Web Designer Job Information | National Careers Service

Job profiles

Web designer

Hours

37-40 per week
Starting salary

£15,000 + per year

If you are interested in computers and enjoy being creative, this job could be ideal for you. Web designers use their creativity and technical skills to build or redesign websites. They need to be able to picture how a site will look and also understand how it will work.

You do not usually need qualifications to become a web designer. However, most designers have experience in other types of design, or have done training in web design.

The work

As a web designer, you could work on any kind of website, from an interactive education site to one offering online shopping. Your main tasks would include:

meeting clients to discuss what they want their site to do and who will use it
preparing a design plan, showing the site structure and how the different parts link together
deciding which text, colours and backgrounds to use
laying out pages and positioning buttons, links and pictures using design software
adding multimedia features like sound, animation and video
testing and improving the design and site until everything works as planned
uploading the site to a server for publication online.

Depending on the project, you could also be asked to manage your client's website once it is up and running.

Hours

You would normally work 37 to 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday. You may have to work extra hours to meet deadlines or when there are problems with a website. If you were self-employed, you would set your own working hours.

You would work indoors in an office or in your own home at a computer. You may spend some of your time travelling to meet clients.

Income

Starting salaries can be between £15,000 and £22,000 a year.

The average salary is £30,000. Experienced designers can earn up to £37,500 a year, and senior designers and those with specialist skills can earn over £40,000 a year.

Self-employed web designers set their own rates.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

You do not usually need qualifications to become a web designer. However, most designers have experience in other types of design, or have done training in web design, either through college or by teaching themselves.

You will need to show evidence of your creative and technical skills, usually in the form of a CD, DVD or 'live' websites you have worked on. You could gain this evidence from college, paid work or volunteering.

You will need a good working knowledge of HTML, and experience of writing web pages in a combination of codes. It could be useful if you a working knowledge of the following programs:

Dreamweaver
Photoshop
Flash and Fireworks
CSS
Javascript
.Net

Colleges offer courses on these programs. You can also find many online tutorials, which are often free to use.

You could take one of the following qualifications, which provide good basic training in web design, interactivity and internet technology:

BTEC Interactive use of Media levels 1 to 3
OCR ITQ levels 1 to 3
OCR Creative iMedia levels 1 to 3
City & Guilds E-Quals IT Users awards (7266) – Level 2 (Diploma) and Level 3 (Advanced Diploma).

You could also take a higher level course, such as a foundation degree, BTEC HNC/HND, or degree in a design or multimedia subject. Relevant subjects include:

web design and development
multimedia design
digital media development
interactive computing.

To search for colleges and universities offering foundation degrees, HNC/HNDs and degrees, visit the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website.

UCAS

To find out more about careers in web design, visit the E-skills UK, British Computer Society and Big Ambition websites.

Training and development

It is important that you continue to develop your skills and knowledge throughout your career, as technology and standards are constantly changing. You could work towards industry certification, such as by doing the Certified Internet Web Professional (CIW) Master Designer course. See the CIW website for more details.

Certified Internet Web Professional (CIW)

The National Skills Academy for IT

The National Skills Academy for IT promotes excellence in IT learning and development. Through the Academy you can gain:

access to high quality IT training and resources
information and access to new training to meet growing needs
professional recognition and speed up your career progress.

The National Skills Academy for IT offers over 1000 courses online including courses relating to web design. See their website for details.

National Skills Academy for IT

If you want more flexibility and control over your designs, some knowledge of coding, scripting and programming would be useful. This includes:

CSS, HTML, DHTML and XML
JavaScript
Flash
Active Server Pages (ASP)
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor, also known as Personal Home Page).

The UK Web Design Association (UKWDA) is a free membership organisation for web professionals. Visit the UKWDA website for links to online training resources, web-related issues and job searches. Non-members can also access these links.

UK Web Design Association (UKWDA)

Skills and knowledge

To become a web designer, you will need to have:

an understanding of internet programming and scripting languages
a good working knowledge of the main web design applications
strong creative skills
good problem-solving skills and a logical approach to work
the ability to explain technical matters clearly to people who may have little knowledge of IT
an ability to work to deadlines
an understanding of legislation and guidelines for website accessibility
a willingness to keep up to date with changes in technology and software
a working knowledge of equipment such as scanners, and digital photo, video and audio equipment.

If you are self-employed, you will need good business management and negotiating skills.

