Web design is a big industry. Hundreds of millions are made by solo designers and agencies delivering tailored services to their clients and theme foundries selling turn-key solutions for platforms like WordPress.

As with any growing industry, where there are people smelling the money, there are people looking for a way in. This article won’t teach you how to become a great web designer, but we’ll run through the skills you’ll need to pick up and where you can learn each of those.

The Theory of Design

Before you dive straight into the web aspect of web design, you should take the time to get a good overview of design theory. It takes people years to fully adopt these principles, but you’ll gain the most by getting these into your brain as a framework for the technical stuff you’ll learn later, so that you’re never caught up in the hype of a new trend or technology and forget what makes great design great.

Photoshop & Illustrator Design

It all begins with the concept, and the way most web designers finalize the concept before going into production is by creating comps in Photoshop and Illustrator. Usually, Photoshop is where most of the comp is done, with the designer calling on Illustrator when they need better vector tools to create a logo or icons for the site.

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There is, of course, a growing movement that encourages designers to design in the browser. I think that’s a good movement, but I also think you’re better off getting some practical experience creating layouts in a more visual environment like Photoshop before you head down that road.

Photoshop Essentials

Illustrator Essentials

Photoshop Web Design Tutorials

HTML

HTML is the foundation on which all websites are built. On its own, HTML doesn’t have much to do with how your design looks, but it describes the structure of your design’s information to the browser, which is then styled by CSS.

HTML is incredibly easy to learn, and if you’ve got a good memory you can probably have everything you need to get started at a bare minimum learned within an hour.

CSS

CSS, or cascading stylesheets, are a way of describing the appearance and styling of every element on your web page. This is where the bulk of the web designer’s visual work is done after the Photoshop comps are done.

If there’s one thing to really get to know, that’d be CSS.

JavaScript

JavaScript gives designers a range of super useful tools, the most common of which have to do with making your website do things outside the capabilities of HTML and CSS. Probably the most ubiquitous example of JavaScript usage in web design is the slider, such as ZURB’sOrbit.

Go Get Rich!

You’ve got all the tools you need to get started on your quest for riches! There’s a lot to learn between now and gaining the knowledge and experience that’ll enable you to build a comfortable living as a designer, but if you dive in, stick at it, and don’t hold yourself back, it’s more than achievable. I know really young guys who make tens of thousands of bucks a month selling their themes on online marketplaces or simply servicing clients — if they can do it, with enough determination, so can you.

Story byJoel Falconer

Joel Falconer is the Features Editor at TNW. He lives on the Gold Coast, Australia with his wife and three kids and can sometimes be found g(show all)Joel Falconeris the Features Editor at TNW. He lives on the Gold Coast, Australia with his wife and three kids and can sometimes be foundgamingorconsulting. Follow Joel onTwitter.

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