North Central College students working on web design.

What does a web designer do?

雅各Imm

2022年9月30日

What does a web designer do?

Web design may be one of the most talked-about fields people don’t realize they’re talking about. 想想看——立博在线体育花了那么多时间浏览网站和基于网络的应用程序,立博在线体育甚至很少再去想它. We are also very critical of what we see, scrutinizing where links are located on a page, how easy it is to find your way around, 和 even how “vibrant” or “clean” something is. 

What we don’t think about is that someone decided every aspect of that presentation. They have studied what works for getting web users’ attention 和 how to keep it. 他们已经学会了如何编码,并把整个页面放在一起,只是通过一系列命令输入到程序中. And they have done what they can to make your life easier, so you will return to their site or app again 和 again.

你对做这些决定有感觉吗?你想要获得你需要的技术专长来解决这个问题吗? Maybe a career as a web designer is right for you. 让立博在线体育来仔细看看网页设计师是做什么的,以及如何提高你在这个快速发展和重要的领域找到工作的机会.

What is a web designer?

The first 和 easiest assumption is that a web designer does all the magic in the background, resulting in a website in front of us on our laptop, 桌面, 或者个人设备. 事实上,建立一个网站是一个复杂的过程,涉及到人们在许多层面上的操作. 任何基于互联网的程序如何运行的“具体细节”更多的是网络开发人员的领域. Web design is a marriage between technical skill 和 the creative parts of the brain. 把网页设计师想象成在信息技术部门工作的平面设计师.

约翰尼·莱瓦尼尔 99年设计 这个职位描述是这样解释的:“网页设计师通常专注于网站的‘前端’, 网站用户实际看到并与之交互的部分(与使网站运行的“后端”代码相反). This means they can be responsible for choosing everything from the photos 和 imagery, 字体, 造型语言, 配色方案, 按钮, 和 how all of these elements fit together.”

数字设计领域的大部分工作都涉及在不同类型的画布上操作时拥有艺术眼光. 而服装设计师使用面料,杂志设计师可能使用Adobe Photoshop, 网站设计是关于创建图像和程序,使它们对活跃的网络用户的眼睛具有吸引力和逻辑. 要想成为一名优秀的网页设计师,你需要能够在风格感和扎实的计算机编程基础之间取得平衡.

How does a Web designer differ from a UX designer?

你可能经常听到的与网站设计师的角色或网站开发的概念相关的术语是用户体验(UX)和用户界面(UI)。. These ideas are so important in 数字营销 that wholly different positions oversee UX, UI 和 other web designer jobs. So what is the difference between web design, UX design 和 UI design? 

根据Levanier的说法, “(A) UX designer focuses on the user’s needs, 并设计骨架网页布局(称为线框),围绕用户行为和期望优化网站元素, while (a) UI designer designs interactive elements such as 按钮 和 forms. (A) a web designer focuses on all of the visual elements of a website, 和 turns wireframe layouts into finished web page designs.”

换句话说, a web designer needs to think about the look 和 feel of an entire web product, from the visual elements to the interaction design. In contrast, a UX or UI designer focuses more closely on one aspect. 将所有这些职责与在线应用程序的后端结合在一起的工作被称为全栈开发人员,它带来了一个稍微不同的网页设计师要求列表,您可以在立博在线体育的主题指南中了解更多信息. 

How do you become a web designer?

A web design career has to start somewhere, with a degree in web design or a similar field as an obvious first step. You can begin to prepare for the field even before college, 你也可以根据你想要掌握的特定技能的知识来计划你想要学习的课程.

Find out more about North Central College

尼克·巴比奇 Mockplus lays out a ten-step plan for building a functional resume in web design:

1. Learn web design theory

2. 学习如何编码——特别是如何让网站与响应式设计和交互设计一起工作.

3. Get the right tools - Babich says the specific ones to have a good grasp of are graphical design, 原型设计, 和编码.

4. Make yourself familiar with popular CMS (Content Management Systems)

5. Build a habit of testing your design regularly.

6. 提高你的沟通技巧——这是一件特别重要的事情,一个好的大学教育可以极大地帮助你. 这是一个普遍的误解,获得网页设计和开发职位使与人互动无关. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Web designers rarely work alone, instead needing to collaborate with other parts of a web team on UX, UI, 然后是后端, 以及咨询公司的不同部门,以确保web应用程序正在做他们需要做的一切. They also need to interact with clients 和 users productively. 一个网页设计师需要能够向不同技术水平的人表达自己的想法,并吸收和解释那些不像他们那样了解的人的批评. 培养这些软技能是任何一所好大学通识教育课程的重要组成部分, so make sure you focus on them even if you’re not taking classes that fit exactly into your major.

