web design careers?

[NewPerspectiveStudio]

We all know that in web design or development there are so many many lanes you can go down , and in the time of your career you might even change up from a web developer to somebody doing online marketing to making mobile apps. Its ll a little daunting when you look at it all. I am not in the position where i am studying my forth language ( when i say study i mean getting to know its concepts) , but i kind of wonder where am i going with this now. I dont have any clear directive. So my question is what are you as a web or graphic designer planning career wise ? Working for a big development company as a front end guy or full stack guy ? maybe you want to develop mobile apps or start a design agency ... There is just so much, perhaps we can get some insight from older more experienced users to tell us about some of the paths we are choosing

 

[NodeCore]

I studied traditional Graphic Design (Print based) as the internet didn't really exist. When I say "didn't really exist" it means that commercial internet as we know it today wasn't a thing (early 90's). I made the transition to online in the late 90's after "slaving" away in DTP. Having studied the fundamentals of design (form, function, space, typography etc.) the transition to digital was easy, just another medium. It is quite upsetting nowadays that someone who did a quick two week course in Photoshop claims to be a certified web designer. My career spanning just over twenty years have seen me move from junior layout designer to web designer to User Interface designer to Art Director and finally to Creative Director. Apparently you can study to become a Art Director nowadays - no experience needed, simply a Diploma and presto.

It may seem that I have a lot of gripes about the industry and the new generation of designers... not really, just a fact that nowadays people studying design have it much easier. It is however quite refreshing to see the talent coming out of University these days - some of these wunderkids really have a lot of talent and amazing ideas. That being said, in reference to my point above about the Photoshop course - knowledge of a software package does not a designer make!

 

[Johnatan56]

Did an internship for a couple of months at a web development/design company, if I have to do front-end all day I'd quit the field.

Salary wise isn't that great unless you do your own thing, growth isn't that fast either, both in knowledge and salary as you peak quite quickly unless the company does some more specialized stuff. Again, depends on company/work.

On the other hand, I had some colleagues that absolutely loved creating front-end stuff, breathing life into a design.
Best bet: create a site for a local company in your area that doesn't have one and spend a couple of weeks on it. If it works out well, offer it to them for say R5-10 000 or so. You'll have gained experience and can put it on your CV. If they don't like it, fork the site for another company that's similar and see if they like it. Have a friend who did that, now he's getting 2-5x that amount a year later with quite a few clients seeking him out, business is booming.
This way you'll get to experience and see what you like and might also get some pocket money at least. Otherwise try a stint at a design/dev company.