How To Become A Web Designer Without A Degree [2024] 🚀

Web designing involves planning, designing, and creating websites for different purposes like businesses. There is a huge demand for web designers nowadays. If a web designer is skilled and creative, having a degree is not a priority for employers. 

If you’re wondering how to become a web designer without a degree, here are some things to consider. Web designing is very different from other professions. It is continuously changing and evolving, and web designers have to keep learning the latest techniques and skills. 

Even a person with a degree has to adapt to the change and learn new skills. A passion for constant learning, creative thinking, and extensive skill sets are the only important factors for a web designer.

Is A Degree Necessary To Become A Web Designer?

If you are creative, intelligent, and passionate, having a degree is just a secondary requirement. Nowadays, with so many platforms, courses, and short degrees available, it is easy to learn the skills required for web designing. 

An individual can even learn through platforms like YouTube and Skillshare by watching tutorials of professional web designers. It is essential to keep in mind that the only thing that matters is your passion for learning. 

Watching tutorials, trying free courses, and obtaining certificates are things you can easily do. The most basic skill that a person becoming a web designer must have is extensive knowledge regarding HTML and CSS.

What Can You Do To Learn Web Design By Yourself?

Here are some steps you can follow to learn web designing and become a professional web designer:

Learn Web Designing Theory and Courses

The first compulsory step is learning web designing theory. Having theoretical knowledge about anything is pretty important before going into its practical performance. The same goes for web designing as well. 

You can learn web design theory through various platforms online, free of cost. There are many short courses available regarding important theories of web designing. Bootcamps are also very good in this case. They are intensive, short, and impactful, teaching people a lot about web designing, even when they don’t have any prior knowledge regarding IT and software. 

These courses usually take around 6 to 12 months to complete. If you don’t want to attend anything physically, you can try learning online through YouTube tutorials or free websites such as Coursera, etc. Paid programs are also available online, which are much cheaper than professional degrees.

A checklist of important skills include:

• Being knowledgeable in HTML, CSS, and Java Script.
• Learning other creative software and artistic skills.
• Know additional things to give you an edge over others.
• Learning about the behaviors of websites on different platforms.
• Ability to check for errors and figure out their solutions.
• Having marketing and business skills to sell your websites.

Find Your Preferred Domain

Creating a website is a tough challenge. Each element is interconnected and has a significant influence on the others. You can start by focusing on one specific area of website design that intrigues you. Afterward, you can decide on a course for its professional training. 

For instance, digital marketing websites, android app development, etc., all have different requirements. After you’ve discovered your specialty, you can check other related elements that can help make your work even more productive

Focus On Learning New Skills

Solid skills in website designing are increasingly becoming necessary if you want to secure jobs. Ambitious web designers should learn HTML, CSS, and Java Script . SASS and Tailwind are just a few of the CSS frameworks you should be familiar with. If you really want to differentiate yourself as a web designer, learn another skill that compliments it. Learn a digital marketing skill such as copywriting, paid ads, or SEO.

Prove Your Skills

Presenting clients samples of your work is the ideal strategy to showcase your skills. Create a portfolio that highlights your most notable and recent work, such as website and application designs. 

You can experiment with new methods and innovations to enhance your resume and CV further. When recruiters see the use of the latest tools and skills in your CV, it increases the chances of your employment.

Do Technical Courses

While being a web designer without a professional degree is possible, doing courses would still be a good idea. Learning from a recognized source is generally more organized and simpler than sorting it all out by yourself. 

Through these courses, you learn technical skills like coding in a more professional environment that is fully equipped to teach you everything. These courses also create scenarios that help you acquire problem-solving skills and critical thinking. 

Training and certifications provide you with valuable professional accreditations that help in the advancement of your career. They can help you establish expertise in a specific field or multiple fields.

Marketing and Business Skills For Web Design

It is crucial to learn about business, marketing, and management. These fields highly encourage working independently or as freelancers. Business skills are essential since they help you in selling your work. Therefore, one of your main focuses should be building business knowledge as it will benefit you.

Web Design Tools and Knowledge

To be a professional web designer, you must have complete knowledge about the following tools:

WordPress Content Management System (CMS)

WordPress is a web designing tool with more than 1,000 designs, plugins, and themes for modifying, personalizing, developing, and optimizing websites. Until now, WordPress has been the most used tool among website developers. 27% of all websites on the internet have been designed through WordPress hence learning it is a must for any professional web designer.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is an essential tool for web developers. Web designers are required to come up with visually appealing and unique designs. Photoshopping skills provide everything you need to create stunning patterns, designs, and prints.

