Web Design
FAQ - Ask a Web Design Expert

Do I Need A Strong Technical Background To Be a Web Designer?

Description: Being a web designer is arguably one of the more popular jobs in IT nowadays. But what qualifications do you need to become one?

Being a web designer involves a mixture of creative skills, which help you to create the designs that will help to build a good website, and technical skills, which will enable you to bring those designs into reality.

So yes, a technical background is a requirement to becoming a web designer, but how you come about it isn't set in stone.

Practical experience is the best thing to bring to any job interview, along with a portfolio of completed work to show to a prospective employer. This is arguably better than any qualification or certificate you could hand them, as it demonstrates a practical ability in both a technical and a creative sense that goes way beyond what can be taught in a classroom.

Depending on your level of ability it may be worth taking a computer course that will teach you some of the elements involved in creating websites, although if you can get some practical job experience working at a local web design firm you would probably stand a better chance of being taken on.

If you are confident of your skills and you want to build a portfolio prior to applying for jobs at web design companies, you should consider taking on some freelance work. This may involve designing websites for friends and family members, or applying for freelance work via online classified sites or job sites.

In the end, while a technical background will stand you in good stead when applying for web design positions, it's how you present that background to potential employers that will make the difference between a successful application and a failed one.