More information

e-skills UK (Opens new window)
1 Castle Lane
London
SW1E 6DR
0207 963 8920
www.e-skills.com

UK Web Design Association (Opens new window)
www.ukwda.org

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (Opens new window)
www.w3.org

Big Ambition (Opens new window)
www.bigambition.co.uk

British Computer Society (Opens new window)
Block D
North Star House
North Star Avenue
Swindon
Wiltshire
SN2 1FA
www.bcs.org.uk

Certified Internet Web Professional (CIW) (Opens new window)
www.ciwcertified.com

National Skills Academy for IT (Opens new window)
www.itskillsacademy.ac.uk/

Opportunities

You could work for web design companies, in the IT departments of large public and private organisations, or as a freelance web designer.

If you work for a company, you could progress in your career by moving into design team management, or by expanding your skills to become a web content manager.

Please see the web content manager job profile for more information.

web content manager

With experience, you could set up your own web design business.

You may find the following useful for vacancies and general reading (links open in a new window):

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.

Related industry information

Industry summary

The interactive media industry is part of the creative industries, which is represented by Creative Skillset. This includes: advertising; animation; computer games; corporate and commercial production; fashion and textiles; film; interactive media; photo imaging; publishing; radio; and television.

Interactive media is a rapidly evolving industry and defining it can be difficult. It broadly refers to digital media with which the user actively interacts in order to change or affect their experience, and which can only be experienced through interaction. Interactive media products include web sites, multimedia catalogues, Digital Advertiser Locations and other red-button interactive television destinations, and computer games. These products are distributed to devices either via a network or on physical media (such as mobile phones, televisions, kiosks). The industry is divided into: web and internet; offline multimedia; companies specialising in mobile content; and interactive TV.

Key facts:

The industry employs around 40,000 people, representing 8% of the total creative industries workforce.
29,500 people are in web development, 10,000 in interactive content and an unknown number in support services.
It is heavily reliant on freelancers and contractors.
The workforce is highly qualified, with a combination of specialist and more general skills.
80% of the workforce has a degree; 36% of which are media related.
There are over 8,000 businesses in the industry: around 7,500 web and internet companies; 500 offline multimedia companies; and 40 companies specialising in mobile content and a growing number of interactive TV companies.
46% of companies employ 1-5 people, 23% employ 6-10, 15% employ 11-20 and 13% employ 21-50 people.
Only 3% of companies have more than 50 people working for them.

Jobs in the industry include: Designer, Developer, Producer, Studio Manager, Account Manager, Content Strategist, Information Architect, Web Writer, SEO Specialist, Programmer, Usability Specialist.

National and regional data

The largest interactive media workforce is located in:

London
South East
Yorkshire and the Humber

After publishing and photo imaging, interactive media is the largest creative industries in the East Midlands. Nottingham has a number of successful and expanding interactive companies. Elektonika, Cuttlefish, Jupiter Design Ltd and Emnet are successful digital media communications companies in the region. IPTV (internet protocol TV) companies are starting to cluster in Lincolnshire as the University of Lincoln has satellite uplink facilities and a broadcast media graduate population to service the sector. There are 2,100 people working in the industry in the region.

In the East Midlands, there are 1,100 people working in the industry in the region.

In London, 13,200 people work for specialist companies in the key platforms of interactive television, web and internet, and offline multimedia.

There are 2,700 people working in the industry in the North East and 1,800 in the North West.

The interactive media and computer games industries make up 11% of all creative industries employment in the South East. There are over 6,000 people working in specialist companies in the key platforms of web and internet, interactive television and offline multimedia. A significant cluster of interactive businesses exists in Brighton and Hove, comprising largely web design companies, together with IT software and services, corporate media and e-learning producers. World renowned companies, such as LindenLab and Club Penguin, have set up their British HQ in Brighton.

In the South West, there are many creative, cutting edge interactive media companies in Bristol, Bath, Plymouth and parts of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, including the E3 Group, Hyperlaunch, Team Rubber and Nameless. There are over 1,800 people working in the industry in the region.

There are a large number of interactive media businesses operating in the West Midlands, with a workforce of 800. The largest concentrations of businesses are in Birmingham, Rugby, Coventry and Leamington Spa.

In Yorkshire and Humberside, there are 5,600 people working in the industry in the region.

Only 100 people work in the industry in Northern Ireland.

3,000 people work for specialist companies in the key platforms of web and internet, interactive television, offline multimedia in Scotland. This amounts to 7% of the interactive media workforce as a whole.

In Wales, the industry is rapidly growing with around 100 companies employing around 1,700 people. Freelancers account for around 26% of the workforce in Wales.