7. Keep an eye on coming trends - As with any field, web design constantly evolves to include new trends 和 incorporate new user preferences. In addition to being a frequent user of design websites, look for publications 和 podcasts that talk about emerging trends.

8. Join web design communities - Babich notes, “The best way to learn is to learn from the best. It’s extremely important not only to join web design communities but also to be an active member. Join popular online communities such as Sitepoint or Uxmastery. Follow web experts such as Sara Soueidan, 布拉德·弗罗斯特, Jeffrey Zeldman, 和 Jesse James Garrett on 推特.”

9. Seek critique 和 learn to iterate - Web design is still an emerging field, 和 because of its dynamic nature, you need numerous points of view on your work. While satisfying yourself is important, 最终, your work is measured by how well it works for others. So be sure to ask people what they think of the web assets you put together. User test 和 look for specific feedback on what could be better. You improve by putting in a lot of time, experimenting, 和 doing the same work repeatedly.

10. 专注于创建你的作品集——网页设计是这样一个视野,没有潜在的雇主会相信你的资历. Make sure you have a record of everything you work on, including side projects you may do in your spare time. Update your portfolio frequently, even while you have a job. Walk into every potential employment scenario with something to show off easily 和 impressively.

What are the skills needed to be a web designer?

Getting one job is a challenge for a working web designer, but to advance 和 stay relevant in the field, you need to be constantly working on your craft. What specific things should you work on 和 keep working on? According to Kelli Smith of Skillcrush, there are nine vital areas you need to be proficient in to be a successful web designer:

1. 视觉设计

2. UX

3. 平面设计和网页设计软件——你希望能够使用的产品都是最好的使用, 和 when it comes to web design, the gold st和ard is an obvious name: Adobe. Adobe Dreamweaver, 插画家, InDesign和Adobe Suite的其他部分排名第一是有原因的,它们很可能是您作为专业人员将学习和花费大部分时间使用的东西. Other leading software to look for includes CorelDraw, Canva, Affinity Designer 和 Sketch.

4. HTML - Commonly taught 和 still heavily employed, especially for text-based elements, HTML isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But make sure you are sharp in this markup language, as a lot of development software will provide shortcuts around it, 和 you don’t want to be caught without seeing the changes in how HTML is employed.

5. CSS & JavaScript - While HTML is foundational 和 used everywhere, JavaScript has replaced it as the most popular programming language. So being able to use it 和 style sheets is not only a good idea but expected. Kelli Smith said, “While you can code up your designs using just HTML 和 CSS if you can also program using JavaScript, you’ll have a huge leg up against the competition. JavaScript, a front-end 和 back-end programming language, allows you to take static elements on your site 和 make them interactive.” 

6. 时间管理

7. 沟通技巧

8. 搜索引擎优化/数字营销/社交媒体——你工作的每一家公司都会尽其所能接触到更多的客户. It is vital to underst和 how they use search engine optimization, 数字营销, 社交媒体如何做到这一点,以及如何使他们的网络资产的视觉元素协同工作,而不是反对这些元素. 了解这些领域的最新趋势和技术,以及谷歌的算法如何变化,以便您的网站尽可能地发挥功能.

9. Business / client management - Your work may speak for itself, 但这并不能改变这样一个事实,即如果你选择经营自己的网页设计公司或作为自由设计师工作,你需要能够平衡你的财务状况并与你的客户合作. 

No matter what else you might do, your path to becoming a web designer needs to start with a great college education. Look for a school like North Central College, which will place you optimally at the intersection of 计算机科学艺术与设计. 北中央经验丰富的教师分享在数字领域工作的技术专长,并激发你的创造力和表达作为一个设计师,同时训练你在文科的原则. You need to work with people as well as you do with programs. They can also give you the knowledge you need about fields closely linked to web design, like types of interactive media 和 the answer to “What is interactive media advertising?”

Find out more about web design at North Central College today. 

雅各Imm 是立博在线体育市场与传播办公室的副主任. 他有12年的大学沟通经验,与数百名大学生合作过. 他拥有圣母大学(University of Notre Dame)学士学位和北伊利诺伊大学(Northern Illinois University)硕士学位.

 

来源:

Johnny Levanier, 99年设计. http://99designs.com/blog/web-digital/what-does-a-web-designer-do/ 

Nick Babich, Mockplus. http://www.mockplus.com/blog/post/how-to-become-a-web-designer 

Kelli Smith, Skillcrush. http://skillcrush.com/blog/be-a-successful-web-designer/