

5. Search for customers

I received my first $100 on Weblancer, drew shitty banners and sites for competitions, lost 90% of the projects, but since I was essentially drawing designs for real projects, this, again, formed my portfolio. I spent a lot of time on Weblancer, reading real briefs, drawing as I understood the task. And so, when I won for the first time, that same feeling came - I can do it.

Now these exchanges are already a little old school, because I would advise drawing for friends or just for myself. And let it be not obligatory, but a thrill. A year ago, I suggested to the local peanut butter brand to draw a website for free, as a result, they redrawn the label, took image photos for the website and drew the website itself. It was all free (well, for jars of peanut butter), and it was a thrill to me, even though there was a lot of other commercial work. And it often happens that it is the free project in the portfolio that shoots. And, of course, after this client came a dozen similar ones, which made me very happy.

You can still search for customers by simply sending letters to local brands with a redesign proposal.

Фото: Depositphotos

Фото: Depositphotos

6. Internship or work as a junior designer

I got my first job at the age of 18, just sending out responses to vacancies. My portfolio was, to put it mildly, childish, but they took me. And not just somewhere else, but to “the best digital agency in Ukraine.” I remember the first day, August 16, 2010: I was sitting with square eyes in the office and did not understand what was happening. They immediately started giving me work, drawing the Nivea newsletter and retouching team photos for the Slavutich website. Without this day, I would not be sitting in New York now, because internships and office work are very important. I was little and started from scratch. If you currently have another job, but want to be a designer, it is important to make this decision for yourself and go work as a junior designer, even if it pays less. You can, of course, develop in parallel with your first job, but it is difficult, especially at the initial stage.

To find an internship, you need to make your own list of agencies or studios where you want to work and send them letters, even if there is no such vacancy on the site. In the letter, briefly describe your experience and what you draw, and be sure to provide a link to your portfolio (there is more than enough for Bihans). If you don’t have any experience, then you shouldn’t make a resume, it will still look thin. The main thing is a portfolio and a cover letter. There is no need for any flirting or a flowered resume (I have sorted out those in my time), the most elegant thing that should be is a portfolio.

7. Do not disdain work

If you are given to draw banners for $ 20 - take it. If you are sitting and waiting for large customers, then you are driven only by the desire for money, and then you need to re-read the second paragraph. At the initial stage, take everything you give. But draw as if it is the most important project in life, that is beautiful.

8. Designer community

I have my own subjective opinion on this. Personally, I avoid designer parties, because there people think: since you are also a designer, it means you can’t talk about anything more than Sketch. And I don’t like to talk about the Sketch in my free time. To be honest, few people are interested in me from the industry, I do not need other people's advice. Although at the initial stage it can help. Communicate, but do not limit your environment only to designers.

9. Read foreign internet and books

Yes, English solves. Even if you speak English poorly, it is important to at least read, read a lot. I like Medium и Gibbon. There are a lot of insider information on the industry, trends, new foreign projects. Once I read Russian-speaking designers who had a blog on Aegea and designer streams on Habré, but from Russian the most useful was only on Look at me. Now I rarely even read Medium, but I constantly watch new works on Siteinspire и Awards. Printed books on the web become obsolete faster than they go to print. Because I love books on classic typography, photography, graphic design. In general, those where not to read, and pictures to watch.

I love Twitter Mitch goldstein about designer insights, designer jokes from Ramin Nasibov, Anton Herasymenko, Tobias van schneider, Stas polyakov и Anton Repponen.

10. Analyze the work of others

I collect inspiration to this day. This is bord on Pintereste, a folder in Dropbox and links in Evernote. I collect links on interesting projects of my style (fashion, minimal landing pages, interactive promo). When a project comes in, it is easier to open ready references than to look for the same again.

It is very important to consciously analyze other projects and pronounce it out loud. Why does this search look cool here? Oh, what a cool hover. But this footer should be kept for yourself. And here is the cool typography because. It is important to memorize these pieces and use them in your next projects. If it is difficult to memorize - you need to make and save screenshots. And a lot to watch, preferably foreign. Repeat, try, find your wave, your style.

11. Try different areas

The web is very cool, but I would also advise you to try motion design, prototyping, interfaces, retouching, mobile applications, graphic design, photography, logos, magazine layout. It often happens that a related field is better suited, so it is important to try everything to make sure that you have made the right choice. Of course, you can and even need to be able to do all this a little bit at a time, but it is still important to eventually stop at one thing and go deeper. And when you get bored, go deeper into something else. I will not tire of repeating: the more experience in related fields, the faster the progress in any new business.

12. Go to study

I hated school, college was a rough ride for me (I studied to become an accountant), and I didn’t study at university at all. You can take web design courses in your city, some information will be known, and some will be new and useful. In any case, this will provide a foundation, you will be able to ask the teacher, understand the field, hear answers to your questions, become a little more confident, and join the crowd. Live communication provides a lot of motivation and support. Well, and the entrance to the party.