Google Web Designer

Google Web Designer lets you utilize animated and interactive elements so that you can bring your creative ideas to life. It is a fantastic tool because it lets you create eye-catching HTML5 material. It also works seamlessly with other Google services so that you may not have any problem with syncing or uploading your content.

HTML

HTML is short for Hypertext Markup Language, which is the front-end programming language for producing content on a website and providing its structure. This tool is extremely important to learn, as it allows you to create and add awesome graphics and text design to your website.

CSS

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. It is a type of coding language that guides browsers on how to layout and design HTML for a website. It is the tool which gives all of the text and other stuff a beautiful design and structure. CSS allows you to alter the colors, modify the fonts, create themes and backgrounds, etc.

Interpersonal Skills That A Web Designer MUST Have:

Communication Skills

A designer’s ability to stay in contact and communicate effectively is also essential. You can’t make money designing websites unless you have excellent communication skills. You’ll have to keep customers informed about the status of the work, as well as pitch ideas and present your work. So, we highly suggest that you focus on your written and speaking abilities, and we bet you’ll have no difficulty getting your message over to customers and colleagues.

Dealing With Clients

We are not saying that you should go and study MBA, however just having a basic understanding about all this, can provide enough surety whether the work you are doing for yourself or any firm is lucrative and stable. You must have a good understanding of your employer’s or your own firm’s strategies and finance, so that you can utilize them to direct the design work. If you work directly with customers, you must design as such, to ensure that the profitability is sound and manageable in the near and distant future.

Time Management And Scheduling Skills

To be a good web designer, you’ll need to manage your time and do proper scheduling if you want to give proper time to each of your web design work. Whether you are freelancing or working for a firm, having an organized work calendar is very important. There are many apps available to help you with mastering this skill, such as Trello, JIRA, Google calendar, etc, so that you can always keep a track of your work.

What Are The Types Of Web Designers?

You must decide the field of work you will be interested in as a web designer. There are mainly three types of web designers.

Freelance Web Designers

Freelance website designers are generally self-employed. They handle and promote their own business while still performing their professional job. If you are willing to choose this field, you must consider whether you have the time, flexibility, or ability to attract clients. 

It is crucial to learn marketing and management skills to secure good clients when working as a freelancer. Moreover, as a freelancer, you won’t need a degree as you are your own employer in this case.  

Employed By A Firm

Working for a firm provides professional stability and some consistency in terms of income. Some firms do require you to have some qualifications to show for your skills. But if you have a solid resume, you can easily secure a job. 

However, you don’t get flexibility in terms of working hours or tasks. You also don’t get to pick your clients. However, being backed by a firm gives you better financial security and is a great way to gain hands-on experience in the field.

Project Web Designers

Also known as in-house web designers, they typically work on one or a few projects for a business. These designers may also be in charge of a single feature or portion of a bigger website.

They are the only ones who aren’t concerned with satisfying clients, as they already have a stable source of work. However, they do not have access to the same level of diversity as freelancers.

Scope Of A Web Designer In Different Fields

Software Industry

Several firms are now hiring professional web designers to manage software for internal and external clients. Internal management is responsible for maintaining and developing the company’s website. While the external management responsibilities include resolving website difficulties for clients, as well as monitoring and improving their webpages.

Art And Media Industry

A web developer might prove to be very helpful when it comes to keeping an advertisement website up to date. This might be advantageous for a company’s marketing goals, resulting in increased sales and, ultimately, increased profits.

Education Industry

The basic knowledge of web designers allow them to work for different types of software or graphics related jobs. One of them is online and visual education. This type of teaching method seems to be very effective in today’s world. Students are taught using graphics and interactive designs, which have several advantages over traditional classroom teaching style. This way students find it much simpler to grasp and enjoy learning.

Responsibilities Of A Professional Web Designer

The main responsibilities that you will have after becoming a professional web designer are as following:

• You will be hired to come up with the web content and then according to that you will have to design the website, keeping the clients’ demands in mind.
• You will have to design a website that is visually attractive, easy to use and has interactive graphics. It is an important aspect as this is the main reason why people prefer using one website over another.

Wrapping Up: Do You Need A Degree To Be A Web Designer?

At first, learning web designing by yourself might seem complicated. However, if you have the passion and are down to learn new skills, you can do so with ease. The internet has all the sources you need to get started. Once you have developed a particular set of skills to compete with others, a degree will not be necessary to build a career in the field.