In Kiev, I can advise Projector School, in Moscow - British. And yes, do not regret money for education, an understanding of this comes only after a while, all my seedy courses in photography are now returning in full. And I even regret a little that at one time I did not go to English course in Projectorand that refused an invitation to Yandex School in June last year. If you have the opportunity to go to study abroad - do not hesitate for a second.

From online I love the most comprehensive web design course - Digital Design Basic Course. There is all the base that is important to know.

13. Work in another country

Probably, this is not for beginners, but still. I'm not talking about “throwing out of the country”, just to go to another country for a couple of months and return as a different person. It changes completely, it cleans the head and makes it clear how huge the world is and how much your war means nothing. This gives an incredible amount of motivation and confidence, new goals appear. Other people, another language, a different approach, another country. And it's never too late to return to your city.

14. Set goals

I'm a fan of lists and notes, I write everything down. I believe that this frees up my head for the next thoughts (I don’t forget anything and I don’t let anyone down). You can write down goals for six months, for example, draw 3 fakes by May, create a portfolio, find an internship by July, finish this project, launch a blog, take courses in April, read 2 books by the end of the month, learn Illustrator by the end of the summer. Then break it all down into smaller goals and into weeks, and go in and re-read it every day so as not to forget where, and most importantly, why you are going. Often I hear the phrase “I’m not sure if this is mine.” Okay, but this needs to be checked. For example, set a goal for myself - if by the end of this year I don’t succeed, and it’s no longer fun, then I’ll start trying something else. And don’t doubt it until the end of the year, but run as quickly as possible. And closer to the target date, look at your feelings - whether it’s for you or not.

15. All tips divided by two

You will be surrounded by people who say a lot of things. “You cannot earn it, you are too young, you are too old, it’s very expensive, not in our country, what will you live for, it takes a lot of time, it’s difficult, it’s done wrong, it’s done that way, then you do wrong, and in general, which of you is a designer. ” All this needs to be divided into 2. A better 20. Listen, but go your way.

It’s especially difficult when those closest to you say it. Mom said that I wouldn’t be able to make money from design, “but the chief accountants, you know how much they get!” It was difficult because I always did everything “in character”, in spite of. Proving something to others is a good motivation because, first of all, you prove to yourself.

Фото: Depositphotos

Фото: Depositphotos

16. Find a prop

It's important to find something that calms you down. A person to look up to. A goal that warms. It could even be a stranger, an idealized image from the Internet, the main thing is that your gut calms down - “I can do it too, no matter what.” And don’t tell anyone about it, let it be private.

17. Do not be afraid to make a mistake

Fortunately, our lives have absolutely no goals, so the only important thing here is to live these hundred years happily and in pleasure. Therefore, you shouldn’t worry too much or take anything too seriously. If something suddenly doesn’t work for a long time, give it up. An unloved job, a boring book, a difficult relationship. If you suddenly have a passion for being a designer, but after a year it somehow doesn’t work out, quit and do something new. The more you try, the easier it will be to make the right choice. I started doing a lot of things - dancing, calligraphy, photography, copywriting, programming, sewing, fashion design, magazine layout, video shooting, and gave up everything at some stage. Yes, it may have looked like I wasn't getting anything done, but all these endeavors help in the end, without this experience I wouldn't be where I am. It's normal to start and quit. And listen only to yourself, and not to social norms.

18. Do things your way

It is important to teach yourself to live by their own rules. Be a niche designer or do a little bit of everything. Want to get the Cannes Lion or not think about rewards at all. Want to go to New York or develop design in your country. Go to courses or study online. Discharge lowercase or be adept classics. Communicate with or ignore designers. Read about web design or publicly heit it. Swear on Twitter or pretend that you are decent. To be on Dribble or not to be. Work in a small company or in a large network agency. Run your projects or work on others. Draw in Sketch or Photoshop. Prototype on paper or on a computer. Follow popular designers or not follow. Make your choice. Do not give in to general trends and always have your opinion. To live by their own rules.

19. To be patient

Honestly, it is impossible to become a good designer in a year. The 10 hour rule works, and it’s funny that I got the job in New York in my tenth year of work. It is impossible to simulate this process - it takes time to go through the stages from junior designer to art director. This is not about Photoshop skills, but about inner confidence. In general, in 2 years you can reach a decent level, it’s a matter of motivation. But honestly, the most interesting things begin after these 2 years. And after about 6 years you are already approaching space. Therefore, it is important not to give up after a month of drawing, it is important to run and enjoy the process, a long process, and this is the very secret.

20. Enjoy

This is the basis of any professionalism. When work is not a pleasure - to reach heights is difficult, even unreal. Love what you do and do what you love. Try and start. Do not be afraid. To cultivate taste and self-confidence every day. Do not waste time. Set goals, achieve and set new ones. Many draw, watch, draw, draw. And constantly remember that you can achieve anything.

Total where to start

Sign up for courses or take a course online. Paint fakes. To issue Bihans. A lot to draw every day. Watch other people's work and repeat. Search for projects through friends. No doubt.

Blog text published on Online Elena Base. Reprinted with permission of the author. The material used by the author.

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